From Hearing to Heeding | Elder Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your tea.

New Year's message. I'm taking it from Jeremiah, and I'm

going to be teaching from Jeremiah twenty six. But let

me give you a little bit of background. I think

it's important to have a little bit of background on Jeremiah,

because Jeremiah is actually a key figure, okay, a very

key figure in the Old Testament, and he's probably one

of the best known prophets of all the prophets. But

his book is not very popular. Okay, why do I

say that? And you know, some people actually dislike reading

Jeremiah because it's quite depressing when you read Jeremiah's the

entire I can't remember. I think it's fifty something chapters

of Jeremiah. Okay. It's quite a depressing part of the Bible,

and there seems to be nothing but bad news for Judah.

Jeremiah was a prophet to Judah, and half the time

Jeremiah was sharing his pain of what he felt what

was happening to the nation and also his own ministry.

Uh.

You know, I've heard testimonies and preachers talking about Jeremiah.

When they preach from Jeremiah is like they're pouring out

their heart because when they're reading, they're identifying with all

the pain, the sorrow, the suffering that he was going through.

And you know they can they say no when I

preach from Jeremiah's lives, So I'm preaching with tears because

that's exactly what's going through their minds now. And you know,

Jeremiah actually wrote another book. You all know what book

is that that he wrote? And you want to give

it a guess, anyone to shut it out? No, it's

called Lamentations. You think about it. If you write a

book and the book is called complaints, you know what

kind of yeah, how what the team of his writing

is going to be?

Like?

Lamentations is another book in the Bible that Jeremiah wrote,

and lamenting just means complain. And so this is Jeremiah.

Okay and some background. Okay, So his birth he was

actually born during the reign of King Manasse. Okay, King

manas you read the scriptures, you know, bad boy Okay,

this one not a good guy, bad bad boy, evil king,

probably the evil king who sought Isaiah into two Okay, Uh,

this some of the information is extra biblical, but if

you read Hebrews chapter eleven, you realize that it's one

part in the chapter on faith that says some are

son into two. Okay, most likely scholars believe that the

person who was shn into two was Isaiah, and most

of them also believed based on extra biblical them It's

not in the Bible, but from historical records, it was

most likely King Manasse who did that to Isaiah. So basically,

he put Isaiah into an empty log and then he

decided to do some show with Isaiah, except that his

magic didn't really work like and so he literally sought

the prophet Isaiah into too. So this is King Manasse.

Jeremiah born during his reign. In fact, there were two

baby boys who were born during the reign of Manasse,

quite significant. One is Josiah and the other one was Jeremiah.

Josiah we know became king. Okay, King Josiah became king

when he was pretty young, Okay, at the age where

we were still learning how to feed ourselves and go

to the toilet. King Josiah stepped into the throne. And

so this is the background. Manasse was eventually eventually replaced

by another wicked king called Amon, who lasted a few

years before Josiah found himself on the throne. And Josiah

found himself on the throne at the young age of it.

And it was during Josiah's reign that they decided to

go and ransack and second okay, basically they were looking

for something in the temple and low and behold they

found the Book of Deuteronomy in the temple. Read you

can read it in Second Kings twenty two. They found

the Book of Deuteronomy. And then that's when Josiah realized,

Oh my goodness, as he read the Book of Deuteronomy,

he realized that the people have not been following anything

that God had reminded them into Deuteronomy. Basically Deuteronomy. We know,

it's the book of laws and regulations and how to

carry themselves. And basically the people have failed to follow

everything that God has asked them to do. And so

Josiah was quite determined to reform his people as a king,

and that's why he is known as one of the

good kings. But you know, an interesting thing is, even

though Jeremiah and Josiah were contemporaries they existed during the

same time. Jeremiah is silent about Josiah's reforms. In fact,

Josiah's side also in Second Kings, you don't hear much

mentioned on Jeremiah, but Jeremiah does not mention anything about

King Josiah about reforms. It's almost as though Jeremiah realized

that a reform that is ordered by the king did

not change people's hearts, and while it looked good, the

true situation had not changed. It was almost like he

was succumbed to that that fact, and eventually Josiah was

poorly advised in one battle and it led to his death.

And then Josiah died, and Josiah's death actually led to

a succession of evil with kings. And it is during

the reign of the last four of these bad kings

that Jeremiah was called to prophesy. That is the background,

and that is why his message and his prophecies are

a little bit more negative, because he was prophesying during

the reign of those who were bad boys. They're all

bad boys. Succession of bad kings, Okay, that's clear, okay,

And that's why most times knows It's almost like as

though he's expressing hopelessness. He's like Alama, he's a bunch

of jokers. It's too late. He's going, it's too late, guys,

it's too late. But yet there is always a tiny

tinge of hope in his prophecies because he will always

say if you repent, So basically, this is Jeremiah. He's

juggling between it's too late, because you, guys, never ever

listened with there is still a tiny home eve you

change your ways. And this tension can actually be seen

in one of the illustrations. One of the more famous

illustrations in the Book of Jeremiah, you can see in

Jeremiah chapter eighteen, and it's basically the illustration where God

tells Jeremiah go to the potter house. Remember this chapter,

chapter eighteen, and God told Jeremiah observe the potter as

he mixed vessels with clay in his hands. And a

lot of people assume that the message actually concerns God's

ability to choose to do whatever he wants to do

with us. Right, we always talk about the potter and

the clay, and then we sing songs. You are the Potter,

I Am the clay. God. Basically with your hands. You

do whatever you want with me. You are in total control.

But this is not the lesson that Jeremiah picked up.

If you read Jeremiah chapter eighteen, you really just the

first few verses in chapter eighteen. What he actually said

that he saw the potter's intention to make a beautiful vast,

but because the clay will not run and flow in

his hands, he put it back into a lump, threw

it on the wheel again, and eventually out came a

thick crew pot. That's what the translation actually says. And

so God asked Jeremiah if he had learned the lesson,

who decided what the clay would become? I ever thought

about that, who decided what the clay would become? Because

a lot of times we are like the potter is

the potter that decides what becomes of the clay. But

the answer is actually this, It is the clay who

had a part to that decision making because it wouldn't

run with the potter's original intention. Does that make sense?

This opens up a whole new argument on all the

ones save always say all those things. I'm not going

to go into that, okay, but let us always bear

this in mind. There is such a thing as divine sovereignty.

God is in control of all things. And then on

the flip side, there is something known as human responsibility.

There are two sides of the same coin. It doesn't

just one exists and the other one doesn't exist. They

both are true and real, and so as humans we

can't say everything is this is how God wants you

to be. It's not just that, yes, there is a

sovereign God, but there is also a responsibility on our side.

And the message was that God wanted to make the

clay a beautiful shape, but if the clay would not respond,

he would eventually end up making an ugly shape from it.

That is the whole message in Jeremiah chapter eighteen, chapter nineteen.

So in the context of Jeremiah's time, God was saying

that even at this late stage of development of being molded,

so as we're being molded, we are developing, His people

can still repent and change and become the beautiful vessel

that He always intended for his people to be. There

is basically a dynamic relationship between God and his people.

In the Bible. God is not dealing with puppets. Sometimes

we think that our lives is like, oh, it's just

strings hanging on top, and then we act however God

wants us to act. We are just puppets and God

determines everything. But really God wants a response from us,

and he will make us into what he wants us

to be if we cooperate. That's a very powerful word

that sometimes we forget about the scriptures, and so the

parable of the potter and the clay also had a

further lesson. If you think about it, you really you

realize the ugly claypot was eventually baked. And what happens

when you bake anything made of clay, It becomes hot.

And then that's where it can't change back, and he

can't be molded, and he can't be changed. And that's

where Jeremiah had to take the hard pot, break it

and throw it. And he says he throws it into

the valley of Hindum, which is the Hebrew word for

what the Greeks call gahana, which is also another term

for hell. Actually it's strong, but that is the reality

of it. And so God is saying that if we

carry on hardening our hearts, we will reach a point

where we cannot be changed into a beautiful state. And

so at that point God will break us. That is

the reality of it. I pray we never live to

see and experience that. So in a nutshell, this was

Jeremiah's prophetic message to the people of Judah, repent and

change your ways. He was a young prophet when he

was called, probably about seventeen years of age, and that's

when he began to preach. He was actually very very shy,

very very nervous. God had to keep reassuring him. And

how God reassured him is God actually says that I'm

going to make you into a fortress. You read Jeremiah

chapter one itself, you will see that basically God is

going to forty five him fought. Okay, that's the word

that was used. That means, no matter how hostile people

are going to be again towards him, he will never

be intimidated. And we know Jeremiah didn't actually have the

best message to bring to the king's land, and because

of that, you know, his life as a prophet was

so tough. No, he moved to Jerusalem. Eventually he had

to run away because his own family wanted to assassinate him.

You read that in Jeremiah chapter twelve, his forty year career,

actually ran alongside Haberka, Zephaniah, Ezekiel Daniel, and actually he

was right in a tick of the political turmoil that

was actually ongoing during that time. But you know what,

Thank God, Jeremiah spoke the truth and until today it

is still the truth that sets people free. Amen. Okay,

that's the introduction. Let's go to the portion. Okay, Let's

go to the portion of scripture that I'm gonna be

teaching from. Don't worry, we will have lunch at the

right appropriate time. Okay. Jeremiah chapter twenty six is the

key text that I'm sharing from today, and I'm going

to read the entire chapter in the NLT and if

you have your own Bibles, you can follow me in

whatever version. If not, this also on the screen, okay,

and it says this. Remember, the team for today is

from hearing too heeding. This message came to Jeremiah from

the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiah Kim, son

of Josiah, King of Judah. So this is Josiah the

Good King's son. Okay, Jehoiah Kim. This is what the

Lord says. Stand in the courtyard in front of the

temple of the Lord, and make an announcement to the

people who have come there to worship from all over Judah.

Give them my entire message, include every word. Perhaps they

will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I

will change my mind about the disaster I am ready

to pour out on them because of their sins. Say

to them, this is what the Lord says. If you

will not listen to me and obey my word I

have given you, And if you will not listen to

my servants, the prophets, for I send them again and

again to warn you, but you would not listen to them,

then I will destroy this temple as I destroyed Shiloh,

the place where the tabernacles was located. The tabernacle was located,

and I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in

every nation on earth. The priests, the prophets, and all

the people listen to Jeremiah as he spoke in front

of the Lord's temple. But when Jeremiah had finished his

message saying everything the Lord had told him to say,

the priests and prophets and all the people at the

temple mobbed him kill him. They shouted, what right do

you have prophesy in the Lord's name that this temple

will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean saying

that Jerusalem will be destroyed and left with no inhabitants?

And all the people threatened him as he stood in

front of the temple. When the officials of Judah heard

what was happening, they rushed over from the palace and

sat down at the new gate of the temple to

hold court. The priests and prophets presented their accusations to

the officials and the people. These men should die, They say,

you have heard with your own ears what a traitor

he is, for he has prophesied against this city. Then

Jeremiah spoke to the officials and the people in his

own defense. The Lord sent me to prophesy against this

temple and this city, he said. The Lord gave me

every word that I have spoken. But if you stop

your sinning and begin to obey the Lord, your god,

he will change his mind about this disaster that he

has announced against you. As for me, I am in

your hands. Do with me as you think best, But

if you kill me, rest assured that you will be

killing an innocent man. The responsibility for such a deed

will lie on you, on this city, and on every

person living in it. For it is absolutely true that

the Lord sent me to speak every word you have heard.

Then the officials and the people say to the priests

and profess this man does not deserve the death sentence,

for he has spoken to us in the name of

the Lord, our God. Then some of the wise old

men stood and spoke to all the people assembled them.

They said, remember when Micah of Morrischev prophesied during the

reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. He told the people

of Judah, this is what the Lord of Heaven's army says.

Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field. Jerusalem

will be reduced to ruins. A ticket will grow on

the heights where the temple now stands. But the King

Hezekiah and the people kill him for saying this. No,

they turned from their sins and worshiped the Lord. They

begged him for mercy. Then the Lord changed his mind

about the terrible disaster he had pronounced against them. So

we are about to do our sells great harm. At

this time. Euryah, son of Shemaiah from Kiria Jerim also

was also prophesying for the Lord, and he predicted the

same terrible disaster against the city and nation as Jeremiah did.

When King Jehoiakim and the army officers and officials heard

what he was saying, the king sent someone to kill him,

but Uriah heard about the plan and escape in fear

to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent Elenad and son of

Akhbar to Egypt along with several other men to capture Euriah.

They took him prisoner and brought him back to King Jehoiakim.

The king then killed Euriah with a sword and had

him buried in an unmarked grave. Nevertheless, Ahikam, son of Shefin,

stood up for Jeremiah and persuaded the court not to

turn him over to the mob to be killed. The

Lord blessed the reading of his word. Okay, so from

hearing too heating? Are we hard in hearing? Or are

we humble enough to heed what we have heard? You

read the Personal Scriptures, and you read it slowly chapter

twenty six. You know it keeps repeating some things, and

so when we start twenty twenty five, I think it's

always good for us to ask ourselves this question, are

there second chances in life? Because that's how that's the

best way to start a year, right, No, man, the

whole of last year, a lot of things I did

which I should have done. Okay, let's start, let's start. No,

is there a second chance in life? And you know

the answer in scripture is yes, hallelujah, praise God. It's yes.

And thank God He is so patient and he will

patiently journey with his children. But but but there's always

a bad There will come a day when he will

say that it is too late to listen. And so

I think it's very important that we learn how to

hear to he because you don't want to reach the

stage when it's too late. When can it be too late? Well,

definitely right before your death is too late life. Okay,

for some maybe you made it on the nick of time.

But let's not write our yeah luck in that sense. Okay,

let's not lie. You know, before your death that's too late.

And for some of us it will be definitely, certainly

at the point of death, that's when it's definitely too late.

And so really, don't reach the stage where God says

I can't speak to you anymore because you ran out

of the get out of jail cut in life. That's

the reality of it. And this is the lesson that

we're going to learn today. And we've got to learn it.

We've got to learn how to listen actively basically hope

that whatever we have heard we can activate it, because

no point if you hear everything, but and you read

everything and you hear the prophets, and then nothing is

activated in life, okay. And so that is the main

theme of Jeremiah. Chapter twenty six is about listening to God.

So the background is of chapter twenty six is six

zero nine BC. Okay, six zero nine BC. There's a

new king on the throne, and therefore there's a new

chance to restart Hallujah. We all like new government, new king.

Know when you have a change of prime minister, everywhere

want things in their minds there is hope, Hallelujah, praise God.

And it's normal. It's normal, there's hope. There's going to

be a change of direction, and so the people were

trying to capitalize on that as well, and we have

Jeremiah starting there. And at the beginning of the reign

of King Jero Kim, he's going to try to speak

to the people and to the nation and hoping that

the nation will see and respond, And so he chose

his time and place carefully. You think about it that

Jeremiah is quite brilliant. Okay, he's probably a master in

mass communication. And so he's like thinking when when when,

of course, through the leading of God, uh, he brought

the message to the people during a national festival. Okay,

so there was a there was. It was festivities is

almost like Chinese New Yor Okay, even though Chinese NW

not at all, But just imagine national festival, whole nation

gathered together in one place. Everybody was talking, it was bustling.

And then here comes Jeremiah knowing that I will seize

this opportunity to deliver the message. And you know, any

man who speaks to a nation that has neglected God

is actually essentially running himself a great risk. Again, he's

carrying God's message to a group of people who have

neglected God. I don't think God's message is going to

be nice and fun and dandy. He's carrying a very

strong message and he's essentially putting himself at risk. But Jeremiah,

being a man of a few words, He did not

hold back, and you read what he says. He did

not hold back because God kept on reminding him you

must speak every word. Where do you think a reminder

like that is necessary? And I've learned over the years

it's actually such an appy reminder from God because sometimes

even as preachers we hold back. You're like, oh, man,

the one not going to fly well with some people,

or that one may be a bit too strong, and

we hold back a lot of things. But God, I

think it's a good reminder sometimes don't hold back, just

deliver the message. And he was under tremendous pressure. And

what did Jeremiah tell them, Well, he said this, before

you entered the land, you received the Law of God.

The law showed them and showed all of you the

way to live, the way to conduct your national affairs,

the principles of happiness, and the principles of holiness. Basically,

the law covered everything. It was an extensive set of

laws which governed their lives all across and through every

vest of society. That's why it's quite comprehensive you think

about it. It's not just tank commandments, it's thank com

moments and about six hundred and thirteen other rules and regulations.

But that is what Jeremiah told them. You were given

this to help you whatever. Since you got into the land,

you still hand the prophets coming over and over and

time and time again to remind you to keep the law.

And so he's essentially saying, hello, y'all cannot plead ignorance.

Y'all cannot say huh law one law called such thing. Me,

I never heard of such law. Actually, what he said

is enough to tell them that you cannot plick ignorance.

You can only admit this obedience, Jazz, admit this obedience.

So we know the Israelites they were not ignorant. The

people in Judah where Jeremiah was talking to, they were

not ignorant. They knew how they ought to have lived.

But they had not listen to the Lord. They had

not listened to the prophets. And then Jeremiah goes on

to say bad, and we love but in life, especially

if the first statement is bad, we love a butt

because then there is a good and nice comeback. Of course,

if the first statement is good and the butt comes,

that's usually where we get ourselves into trouble. But thank God,

there is a butt here, and the good news is

really solely on God's merciful trade. He says this ef

the butt, and if we love to hear the butt

and the ef, and he says, Eve, you repent, which

actually essentially makes the statement conditional. It's a conditional statement.

And so he's saying that Eve, with this new king,

and this new king listens, then God will repent. That's

what the scripture says. And I wonder if you realize

that we have in our hands the power to make

God repent. Have you ever thought of that? You know,

we say prayer changes things, well, it also changes people,

but did you ever realize that prayer changes God. It's

quite surprising Moses actually succeeded in changing God's mind by prayer.

You read the accounting Exodus, chapter thirty two, verse fourteen,

and here we have a very definite condition attached because

it says this, if you will listen, if you will

a man your ways and your doings, if you will

put things right, then God will repent. And the word

repent just basically means he will change his mind and

he will not bring the national disaster upon you that

is already on the way because you guys put it

in motion. And here is what I believe to be

the core message and teaching of this chapter. Notice what

Jeremiah was doing. Notice first and foremost, it was a

reminder of the past. So Jeremiah came and he says,

you have had the law, you have had the prophets

whom God had sent to you persistently to remind you

to keep the law. So there is some a reminder

of the past. And then notice also it contains a

warning for the future. Basically, he's saying that a national

disaster ensues if you do not listen. If you continue

to do this, this is what the future looks like.

But also notice he is primarily concerned with the prayersent

and their response at the moment, and therefore for us

to go from just hearing to heeding. I believe it's

very important for us to be aware of the past, present,

and future, and things will not just remain as white

noise in our ears. Sometimes we are like living in

a complete state of oblievion, Like whatever, I don't know. No,

life is just this circular motion. Everything is cascious. We're

just going round and round and round. No, I don't

really care. I don't know what happened before. I don't

know what it's about to happen. Don't don't live like that,

because the reminder is, as people of God, we know past,

we are aware of present, because we are certain of

the future. That is a heat of us. Amen. And

sometimes no, we think things are just all settled and sealed.

God has set everything in motion, and everything is fixed

and cannot be changed. No, some people actually believe that

God is this big God. No, he's the creator of

all things. But now he's not in control anymore. He

just wound the clock and then now it's just is

just running, no way of intervention. Some people believe that.

Some people believe or God is the one that sets

everything nothing you can do about it. No, it's already fixed,

and you know, there's a philosophy behind it. It's actually

called fatalism. And so fatalism basically is the thinking that

everything is predetermined and inevitable, cannot change it. You hear

sometimes people say, ah, it's set up, is done, there's

nothing you can do about it. I don't believe in

a God like that. I believe in a God who says, Eve,

my people will repent. Then I will change my mind.

That is a cooperative relationship, not a false relationship with

no will and intent and purpose in so, but it

doesn't mean that there is inconsistency in God just because

situations can change. Again, the truth is this, God always

acts consistently with his character, which is righteousness, which means

that if people will not listen, he must punish them.

But it also means that if they will listen, he

can change his mind and not punish them. He has

not changed his character one little bit. And it's lovely

to have a God who never changes in character. And

that's why we say God never changes. But sometimes we

will say, hey, he changed, He changes his mind, but

his character has not changed. When you repent, he's not

flip flop about the situation. And really, we thank God,

We thank God that he is one who will change

his mind if we repent, and we thank for the

eaves and the butts in our life. And so the

warning about the future, which Jeremiah added is this, if

you do not listen, then this house, meaning the temple,

and this city will be ruined. Okay, it will be ruined.

And so Jeremiah actually has the gods to tell them

that God will not hesitate to destroy his own house

in his own city. If they did not listen, it's strong, no,

the words that he's using right now. In other wordsirh,

I think this is what God is also trying to

remind us. The strength of a city does not lie

in his religious building. It actually lies in the character, Okay,

And that is what is God saying. It is the

present relationship of the people who live in the city

with the God who created, who started it all. That

is the message that we must take home. But to

the jew in their mind is so fixated God is

sacrilegious to actually talk about the House of God and

talk about God's city in that manner. Is wrong to

actually say that, oh, the house will be destroyed, the

temple will be destroyed, the city will be destroyed. And

because of that, that was the only thing they caught

whole of and that was what they were fixated on,

and immediately they planned his death, Jeremiah's death. And then

throughout the scripture the chapter twenty six you read eight

times the word death occurs, and every one of it

is actually in reference to Jeremiah. They're directing him it

towards him. That's what took place, And I also want

you to notice this. It was the priests and the prophets. Basically,

it was the religious people who were up in arms.

They then tried to get the authorities. They tried together

officials to agree to the death sentence. Does this not

remind you of someone Human nature doesn't change, Yes, Jesus,

human nature doesn't change. And the religious authorities were so

angry at this threat to their security, these men who

challenged their city, challenged the wellness of their temple, challenged

their livelihood, that they actually ganged up against him and

reported him to the officials authorities. And they're all alleged

that Jeremiah said this. No, they all say that this

was say in the name of the Lord, this temple

will be ruined and this city will be ruined. Now,

that was not what Jeremiah had said, was it. He

had said if? And when they reported his preaching, they

conveniently forgot that if there. And have you noticed how

twisted that is? Because what they have essentially done is

they have turned a statement that is conditional into an

absolute statement. A conditional word was made into an absolute word.

They said, this man has predicted that. Certainly this house

and this city will fall. But he had said nothing

that he said. If you are man your ways, you

can keep it. They conveniently left out the conditions in

Jeremiah's prophecy. Why do you think they left out the conditions?

Because Jeremiah was not prophesying against the temple of the

city or the city, but against the people in it.

That's the reality of it. They said he had been

preaching against the place or places, when he was actually

warning the people. It's very very subtle. Do you remember

when they put Jesus on trial, what did they say

about him? They said he would pull down their temple

in three days, and that he was going to attack

the place where else, Jesus was constantly talking about people,

He was not talking about a place. And so sometimes

we get mixed up between holy people and holy places.

And so they twisted Seremiah's words, and they thought they

had a good case against Jeremiah. And so Jeremiah found

himself in court, and for his own defense, he was

given no lawyer, just as Jesus was given no lawyer

as well. And we thank god Jeremiah spoke, and he

is not concerned about his safety anymore. He's just going

for it. And this is a man who is now

standing in court and saying, you can do to me

whatever you think is the right thing. But let me

remind you of two things. Firstly, of what he actually said.

And he says, I say this. I say, if you

are man your ways and your doings, God can change

and he can repent and he can change his ways.

So he was basically prophesying about people, not places. And

then he reminds them that if they put him to death,

they will become murderous because essentially they have put someone

who is innocent to death. And so Jeremiah is a

bold person here. He's not afraid now to get up

in public in front of other people. Here is a

man of God who has been made into what God

said he would make him into. You remember the prayer

in Jeremiah one and he says God, I need help,

and God says, I will make you a fortress. And

you see him forty five, you know, as compared to

a seventeen year old who was not confident and all,

here is a fortress standing facing rulers, facing priests, facing prophets,

facing the people, and saying you can do to me

whatever you like. But if you change your evil ways

and your evil doings, God can repent. And so the

authorities hurt all that and they realize, hey, and this

man has done nothing wrong. He doesn't deserve the death penalty.

Does this not remind us of someone? And how history

repeats itself? And Jeremiah and Jesus went through the same

thing with this difference. You know what's the difference. The

difference is Jeremiah was released. Of course, some hours will

ask a why. Okay, well, because a certain older people

had good memory, Ali Lujah, praise God for good memory.

And he was actually the elders of the land that

stood up. And then elders of the lends to them.

And you know what's the first thing they say. They say,

remember and there was some time ago, back in the

days of another prophet called Micah, and they are asking

them to remember what Micah did. And they said, no,

remember Micah. He said the same thing. And Jerusalem wouldn't

be here today if Micah had not spoken to us

and we had not listened. So that's the reminder. And say,

be careful, be careful that you do not do this

whatever you are planning to do. With this man, Remember

that God changed his mind and he didn't send the

disaster that he said he will send during Micah's time.

Then they also reminded the people of another thing because

at that time, when King Jehoia Kim was reigning, he

really killed one prophet, and that is actually Jeremiah's contemporary.

Is his name is Uriah. His cliques to Jeremiah, they're

all prophets in the kingdom. And he had spoken in

the name of the Lord. And when he heard that

his message did not sit well and the king and

the king was going after him, he ran to Egypt.

And what did they do. They actually got an extradition

order to get him back from Egypt, brought him back

all the way from Egypt and killed him and threw

him into the valley. Basically, that's what happened. And so

the elders in the land, with their wisdom said, what

are you going to do now that you know remember Micah,

and remember you already killed one innocent prophet who was

just talking and sharing what God told him to share.

Are you going to make Jeremiah like Micah listened and

put it right and escape the disaster? Or are you

going to kill him wrongfully like you Rayah. That is

what the elders did. And these were all the evidence

that were presented. So Jeremiah had spoken, and the elders

two won by the name of Ahikam also spoke, and

Jeremiah's behalf. And the last sentence in the chapter tells

us that because of what the elders say, the authorities

released Jeremiah, and the priests and the prophets lost their case,

and hence Jeremiah was free to go on preaching. Hallelujah.

It did not end in chapter twenty six. He went

on until fifty old chapters. He had a lot more

things to say, and so another thing that we should

think not before we moved to me closing. Okay, wow,

I'm doing good for time. Notice how the people shifted sides,

you see her. There were the priests and the prophets. Okay,

priests and prophets, the religious authorities. Then there were also

the officials or the authorities. Okay. And then if you

all don't really carefully, you won't notice that the people

were initially with the priests and prophets, and so when

the priests and prophets brought them, they were like hmm.

He deserves to die. He deserves to die. He deserves

to die. But after the elder spoke and the authorities decided, hey,

he has done nothing to deserve there, they straight away

moved to the authorities side. That shows how fickle people are,

how people shifted sides all the time. And it's the

same thing. No, it's the same thing with Jesus as well.

The people shifted sides. How easily they can be swaying

because remember, at the start of the week it was Hosanna,

Hosanna in the highest and at the end of the

week it became one crucify him, crucify him. The crowd

shifts in this chapter, and when he realizes the authorities

were going to release the prisoner, the crowd shifts to

release the man with the officials. Which raises this question,

which way would the crowd go in the near future?

Where do you think they will go? Would they stay

with the authorities or would they go with the priests

and the prophets. That's the question that we have to

ask ourselves as well. And I can tell you this,

this story actually has a bit of a tragic end.

That's the reality of it because Jeremiah reveals that their

support for him was short lived actually, and they switch

and eventually they would not listen. And then four years later,

now it's six zero five BC. What has happened in

the four years? Was there turning around? Was their repent

Was that changed? No, there wasn't. And then once again,

on a national occasion when all the tribes of Judah

were gathered together, when all the people are in Jerusalem,

Jeremiah comes and he says that there is no more

ifs because now the time has come. Four years earlier

he had given a last warning and now he has

only one message and he was no longer a manual

withst it was now it's too late for that, and

so he came to bring judgment at that point of time.

That's the sad part of the story. But how do

we move from hearing to heating? Is what I want

to close with. And I'm not just talking about the

kind of repentance sometimes we call it the death bit repentance,

that death bit repentance. You know how we sometimes repent

when we are desperate and you're staring at the barrel

of the gun and you're like repent repent because you're

in a impossible situation. God, I will change my ways.

You see, true repentance is really tested as the person recovers,

not when he is on the brink of dying. All

of us can change in the crisism. All of us

can let hop long aku help me in crisis. But

the real test is whether we remain changed when the

crisis is over. And so I believe the Scripture is

doing this. It's actually teaching us that we must learn

from the past, leave the present in anticipation of the future.

Look what God has done in the past. We have

been worn of what he will do in the future.

But the present is the moment when you can change

the future. That is the reality. You can't change the past,

none of us can. And so that's why whenever we

reach this threshold of a new year, the past is

the past. No point wallowing in sorrow, no point regretting.

But it's so important for us to know the past.

You can't change it, but from it you can learn.

And when you learn, you can make a difference in

the present. And when you make a difference in the present,

you alter the future. And that is the glorious freedom

in which we live. In do you realize that you know,

I always teach and tell people Holy communion is so

powerful because of this, how do we move from hearing

to heeding? Well, whenever you partake of Holy communion, what

do you think you're doing is actually present participation in

preparing for the future by remembering the past. That is

the power and the purpose of the Lord's Supper is

to help us move from hearing to heeding, because sometimes

we live as though life has got no meaning, totally ignorant,

totally unaware. But yet as believers, we are not unaware.

We cannot say we are unaware because we are enlightened.

You know, once upon a time, before we became believers,

we had no choice. That is the truth, and that

is the reality, and there is no other way in

which I can paint it if we are not where

we are today found in Christ. Do you know what

the faith of everyone who does not know who Jesus

is is? Eternal condemnation. That is the reality. And that's

why some people don't understand. When I say now you

have a choice when you give your life to Christ,

He's essentially saying, now you have the choice to t

choose to do what is right, when before that the

choice was not even afforded to us because we were

hardened in our hearts and we did not say yes

to God. And those who does not say yes to

God has got only one eventuality. And we know that.

But as children who are enlightened, as children who have

walked into faith and now walk and experience God's grace,

you realize it is nothing you do that helps you

draw closer to God. Ultimately, there's no good thing you

can try doing a thousand good things, a thousand righteous things,

it is not even any of our righteousness. Is everything

that God has done for us. And all we need

to do is posture and position ourselves to receive his grace,

which is a gift from God. And that is what

affords us now with the choice, the choice, do choose

to do what is right? Can you still choose to

do what is wrong? Yes? Even as believers andimes we think, hey,

I become believer, what is the God temptation? And it's there,

that is the reality. It will still be there you

are now, But now, thank God, you can choose to

do what is right, and we praise God for it.

And let us never take that for granted soul present

participation in preparing for the future by remembering the past.

Whenever your partic of communion, I pray that it activates us,

not just paying lip service. No, when we do it

once a mon okay whatever. Do you know that when

if you study communion and the scriptures, what the scriptures

talk about, it is actually a very very serious thing

that we are doing. It's not just something symbolic. It's

also not something literal. I know some other denominations practice

it like as though it's literal, literal body of Christ,

literal blood. It's not. It's there is a certain symbolism

to it. But years for me, the active part is

when we are participating, you are actually participating in the

Lord's Supper is a full meal, it's a full cause

that you are participating. And when we are participating, we

are eventually saying that God, thank you for you have

saved me from my past, and that my past will

never catch up with me. Thank God. A lot of

us our past catch us up with us. But thank

God in Christ Jesus, our past will never catch up

with us because it is done veryed. That's it. Thank

God for the New Covenant, because of the New Covenant. Today,

I have a choice to make to live for you.

And when I choose to live for you, I know

that my future is going to be glorious. Amen. So

how do we move from just hearers to heeders if

there are such? Basically in James it says that we

cannot just be hearers of the word. We have to

be doers of the world as well. We're going to

write the band. I'm done. I want to encourage all

of us. I know, the start of a new year,

sometimes everything is again routine, same old, same old. It

doesn't have to be same or same old. Not in

the Lord. It's not the same old, same ore. He

wants us for himself. That is the reality of it.

If only you realize how wonderful the God in whom

we worship is. And that's why I know when Sydney

kept repeating this morning, let's sing glorious, glorious, because all honor,

all glory belongs to him. He is the only thing

that we can call creator. No one else can assume

that role, and that function of creator really no one else.

Sometimes humans think that, oh, we are a creative bunch

as well. I can take something and create it with

my own hands. But if you think about it, you're

creating something with something that is already in existence. Who

is the true creator? The true creator is only the one,

true and living God, because only he can create something

out of nothing, and he can create someone out of nothing,

and that is his creation. Actually, he created matter, he

created the things that we have, He created life, animals,

and he created man. And so why no matter what

if you think about who God is to us, we

are his creation. We are just creatures in his eyes,

but yet we are separated. The means God. They create

life and animals, but he also set aside something special

when he created men, and that's why it is man

that is created in his glorious image. I pray that

we will not start off the year thinking that. Ah,

you know, sometimes we are just I don't know what

to do. Life is like this is you know, we

are really surrendered in the wrong way if it's anything

surrendered to God, because he is going to take over

if you allow him to rule and reign in your life.

But remember, there is a part called divine sovereignty and

there is another part call human responsibility. When we respond

to the divine and sovereign God. We will see this dynamic,

cooperative relationship grow and become stronger. And that's how we

turn from hearers of the word to being doers of

the word. Let's stand, Father, I thank you for your word,

which I believe, Lord God is powerful. Lord, Your word

that brings life. Your word, Lord God, that changes and

transforms us to lor God, Your word that gives us

a hope and a future. Lord, that beautiful verse that

sometimes we hang on to, You've got great plans for

your people also comes from the Book of Jeremiah, chapter

twenty nine. It says that you, Lord God, have got

an amazing plan and a purpose for all your And

I believe that we all my heart. And so today Lord,

I pray, Lord, as we worship You, and a short

will's time, I'm going to ask Jason to lead us

in that chorus, because indeed he's a glorious king, and

we're going to just sing it with all our heart,

acknowledging that he is indeed King of kings and Lord

of all. But Lord, as we worship you, Lord God,

you will do the new work in our lives. Lord God,

once again, Lord, that we will be reminded that today

we stand free, free because of Lord You has set

us free from the bondage of sin, and no longer

are we bound no lor God, but we can say

thank you Jesus. Because of Lord God, the chains that

once used to shackle me, the chains of the past

that used to hold me back, is now broken. And

because it is broken, to Lord God, I have the

freedom to choose to live for You and so Holy Spirit.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

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this week is going to be a good week, a

hit for you. God bless