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[0:00] Let's turn in our Bibles to the chapter of God's Word which we read, Jeremiah chapter 1.

[0:12] And we'll read again the first two verses and perhaps verses 5 and 7 also. So Jeremiah chapter 1, verses 1, 2, 5 and 7.

[0:30] The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, in whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon, king of Judah in the thirteenth year of his reign.

[0:52] And then verse 4 actually. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

[1:05] Before you were born, I sent it by you. And I ordained you a prophet to the nations. And then the verse 7.

[1:16] But the Lord said to me, Do not say, my youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and wherever I command you, you shall speak.

[1:30] Jeremiah preached for 40 years. And according to those who study these things, apparently only two people listened seriously to him.

[1:52] These two people were, of course, his scribe, Barach, who recorded his words, his prophecies, and Josiah the king.

[2:07] Only two people seriously listened to him. They reckon he was a teenager when God called him.

[2:22] And, of course, he is well known to all biblical scholars as the weeping prophet. The weeping prophet.

[2:34] Why was that? Well, I'll mention two reasons why you would be called the weeping prophet. Number one. He was told, before he went out, Jeremiah was told, he had no converts.

[2:54] Imagine, starting in the ministry and being told he had no converts. Chapter 7, verse 27. It's quite clear there.

[3:05] How do you respond to that? What I heard at first, I said, well, what's the point in preaching?

[3:17] There's no converts. What's the point in preaching? Well, that says a lot about those of us who respond in such a way.

[3:27] Why preachers, why preachers, if there's no converts? The answer, obedience. Because we've been commanded.

[3:38] We are placed on earth not to obtain results. We're placed on earth to glorify God.

[3:51] To bring honor to his name. And we can only bring honor to his name by obeying him. By pleasing him.

[4:02] By doing what he asks us. So here's Jeremiah. Jeremiah. Preaching for 40 years. No converts.

[4:14] And told it before he went out to preach. But he's faithful. He's faithful. He's faithful. He's faithful. He's faithful. He's faithful. He's faithful. That's why he gets the biggest book in the Bible.

[4:25] But there's another reason. Why? Why? He's called a weeping prophet. Not only was he told beforehand he would have no converts.

[4:43] But he was actually told, don't pray for this people. Can you believe that? Check it out.

[4:55] Chapter 7, verse 16. Chapter 11, verse 14. Chapter 14, verse 11.

[5:08] Three times it's recorded. Don't pray for this people. Do you understand why he's called a weeping prophet? But listen.

[5:21] What does God mean? What does God say? Don't pray for them? Don't pray for them. Well, my short answer to that is simply this.

[5:37] What God is effectively saying to Jeremiah. Look. Don't ask me to forgive a people who will not repent or believe. Don't ask me to forgive a people who will not repent or believe.

[5:51] I will forgive anyone who believe. Don't ask me to forgive a people who will not repent or believe.

[6:09] Chapmanба Does he have said it is.

[6:30] enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift, the comprecations of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good work of God and the powers of the age to come if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God.

[6:51] People get alarmed at that. Well, so we should, but wait a minute. Isn't it quite logical? It's not really profound. There's one way to be saved.

[7:06] If you trample underfoot that one way, it's impossible. It's not profound. It's straightforward with maths.

[7:19] Mathematics. One minus one is nothing. It's in both Old Testament and New Testament. If you, anyone, anywhere, anytime can be forgiven if they repent and believe.

[7:39] But if not, there's no other way. If you crucify the Son of God of flesh, as there were, terminology for rejecting Christ's crucifixion is sufficient for you, it's sufficient for you.

[7:56] Well, one way, one way. Take that one way away. Obviously. It's impossible.

[8:07] No other way. Well, Jeremiah preached for 40 years. And we're told, in verse 2, he preached in the days of Josiah the king.

[8:24] What kind of days were these? They were. I tell you, we live in bad days. But they were awful days. This is not the first time. A nation has behaved as graceful.

[8:37] What kind of days were the days when Josiah was king? Read chapter 1, 1 and 2 Kings. And there you'll find a term coming up.

[8:50] Every high hill had its grove of trees. That's a solemn, solemn statement.

[9:02] Every high hill had its grove of trees. Do you know what went on under the grove of trees?

[9:13] The most abominable practices ever practiced under heaven. The very sins which made God see to the Canaanites.

[9:31] That's enough. Israel are going to come in and drive you up. The very sins which made God drive out the Canaanites.

[9:41] The very sins which his, God's own people, performed under these grove of hills.

[9:53] It's all these grove of trees. And every high hill had its grove of trees. Isn't that a sad day?

[10:05] Isn't that sad? Were these awful days? A second feature of the days of Josiah the king.

[10:18] The religious authorities. Not the secular parliament. The religious authorities. Taught the people.

[10:31] Taught the people. To consider vice. As part of their religious record. Isn't that something? Isn't that frightening?

[10:43] Did you know what they were doing? You've heard it. You've heard it elsewhere in the Old Testament. They were throwing the bees into the valley of Hinnom.

[10:55] To be burned in the furnaces there. The valley of Hinnom was the refuge chip which was set on fire outside Jerusalem. And they were to please a pagan god.

[11:06] They would throw the bees into the furnace. And to cover up the sound of the babies cry. The big drums.

[11:17] To drown out the sound of the people. The big drums. That's the days of Jeremiah. And the temple.

[11:28] God's temple. Was made the headquarters of pagan worship. Oh, we say. Isn't it awful?

[11:40] Isn't it terrible? That we have to bring things to ourselves. Are we much better? In our land today. Oh, we never throw our babies into the furnace.

[11:55] No. We do it when they're out of sight. We have brought them in their mother's womb. We're far more sophisticated. That we're the same evil sinners at heart.

[12:10] We collect the same public sins. Freightening. We're just more sophisticated. That's all.

[12:21] We're just as evil. Well, enough of the background. What is God's answer? How does God respond to such an awful situation?

[12:35] What does he do about it? God's answer? Jeremiah the prophet. God's response is a prophet with a message.

[12:52] That's his response. You might say, hey, wait a minute. Surely we need something a bit more robust than a prophet with a message to such a decadent, stubborn people.

[13:11] Surely, surely we need something more robust. More powerful. Why is God's response to such decadency?

[13:24] Why is it a manless message? Well, several reasons. God is not going to treat the human race.

[13:36] The species made in his image. He's not going to control a lake. Robots. With a sense of remote control from heaven.

[13:49] Making them do what he wants. They've been created in his image. And it's not going to be created in his image. We need to make choices. And it's not going to be created in his image. It's not going to be created in his image. So we need to make choices. We need to make choices. With a sense of rooted in him.

[14:02] So if we need to make choices. And without君's meaning. They need to be or may be filho or may be filho or may be, can you say sr We can be made to read the Bible, but being made in God's dimensions, we choose to do it.

[14:31] So a prophet with a message from heaven is required to make us choose. Lies were being spread by false prophets.

[14:43] A lot of false prophets around here. Jeremiah's told you what the false prophets said. Because lies and falsehood were being spread, truth must be published.

[14:56] The truth of God must overcome that and overpower it. And not just listen to it. And you see, we need a prophet from heaven, or a message from heaven.

[15:14] Because our behavior is affected by what's in our mind. As a man thinks in his heart, so is that man.

[15:27] Why do we do what we do with our hands and with our feet? Why do we do it? We do with our hands and our feet what's in our head, what's in our minds. So God has to address the mind.

[15:40] The spirit convicts us in our minds. Conversion is described in the Bible as the renewing of our minds. But there's another small, though.

[15:54] There's another small aspect of why God responds to such decadency, such evil. For the prophet and the message.

[16:09] It's to provide evidence in the daily judgment that people really were wicked. You see, there's a daily judgment coming.

[16:22] When the whole universe will be assembled before God. And God will change the earth.

[16:36] But he'll not do it, as it were, behind closed doors. He'll not do it in secret. He'll not, as it were, say to an assembled universe, This person is wicked, I'm going to send him to hell.

[16:50] No, no, no, no. He won't display before an assembled universe. Evidence that such and such had the opportunity to repent and believe, but refused to.

[17:07] God will do nothing in secret behind doors. He'll expose evil. He'll expose wickedness. God will do nothing in secret. And he'll demonstrate that these people heard the gospel.

[17:21] These people knew they could be forgiven. But they refused. And I also find it very solemn on that induction. I don't think there's a more legitimate occasion when we can rejoice for a Christian to rejoice in an induction.

[17:37] God sent a servant to preach the good news. What a legitimate reason for rejoicing.

[17:48] And of course, multiply by 25. My minister has his 25th anniversary. The real reason for rejoicing. But there's also this solemn aspect.

[18:00] Evidence has been provided that people got an opportunity, but did nothing about it.

[18:14] Well, let's turn to the message of Jeremiah. The prophet. What were the words God put in his mouth? Verses 9 and 10.

[18:24] To root out. To pull down. To destroy. To throw down.

[18:38] Isn't that a bit negative? Isn't that a bit threatening? Well, God has no idle threats.

[18:49] Any warning God gives is genuine. And it's the real. But you know, what a people refuse. Point blank.

[19:01] To listen. To mercy. Not to judgment. To mercy. And the fact that we don't want to hear mercy. Proves where the children will land on.

[19:13] When God calls out to Adam. Where are you now? We demonstrate we are his children. When we do the same. By running away from God.

[19:25] When God was running after them. Adam and Eve. To say to them. I'm raising up a saviour. I'm bringing good news.

[19:36] Yes, you've blown it. For the whole human race. You've blown it. But there is mercy. I'm raising. I'm sending a saviour. Well.

[19:49] The only answer for those who refuse to listen. Is destruction. But you see. It doesn't stop there. At the end of verse 10.

[20:01] Also. I send you the message. To build. And to plant. You see. You cannot build a new superstructure. Until the old one is not down.

[20:14] You can't build a new building. On top of an old ruin. You have to knock the old ruin down. And put it in. So that was. Before the farmer.

[20:25] Can plant the seed. He's to plough the field. First. To make it acceptable. To receive. The seed. And you see.

[20:35] There's something wrong with a ministry. That is all negative. With no positive. And there's something wrong. With a ministry. That's all positive.

[20:46] With no negative. You start with the bad news. With the truth. With the situation. And then come in. With the good news. Of the gospel.

[20:58] God is love. But listen. God is love. Means nothing. Until you understand first.

[21:09] God is holy. And God must punish sin. It doesn't make any sense. You go to someone.

[21:21] And first. God loves you. God loves you. Well. Why did my child die? Why have I got cancer? God bless. You're creating problems. You start.

[21:33] With the bad news. With the facts. As they are. And then bring in. The good news. The good news. Will not be good news. Until you understand.

[21:43] The bad news first. That we have destroyed ourselves. That God sent his son. Now there's also the two. The two visions.

[21:54] Of the blossoming. Ammon tree. And the boiling pot. Tipping over. What do they symbolise in short?

[22:06] Well. The blossoming. Ammon tree. Fruit. See. There was potential. There was potential for this. If they would repent.

[22:17] If they would repent. If they would believe. There was still great hope for them. If they would repent. There could be food. There could be blessing. And then the boiling pot. Tipping over. And then the boiling pot.

[22:31] Tipping over. From the north. The pot was boiling over. And it was tipping over as well. It was about to pour out.

[22:42] The wrath. The punishment. But the point is. Time is short. Time is short. Time. Proverbably. They had.

[22:53] Only until the end of the summer. Those of you who know the Bible. The whole chapter 8. Verse 16. The summer. The harvest is past.

[23:05] The summer is ended. And we're not saved. The harvest is past. Well. The wine pots and milk. The wrath is. The pot is to be over.

[23:16] You have little time. But right up to then. As it were. You can bring forth. But you must repent. And you must behave. Well.

[23:30] The success. Of Jeremiah. Was Jeremiah. A success. He had no conference.

[23:46] He failed. To turn. Israel. And Judah. From destruction. He didn't do. It didn't happen.

[23:58] Was he a success. It all depends. How you define. Success. In this world's definition. Of success.

[24:09] Jeremiah. Was a complete. And utter. Failure. All we look for nowadays. Is results. And that.

[24:21] Instant play. We want instant. Results. Or it's a sack. This world. Would write off Jeremiah.

[24:34] Failure. Failure. Failure. But in God's eyes. In God's eyes. Jeremiah. Was the chacest of the fruit.

[24:47] The cream on the coffee. You might say. Jeremiah. In God's eyes. Was a massive success. You see. In what is success.

[24:58] Success. What's the biblical definition. Of success. What is success. Before God. Success. Is doing. Doing. What God. Wants you.

[25:10] To do. That's success. Obedience. Obedience. Faithfulness. And who could be more faithful.

[25:22] Than Jeremiah. Faithful. You don't judge. A person. By results. You're judging by.

[25:33] Faithfulness. To commission. You. And oh. How faithful. Jeremiah was. Especially. When it was so hard. So difficult.

[25:44] So sad. Especially. When the command. Seemed. Pointless. To the way we think. To the way we think.

[25:56] But success. In God's eyes. Is. Doing. What God. Wants. So Jeremiah. Teaches us.

[26:08] That. To obey. Is better. Than sacrifice. That's. An outstanding lesson. To obey. Is better. Than sacrifice.

[26:19] Success. Is not measuring. Numbers. Size. Results. But in obedience. And in faithfulness. Now.

[26:32] I want to close. By looking at. Comparisons. Between. Faithful. Jeremiah. On the one hand. And Christ.

[26:44] God's son. On the other hand. Some comparisons. Because. At the end of the day. The example. Is Christ.

[26:57] The prophet. Is Christ. Maya.

[27:09] Is called. Jeremiah. Is called. The weeping. Prophet. But Christ. Is. The man. The source.

[27:21] The man. man of stars. In the garden, I remember when we went to Israel, we went to the garden of Gethsemane. And we, it was a very moving time. But we were there just walking up and we actually went to a tree which they said was two to two and a half thousand years old. That tree would have been there when Christ was there. And asked the three disciples to come and support him in prayer and encouraging him in prayer. Well, we were just there and just over the wall, a busy, busy thoroughfare. Traffic passing back and forth. And we just couldn't help speaking about that verse. Behold all you that pass by, whose sorrow was like my sorrow.

[28:24] Jeremiah faithful weeping, nothing like Christ. Whose sorrow was like his sorrow. Behold all you that pass by. Is it nothing to all you that pass by? What went on in that dark night? I believe it was there in the garden. He had the most sorrow. And, well, some people believe, which I would myself, that the Father kept from Christ until the last moment, as it were, what all he had to suffer. Until Gethsemane. And it was there he had it too. It was there. And the understanding that he had to go all through, he had to go through, alone, without the Father. And that's what made him drop, as it were, sweat. Like blood. Dropping, sweated blood. When he realised the full extent of his sufferings. There.

[29:28] the word. The word. The word. The word. The word. The word. The word. The word. Inhuman flesh. Christ. Christ.

[29:39] The word. The word. The word. The word. The word. Inhuman flesh. The word. The word. Inhuman flesh. The word. Inhuman flesh.

[29:50] Christ. You could hear Jeremiah. But you could see Christ as well. He was the word. Inhuman form.

[30:02] inhuman form. Christ spoke. Is the word. Do you remember. Well, thirdly. Jeremiah. Could not pray.

[30:13] For the people. We've mentioned that already. Christ. Did pray. Christ could pray for his people. Christ could not pray for the people. We've mentioned that already.

[30:25] But Christ did pray. Christ could pray for his people. And Christ has prayed for his people.

[30:36] Christ's prayer, we often talk about Christ's prayer as what we were taught how to pray, but actually Christ's prayer is in John chapter 17 when you think of it. That's his prayer.

[30:50] The whole of John 17 is Christ's prayer to his Father. He began praying that God would glorify. That's the most important thing in the world. By the way, do you know there was a time when Christ didn't know what to say?

[31:05] What shall I say? What did he say? What did Christ say when he didn't know what to say? He said, Father, glorify your name. Glorify your name. Now, what did Christ pray in John 17 for his people?

[31:27] John 17. He prayed that they be kept from the evil. He prayed, don't take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil.

[31:44] And he prayed that they would be with him, for he was in glory. These three things. Keep them. Leave them to the world. Take them to glory at the end.

[32:01] When the time he comes, take them to be with them in glory. And listen, if you can get yourself into John 17, you're safe. You're safe.

[32:15] Get yourself into John 17. If ever there was a prayer to accept, if ever there was a prayer to be answered, it's in John 17.

[32:28] Jeremiah couldn't pray. But Christ could and did. For Jeremiah could not deliver this all.

[32:41] All he could, that he couldn't. But Christ can. And Christ did at the cross.

[32:53] Jeremiah would have been willing to take the punishment. But they would have made nothing for anyone but himself. But Christ took the punishment of all his people's sinners.

[33:10] He could get out of love, but only by taking the punishment. Christ had to be broken. And so, Jeremiah said, why? Jeremiah could not have children.

[33:22] He was told not to marry. He must not marry. And he said no children.

[33:38] 講師 3 But Christ has children. Christ has children. his children, an innumerable number of children, and you could become one of them. You could become one of them. John 1.12, he came to his own, his own received not. But, but, but, as many as did receive them, to them gave he power to become children of God. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can become a child of God. Doesn't matter what your past is, doesn't matter what you've done, doesn't matter what condition you're in, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, receive them, and you can become a child of God. And finally, number six, Jeremiah. Jeremiah could not make Israel repent. He could not make, he could not, he could not give them forgiveness. But Christ can. Christ is risen and exalted, a saviour. What for? To give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. The thrust of that verse. It is not, it is not, it is that Christ, the thrust of the verse is that Christ dispenses grace. Dispenses blessing. Is there something you haven't got spiritually? Christ is risen and exalted to give it, to bestow it, to dispense it. Oh, if I just had faith, are you saying, Christ

[35:41] Christ can bestow faith. Christ can give you repentance. Christ can give you forgiveness. Christ can give you faith. What we need, the one thing we need, is Christ. The one thing we need is Jesus. And we need God, the Holy Spirit, make his word effectual to everyone else. Let's pray.