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   Matthew 20:29-34 Seeing Glory: Open Our Eyes 

As I was preparing for this week, I considered how often I take for granted basic realities such as light. I’m guessing the Lord wanted to hammer that home, because with yesterday’s storms, we spent our entire afternoon and evening without electricity. Thankfully, my lovely wife rounded up some candles and placed them throughout the house and around the kitchen table, so I could attempt to put my dozen pages of handwritten notes into some discernable format for you to digest. You can judge whether I succeeded.

Speaking of light, some of you have reached the point where it's not safe for you to drive at night anymore. Some of us take that for granted. We don’t often think about the gift of eyesight.

Others of us tend to take for granted, if I leave my vision assistance—my spectacles—on a table somewhere or in the car or wherever, I can still get by fairly well. If my wife leaves her visual assistance somewhere, she's not going to find her way through the house.

But what about more serious visual impairments? You know, most of us look around at all this beauty around us that others will never be able to fix their eyes on. You ever think about that? What God has so graciously gifted you the ability to see, others can only imagine.

A week ago last Friday, a few in here, they made a trip to Cheekwood. [And Haley, can you put up one of those pictures?] And they went and took some photos of the Cheekwood Manor and garden. What if this was the extent of what you could see? Just a blur of the manor, when the rest of the world sees this. [Go ahead with the next one, Haley.] Or, what about flowers? If you saw flowers and this is what they look like, instead of this. Or we have one more.

Now, the young lady responsible for these amazing photos, she has a vision impairment of her own. Haley, these pictures are quite stunning. But Haley only has one good eye. She sees the world a little bit differently than most of us, but I mean just look, look at that beauty.

We're in Matthew chapter 20. And we're going to be looking at two groups with a different sort of visual impairment. One is a crowd with perfectly good eyesight, but they're blind. Another is two blind men. Their eyes do not function at all, but they see what the rest of the crowd does not.

READ (Matthew 20:29-34)

Now Matthew’s narratives are often more concise than Mark’s. So while we could compare the two accounts, Matthew has penned his gospel to stand on its own. Matthew has particular theological empheses he is aiming at.

So, here, Matthew lumps the crowd into one people for a reason. In part, he does so to warn us about the crowd, to warn us about following the masses, to warn us about following that which is popular.

In the next chapter, we’ll see that this crow follows Jesus all the way into Jerusalem. They’ll shout, Hosanna to the Son of David. Hosanna meaning please save. Please save us Son of David. This is quite similar to the cry of the two blind men. Lord, have mercy on us Son of David.

So in one sense, the crowd and the blind men both recognize this man, Jesus, to be the promised Son of David. But the crowd only partially saw what that meant. They saw the Son of David to be the warrior king who would come crush their enemies — crush Rome — and reign forever. And that’s true in a sense. But that’s a partial truth. And partial truths are most often distorted truths. And that is the case with how the crowd sees Jesus.

Also, it’s important to note that this crowd doesn’t share the same the same merciful disposition of the One they are supposedly following. 

Later Matthew records what becomes of this crowd. If you turn a few pages to Matthew 27, we see that when it becomes apparent that this Jesus isn’t the warrior king they had hoped for, that this Son of David hasn’t come to crush the Roman empire, when this mighty king is displayed in the meekness and weakness of human flesh, the crowd will no longer find it fitting to follow Jesus.

When given the choice between releasing  Barabbas, a famous criminal, and Jesus, the King of the Jews, this crowd will call for the release of Barabbas, not Jesus. You see, in their eyes, Barabbas at least took a stand against the Roman empire, against their enemies. Where Jesus seemed to have surrendered himself to their enemies. He is not a king they wish to follow. 

So, Pilate asks, What then should I do with the King of the Jews?  And the crowd cries out, Let him be crucified. And Pilate asks, Why? What wrong has he done? But —now listen to these words — they cried out all the more! That’s the same thing these blind men did. They cried out all the more, Let him be crucified.

You see, in verse 31 of our text, the blind men, they cry out all the more for mercy. But this crowd will later cry out all the more to have the Merciful One crucified. 

What are some take aways? Not every following of Jesus is the same. Many follow Jesus; they follow the hype, the excitement, the crowd, what’s popular. And they’ll follow Jesus for a spell. But they won’t follow Jesus to the cross.

Being among the crowd that follows Jesus doesn’t make one a follower of Jesus. Crowds are filling pews this morning around the globe. But sitting in a church building isn’t following Jesus.

Following Jesus’ whereabouts isn’t the same as following Jesus with your heart. The reason Caleb read Numbers 9 for us is because it shows how a people can follow God in location without following with their heart. 

That first generation the came out of Egypt in the Exodus, they flowed the Shekinah glory, the fire cloud, God’s tabernacling presence. That’s what Shekinah means. It comes from the word for tabernacle. They followed God’s tabernacling presence among them. The cloud lifted, and the people set out and followed the cloud. The cloud settled down, and the people camped. However long the cloud remained, the people remained. They followed God in location, but they didn’t follow with their hearts. 

Later you can read about what happens to that first generation that came out of Egypt. You can read about it in Jude 5, or 1 Corinthians 10, or Hebrews 3, or Deuteronomy 1, or many places throughout God’s Word.  They all describe how God was not pleased with most of them. And all of them but Joshua and Caleb perished in the wilderness. They never entered the Promised Land. Following God’s Shekinah glory, His tabernacling presence saved none of them.  

In the same way, when the crowd followed Jesus, they were following God’s Shekinah glory, His tabernacling presence in the person of Jeus Christ. As Jeremy read for us from John 1: And the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That word dwelt is tabernacled. He tabernacled among us. 

The crowd followed God’s Shekinah glory in the face of Jesus Christ. But for many, it wouldn’t save them. The crowd followed God’s Shekinah glory, but they followed only so long as they saw such as glorious. 

Following Jesus for a time is not the same as persevering to the end. Only those who persevere to the end will be saved. If you don’t persevere to the cross, you’re not following Jesus, at least not with saving faith. The occasional or temporary following of Jesus doesn’t make one crucified with Christ.

Last one. Waling on the road Jesus once walked doesn’t put you on the road to glory. I know many people who have taken trips to see the Holy Land. Perhaps some of you have visited the Holy Land, or hope to do so some day. Walking the roads Jesus once walked. Seeing the sights Jesus saw.  Listen. So did this crowd. They walked the same road as Jesus. They walked in Jesus’ very footsteps. But walking the road Jesus once walked doesn’t put you on the road to glory. 

The only legitimate following of Jesus is a cross-bearing following of Jesus. The crowd had no place in their theology for the cross. And many churches and denominations have no place in their theology for the cross. To them the cross is nothing more than an unfortunate tragedy at best. They refuse to define the cross biblically. Why? Because they don’t actually like what the cross stands for — Jesus’ substitutionary atonement — His death in the place of sinners, bearing God’s holy wrath in our stead, and His righteousness granted to us who have no righteousness of our own. 

Take care before jumping in with the crowd. For you just might find it leading you away from the Jesus who saves. And you might find yourself with countless others who follow an entirely different Jesus than the One portrayed in the Scriptures.

Well that’s the visually impaired crowd. What about the two blind men?

If we can say anything at all about these two blind men, it’s that they see before they see. The crowd failed to see Jesus for who he is. But these blind men see Jesus rightly. They see Jesus as the Son of David, the MERCIFUL SHEPHERD KING. 

You hear it in their plea. “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David.” So simple yet so telling. Their plea demonstrated what they believed. Our faith, our pleas, will likewise reveal what we believe.

Their understanding of who the Son of David is was far better informed than the crowd’s. 

[Here’s the thing. We believe, not primarily what we see with our eyes but what we see with our hearts. We believe what the eyes of our hearts see regardless of what our physical eyes may see. If our hearts suppress the truth, we’ll believe our own version of the truth. But one’s version of the truth doesn’t make it true. 

Now, if we believe only what we see with our hearts, you and I have a serious problem. Because as Scripture makes clear in Jeremiah 17, the human heart is deceitful. So, if we are to believe rightly, we need God to open the eyes of our hearts. That’s what differentiates the seeing of the blind men from the seeing of the crowd.]

The crowd believed one thing about Jesus, they saw one thing about Jesus, that Jesus had no time to concern himself with the needs of the weak and infirmed, that Jesus was too high to deal directly with the poor and lowly, that Jesus’ mission was too big to involve himself with the trivial, such as what ever these two blind nobodies wanted from him.

But the blind saw something different. They believed something different. In Jesus, they saw a merciful shepherd like King David who not only cared about the destitution and pitiable state of others but that he cared about them! That he cared enough to enter their brokenness. And they saw that Jesus was powerful to help.

This is nothing less than the faith that calls on the name of the Lord and is saved! (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13.) “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord,” that’s exactly what these two blind men were doing. They were calling specifically on one of the many true names for Jesus of Nazareth: The Son of David.  

You see. Faith in Jesus believes Jesus can and that Jesus has a merciful disposition toward the meek. It’s not enough to have faith in some powerful Son of David (like the crowd did), if that Son of David has no inclination to care for your current welfare. It’s also not enough to have faith in some merciful shepherd king who is inclined to do good for you but has no power to help. These two blind men believed Jesus to be both Mighty and Merciful.

But where did such faith come from? The men may have been blind but their faith wasn’t. Genuine faith is never blind. 

Now, we know from reading our Bibles that faith is a gift from God. Yet, we also know that God uses means. 

First, He uses means to get the information to us. We need the truth revealed to us. That’s the Word—God’s Word proclaimed through God’s messengers. Right now, I want you to know that God’s Word is being proclaimed to you. 

I'm hoping to help you see just who the son of David is. So you may see the son of David as the blind men saw the son of David. 

But information alone, truth alone is not enough to save anyone. If it was, everyone would be saved. If truth was sufficient everyone would call upon the name of the Lord. 

But along with truth, the Spirit needs to illuminate that truth to the eyes of our heart,  not only so that we understand the truth rightly,  but that we would see that truth as glorious,  so that we would no longer suppress the truth.

Thes blind men (who likely weren’t always blind. Verse 34, they recovered their sight.) Their idea of the Son of David wasn’t fashioned out of whole cloth; it didn’t come from nowhere. They knew the Scriptures, either from reading them before they lost their sight or from hearing them read in synagogue Sabbath by Sabbath.

They likely recalled passages, not only from 2 Samuel 7 (where we read of the Davidic Covenant) but also from the Psalms and the Prophets. 

Take Psalm 72, penned by King Solomon. While Solomon was a Son of David, this psalm anticipated a greater king and a surpassing reign—a King before whom all other kings would fall and all nations serve. This idea of the Son of David, the crowd rallied behind. 

But Psalm 72 continues. This King delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy. In other words, this King would be both powerful and compassionate.

And in Isaiah 11, they’d have heard of the shoot from the stump of Jessee. Now who is that if not the Son of David? This shoot would not judge by what he sees or hears but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. 

They anticipated a time of restoration when, in Isaiah 35, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped. Yet, never before had the blind been healed of their blindness. Yes, there was a time in the days of Elisha when the Lord struck the Syrians with blindness, Elisha led them to Samaria, and then the Lord opened their eyes (2 Kings 6). But no prophet, priest, or king had ever healed the blind. And yet, these blind men believed that Jesus could do what no man had ever don in the history of the world!

They saw! The blind men saw that there must be some connection between the promised Son of David and Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord—the Servant who would no break a bruised reed or quench a fainting wick.

Yesterday, as our power was out, and I was working at the kitchen table surrounded by the candles Jenny spread around the table, one of these candles, its wick was fainting. It kept flickering in and out, barely holding on, barely putting out any light. It appeared utterly useless, unable to serve the purpose I thought needed to serve. That’s how the crowd viewed these blind men. Our Lord Jesus looks at the fainting wick differently than we tend to. He doesn’t quench the light that’s waning. Instead, He gives it light.

This servant would be given as a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out of prison those who sit in darkness. You realize that was these two men. Being blind, they weren’t able to enjoy the light that you and I so often take for granted. They sat on the roadside in darkness … but not for long. Why? Because the Son of David had come!

So, when the crowd rebukes them and tells them to be silent, of course they cry out all the more! Wouldn’t you?

You will seek me and find me … when? When you seek me with all your heart, not your eyes! No one needs 2020 vision to see Jesus clearly. If anything, our physical eyes can distract and distort. You don’t even need functioning eyeballs to see truth! What you need, what we need, is a faith that cries out desperately to Jesus, “Lord, have mercy on us!”

And what did they want to see? They wanted to see Jesus. Where do I get that? Well, let’s back up.

If you recall last week, we looked at a request from another pair of men. And here, Matthew is juxtaposing the two pairs. Rather than a request to sit on thrones like the two sons of Zebedee who wanted to sit at Jesus’ right and left, these two blind men are sitting by the roadside as beggars. Rather than some secret request for places of honor, these two blind men cry out publicly for mercy. And just as Jesus asked the two sons of Zebedee, “What do you want?” here, Jesus asks the blindmen the same thing. But rather than a request for glory like the sons of Zebedee, the blind men ask to see glory! “Lord, let our eyes be opened!”

Now, I understand there were likely many reasons they would want their vision restored. I mean, who wants to remain blind? But I’m convinced, given the faith they exhibited in who Jesus is, the reason they wanted their sight restored more than any other reason was to see Jesus. This is their Moses moment. “Lord, show me your glory!”

They recognized Jesus without needing to see his shekinah glory … but that didn’t mean they didn’t long to see it!

And in pity, Jesus touched their eyes and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. That phrase, “recovered their sight” is the Greek word “to look up.” The first thing they did when their eyes were opened was to look up into the face of God! O what a sight those merciful eyes of Jesus must have been!

And they followed him! These blind men had known suffering for who knows how long. Now they could run off to a “good life,” a care-free life in comparison to what they had endured. No more begging. No more missing out on all the beautiful sights this world has to offer. They could go see the world in all its beauty! Bucket List!

But instead, they chose to follow Jesus on His road to glory … where, perhaps, they didn’t know yet, but where they would witness the most beautiful sight of all: the Son of God dripping with blood, nailed to a splintery beam of wood, paying for their sins. Loved ones, what sights can the world offer compared to that!

This Jesus, who gives his life as a ransom for the many, is not too busy to stop for the two, to show compassion to the two. Is every infirmity healed in this age? No. But the Light of the World’s restoring sight to these two blind men points to the restoration to come. 

Understand, it was the two blind men, and not the crowd, who glorified this Son of David … who magnified His name. The Light of the World was glorified in these two blind men in a way that He wasn’t by the rest of the crowd. So, whatever your present weakness, disability, infirmity is, the Lord has divinely allowed and appointed such so that you might glorify Him in it.

You see, it’s a beautiful thing that our Lord doesn’t rush — that He allows time for us to seek Him desperately. Our desperate pursuit of Jesus only serves to further glorify Him. Now, some don’t like this idea of desperately pursuing the Son of God. But we may want to ask why? 

Listen. These two blind men, shamed by the crowd, could have given up their plea; they could have stopped crying out. And why might they have been tempted to do so? Because of pride and nothing else. And that pride could have sabotaged their faith. And listen. They would not have been healed. 

Scripture doesn’t portray such desperation to suggest, “Well, yeah, but there’s no expectation for you and me to be this desperate.” Their faith triumphed over their pride. Their hope triumphed over their shame. Let us look weak and helpless before the watching world. Why? Because we are! Why put up a front and pretend otherwise. That’s whom the gospel is for!

Cry out and receive the mercy you so desperately need from the only One who can give it! And by doing so, you will glorify the Deliverer. That’s Psalm 50:15. Call on me in the day of trouble, says the Lord. I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me!

Jesus’ mission — His main mission — is not at odds with our daily needs. In fact, Jesus’ mission, atoning for sin to restore us to God, in turn restores EVERYTHING else. 

Jesus came to touch what was unwell, to make it whole. And touching their eyes, they were immediately healed of their physical blindness. What surgery have you ever had that went so smooth?

In pity. The word is “σπλαγχνίζομαι.” It comes from the word many guts, or innards, or we sometimes say heart. Out of the overflow of His heart, Jesus was moved to touch. His heart preceded His hands. But it’s important to recognize that Jesus’ hands followed. He didn’t respond from afar, though He could have. He came near and touched them in their infirmity.

And just so you know, God’s hands moved with pity to respond to our desperate condition. God’s hands followed His heart. That’s why He stretched them out on the cross!

By stopping, Jesus was not sidetracked from His mission. He was fulfilling His mission. Application: Don’t think that mercy ministry isn’t a part of the church’s mission to make and be disciples. We are to stop and show compassion for our neighbors, the near ones of you, those by the roadside, as we follow Jesus to the cross.

What the blind men immediately saw upon Jesus opening their eyes, we also look forward to seeing. When their eyes were opened, everything was suddenly new and fresh. When we receive our new resurrected eyes, it shall be even more glorious than that! Where now, we see Jesus through the pages of His Word, through a glass darkly, soon, like those blind men, we’ll see Him face-to-face — but in the fullness of His glory, no longer veiled in the likeness of our fallen flesh.

And that’s just the physical. We’ll also see Him in the fullness of all His attributes, perfectly and rightly. And we’ll worship like never before. 

Are you looking forward to that day? I hope so. It’s coming. The fullness of the glory of salvation in coming. But such will only be enjoyed — not by those who followed the crowd — but by those who have had the eyes of their hearts opened to see glory … those who in seeing Jesus, follow Jesus on His road to glory, to the cross.

Is your faith in the Jesus these blind men saw? The Jesus of Scripture? Or like the crowd, is your faith in a partial Jesus, a distorted version of Jesus? 

Have your physical eyes betrayed you as you look on the delights and wares of this world … those things that the crowd esteems? Or have the eyes of your heart been opened to see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ?

Is your faith a faith that acknowledges your desperate need for mercy?

What if the blind men didn’t cry out when Jesus passed by? What if the shame they received from the crowd silenced them? Jesus passed that way from Jericho to Jerusalem but once as recorded in Scripture.

In the reading of this Word, in the proclamation of the gospel, Jesus is passing by right now. There’s no guarantee that He’s going to again. If you haven’t cried out in mercy to the Lord of Glory, today is the day. 

But if you delay, if you are somehow ashamed of this gospel, ashamed of this Jesus, you may miss your chance to see His unveiled glory. 

Today is the day of salvation. May the Lord open blind eyes and grant fresh sight to the eyes of our hearts that we may gaze upon His glory. Amen.

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   Matthew 20:17-28 Not to Be Served but to Serve 

UP TO JERUSALEM

Our passage begins: And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem…
It’s always “up to Jerusalem.” We’ve covered this in our class on Genesis and now Exodus. It’s always “down to Egypt,” and it’s always “up to Jerusalem.”

Now, the wording partly deals with geography. But if you know the Author of this book—who formed the very geography by speaking it into existence—and who has written the entire drama of redemptive history—you know that these prepositions concern more than physical elevation. They have to do with the spiritual journey of God’s people.

In order for Jesus to redeem, he must complete the same spiritual journey God’s people are called to, down to Egypt—which he did in his infancy—and up to Jerusalem, ascending to the place where God has put His name.

In our text, it is Daniel’s Son of Man who is going up to Jerusalem, approaching the Ancient of Days as it were. But where some would see this as Jesus’ journey to self-exaltation, it is anything but. At the end of this pilgrimage waits a cross.

READ (Matthew 20:17-28)

This is the third time Jesus has forewarned his disciples of his impending death. He’s going up to Jerusalem to be crucified. We’ll return to these opening verses later, as the passage as a whole has a loose chiastic structure to it. For now, it sets the background to this request from the Zebedee clan.

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION

It’s not uncommon to see people jockeying for position—maneuvering for a better spot than someone else. You see it in rush hour, with those who’s destination is obviously more important and urgent than yours. You go to a big event with a lot of people, you’ll come across those people who will miss the final act, or the last number, or the closing farewells, or the grand finale just so they can beat the crowd. I mean, who wants to spend an hour just trying to get out of the parking lot. Perhaps that’s you. I know I’ve done it.

[Sort of like gathering mana: He who left earlier didn’t arrive too early, and he who left later didn’t arrive too late. We may think we are outwitting God’s design, but God can just as easily remove those few minutes you think you saved.]

Well, that’s the physical aspect. It’s certainly more visible and apparent. But far more than our pushing our way to the front of the line—because in person, face-to-face with our peers, most of us just aren’t that bold—most of the time we seek to ever so subtly put ourselves ahead of others through what we might call self-promotion. The Bible simply calls it: exalting oneself.

You go to write that resume, whether for a job or for college or for some organization, you need to stand out. I’m not sure who’s going to hire the individual who says that everyone else is more deserving and better qualified but hey, if you give me a chance, I’ll do my best. 

Well, these sons of Zebedee — who Jesus calls Sons of Thunder, are a bit bolder than most.

Verse 20. (Read 20-21)

A MOTHER’S REQUEST

Now, we don’t know whose idea this is. In Mark’s account, the mother is left out. But here, in Matthew we’re given this extra detail where the mother initiated the conversation with Jesus. Now, that doesn’t mean it was her idea. Although like Rebecca and Jacob, it could have very well been the mother’s scheme to gain her sons a privileged position. 

It also could have been her son’s idea, but they were too afraid to ask themselves. Kind of like when as a teenager, you wanted to ask that girl to the dance, but were too afraid, so you’d send someone else in to test the water. Regardless of whose idea, these sons lacked the courage to go to Jesus themselves. (We’ll come back to that.)

Now consider it like this. If Jesus is who he claims to be, these two seats the sons of Zebedee are jockeying for will be the highest in all the land, higher than any other ruler or authority except for King Jesus himself — the Son of Man who receives dominion of all nations and people and languages. That’s how bold this request is. 

SOME COMMENDATION

But before we give James and John a hard time … before we give their mother any grief … let’s recognize that behind this boldness is a faith that most lack. Their request reveals that they believed in Jesus’ coming kingdom and that Jesus himself would indeed reign, even if they are confused as to what this kingdom and what Jesus’ lordship looks like. 

I wonder how many fill churches today who don’t even have that amount of faith … no acknowledgment of Jesus’ kingdom or his present reign. At most, he was a humble servant who set a good example for the rest of us to follow. It got him killed, but he left behind a legacy for the rest of us to follow. 

I would far rather see you with the faith of this mother and her sons, than to buy into some empty version of Christianity that can save no one.

Their request teaches us something: that genuine faith can exist side-by-side with genuine error. Yes, certain doctrines are non-negotiable. To fail to believe Jesus’ deity and his bodily resurrection is to believe a different Jesus than the Jesus who saves. To fail to believe in his substitutionary atonement (which we’ll get to) is to believe a different gospel that really isn’t good news at all. 

Still there are some genuine misunderstandings that in no way negate saving faith. Now listen. There’s a difference between misunderstanding and that of refusing Jesus’ teaching because it’s distasteful to our fallen flesh. The Lord knows the heart. And the heart will display itself in its words and actions. 

THE PATIENT TEACHER

Now Jesus doesn’t commend their faith in this request. That’s important to note. But neither does Jesus condemn their audacious request. Instead, he gently exposes their ignorance and their arrogance. Verse 22. Ignorance. You do not know what you are asking. And arrogance. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? (In Mark’s account, Jesus will include baptism.)

Remember Sons of Thunder. Just a minute ago you didn’t have the courage to make this request yourself. So your mom had to ask. Do you have the courage to drink my cup? Feeling a bit more confident now, the sons reply, “We can.”

Well, Jesus says, just so we’re clear (verse 23), you will drink my cup, but to sit at my right and my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

Notice that instead of a harsh rebuke, Jesus confirms that they will have the opportunity to show whether they can truly drink his cup. Furthermore, he’s about to share with them what greatness looks like. So, here he clarifies his own role as a servant, obedient to his Father. 

Don’t take this as denying his divinity but rather highlighting his humility. 

Verse 24. And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 

TWELVE ANGRY MEN

How many of you have seen Twelve Angry Men. An inner-city teen is on trial for murder. After the closing arguments of the case, eleven jurors seek to reach a quick unanimous decision by finding the kid guilty. But one juror’s not guilty verdict derails this quick in-and-out case closed. 

Well, here we have twelve angry men. The jury is out, and it’s against the two brothers. Fortunately, the fate of the brothers isn’t left up to the jury, but to one man, Jesus, who stands apart. 

Why were the ten indignant? Because they were somehow more righteous and noble than the brothers? I don’t think so. All twelve were guilty of the same pride. The ten were upset because they didn’t think to ask first. Or like the brothers, they didn’t have the courage to ask, and their mother didn’t show up to make the request for them.

And before we think we’re not like the brothers or the ten, it might not be the best seats we necessarily seek for ourselves. We just want to make sure our seat is at least better than the person next to us. 

ROAD TO GLORY

So now that the whole group has joined in, the stage is set for the teacher to give one of the hardest lessons for any of us to live out. The road to true glory isn’t in self-exaltation but the cross.

WHAT THE ROAD TO GLORY ISN’T

First, what the road to glory is not. Verse 25. Calling the disciples to him, Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you.”

Pagan leaders (and we might add pseudo Christian leaders) have their success plans. Vie for greater authority, greater positions of power, a larger platform, more people beneath, fewer above. 

That’s how the world views greatness. I’m still waiting for that humble politician. But such a person will never make it through the primaries. Why? Because the world views meekness as weakness and humility as a disability. In this world, we humble ourselves only to the extent we must in order to gain the power and prestige we seek.

But cultural norms are not kingdom norms. This, Jesus, says, is not the way it will be among you. That is not a picture of my kingdom. 

SERVANT AND SLAVE

Instead, verse 26. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave.

You want to be great, you become a servant. You want to be firs, you become a slave.

A servant — διάκονος — is one who cares for the needs of others. That’s the path to greatness. Care first for the needs of others.
A slave — δοῦλος — has no existence or rights of his own, but solely lives for others. That’s the path to being first. 

Jesus is saying, Guys, you want to be honored as those who sit at my right and left? It’s not a position you achieve by seeking it … but by casting off such aspirations, and instead, aspire to be a slave. 

This is why the Bible doesn’t outright condemn slavery in every form. Because without the existence of slavery for a time … we would have no concept for what Jesus calls us to … and what he became for us.

JESUS NEVER EXALTED HIMSELF

Did you know, that even the Son of God never once sought his own glory? I don’t know about you, but I find that utterly amazing. I know, how amazing that Jesus practiced what he taught. But I think the reason why is because every time I read through this book and consider our Lord, His ways are so contrary to my natural inclinations.

Jesus never exalted himself. His only aspiration was to serve His Father by serving the needs of those the Father had entrusted into his care. 

Jesus didn’t spend time worrying about his own needs. Forget the whole, make time for you … do something for yourself … you deserve a break today. That’s not the road to glory. That’s a way of life in a kingdom that is coming to an end.

THE WORLD’S CALL UPWARD

There is but one valid ambition for the Christian, and that is to serve! But… we still reside in this fallen world. And the tides of the culture are always calling us upward … up to the most elite schools, up to the highest paying professions, up to the most prestigious positions, up to the starting line up on the best team. We’ve got to up our social rankings, up our likes, our views, our engagement. 

Did you know that there are professional church growers? For a fee, they’ll come evaluate what we do here at Grace, then give us their recommendations on how to be a more sought-after church, more attractive to the community. They call it, seeker sensitive. Offer a little more of what the world prefers — a little more Babylon, a little less, you know, holiness, that whole set-apart thing.

What won’t be on their list of recommendations is greater faithfulness, a greater call to holiness, more time bowed down on our faces and on our knees before the Lord. 

THE UPWARD CALL

There is however an upward call that is biblical. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, where he calls us to humility by counting others more significant than ourselves, which Sherif read for us, Paul recognizes that even in pursuing such himself, he hadn’t yet attained it. So, he presses on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus. 

How does Paul press on? By counting every worldly accomplishment as loss and rubbish and instead seeking to share in Christ’s sufferings … becoming like Christ in His death, that by all means possible — including becoming a crucified slave — Paul might attain the resurrection of the dead. 

CROSS BEFORE THE CROWN

You see, before the crown comes the cross. That’s not simply for Jesus. That’s for us as well. If you aren’t crucified with Christ, you won’t receive the crown for finishing a race you never began. That’s what baptism is: it’s dying with Christ. That’s what we partake in regarding the Lord’s Supper. The cup we drink is the cup of death, the cup of wrath that Jesus himself drained to the dregs before it was passed on to us. Jesus absorbed the fullness of the cup of God’s wrath. But we still must partake of his cup if we are to be united with him. Or as Romans 8 puts it: we must suffer with Christ if we are to be glorified with Him.

So for all the man-centered Christianity out there, all the have your best life now, stop enduring life and start enjoying life, and all the ways the church seeks to make much of itself — that is a different religion than Jesus taught. That belongs to an entirely different kingdom than the kingdom Jesus established. 

PATIENCE FOR THE SLOW TO GRASP

But just like James and John and the ten, it’s a hard lesson for us to grasp. And even more so to live out. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that the church is full of James’s and Johns who are still in the growing and learning phase. 

How should we handle them? While there are times for strong rebuke — and we see Jesus at times do just that, here, Jesus was anything but. Instead of rebuking them, he pointed them to the cross. (We should take note.)

We don’t generally equate greatness with suffering and denying oneself in order to serve others. We don’t generally recognize first place as going to the One who seemed to have lost … lost his life at the hands of the enemy, lost the trial, and received the most severe scorn and humiliation, the greatest shame. 

UNNATURAL DISPOSITION

Our natural disposition is not to serve others… especially those who have scorned us, those who have been ungrateful toward our kindness, those who have squandered and wasted our generosity, those who want what is ours but want nothing to do with us. But that’s what Jesus did for us. While we were still enemies, Jesus stooped down as a servant to cleanse us. While we yet sinners, Christ came and gave his life as a ransom for us. 

GOD SERVES US

We can’t live up to this high calling of humble service without God’s help. We need God to serve us before we are able to be of any service in His Kingdom, or for us to be of any service to our neighbors. 

We call our Sunday gatherings: service. Church service. Worship service. But I hope you realize that when you come in here, who is actually serving who first. God serves us. That might strike some of us as strange. Be amazed. The God of all creation has stooped down from heaven to serve you. And because of that, and only because of that, are we able to worship and serve Him.

Jesus corrects their false ideologies of glory and greatness … and he corrects ours.

To be great is to be a servant. To be glorious — or first — is to be a slave who suffers for the kingdom. This, of course, makes Jesus, the Son of Man, the greatest and most glorious. 

Last verse. Verse 28. Even the son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for man.

SON OF MAN

Son of Man is Jesus’ favorite self-designation. (Referring to himself as the Son of Man some 80 times in the gospels.) Most scholars would agree that the most prominent reference to this title that Jesus would be taking to himself would be from Daniel chapter 7. The Son of Man is the One who comes on the clouds and receives dominion, and glory, and an everlasting kingdom. (Daniel 7:13-14)

If we took Daniel 7 without the gospel accounts, we’d come to the conclusion that the Son of Man came to reign, not to die, and certainly not to give his life as a ransom. 

DOMINION

In Daniel 7, the Son of Man comes and receives dominion where all peoples and nations, and languages serve him. But that seems completely out of step with being a servant, much less a slave. But that’s just the thing. This Ruler is like no other. This is the Ruler to serve. This is the Ruler who has won the loyalty of multitudes. 

But first this Son of Man who receives dominion will be handed over to the religious authorities to be condemned and then handed over to the Gentiles to be crucified under their dominion. I hope you see the paradox. The One who receives dominion first submits himself to the dominion of others.

GLORY

Daniel’s Son of Man comes and receives glory. The last thing anyone would have anticipated would be that this Son of Man first suffers the greatest possible humility. But back up in verse 19, he is mocked, flogged, and crucified. More than that, he’ll be beaten, spit on, stripped naked, and nailed exposed for all to see on an ugly splintery beam of wood. But this indeed was the Son of Man’s most glorious hour.

EVERLASTING

Daniel’s Son of Man comes and receives an everlasting kingdom. That certainly suggests that he would live forever. So, for Jesus to mention his death, especially in this context is most unexpected. What’s surprising is not so much that the Son of Man would rise, but that he would die. What sort of everlasting kingdom is there for a dead man?

But as he told his disciples, he wouldn’t remain dead. On the third day he would rise. And rise he did.

NO CATEGORY

Okay, so he told his disciples beforehand, but they just didn’t get it. Let’s be honest. Neither would we. They had no category for the sort or rising from the dead Jesus is referring to. Dead people don’t rise. Neither in Jewish thought, Roman thought, or in all the ancient world, did anyone talk about rising from the dead he way Jesus talked about it. 

And we see that such was truly the case. Because even after he rose, the claim was too incredible for most to believe … not just the religious leaders or the Roman authorities, but even for his own disciples. Remember, the disciples didn’t believe the women at first. And Thomas had to see and touch before he would believe. 

At most, they thought the resurrection was primarily spiritual in nature, such as ghosts — like Herod thought concerning Jesus being John the Baptist raised from the dead — or at the final judgment, then there would be a resurrection. But what no one thought was that a man could die on a Friday afternoon, be buried, spend a full Sabbath as a corpse in a sealed tomb, and on the following Sunday morning rise from the dead. Completely unthinkable. And if you think you would have been all the wiser before it happened, you’re fooling yourself.

THREE QUESTIONS

Three questions: according to Jesus, why did the Son of Man come? What does his death accomplish? And to whom does it apply?

WHY HE CAME?

First, why Jesus came? He came not to be served but to serve and give his life. In other words, he came to die. 

Now this wording, came … the Son of Man came, it’s a bit different than you telling me that you came to church this morning. If you told me that you came to church this morning to worship, I’d assume you came from somewhere … most likely your house. But Jesus isn’t speaking of merely his itinerary for a day. He did that when he stopped at a well in Samaria. Here Jesus is speaking of his life purpose. It assumes something beyond one’s day to day agenda. 

That the Son of Man came, points to the Son of God’s pre-existence. He came sent from His Father. Or as the hymn puts it: From heaven He came and sought her. The Eternal Son came in order that He might die.

WHAT HIS DEATH ACCOMPLISHED

Which takes us to our next question. What did Jesus’ death accomplish? He gave his life as a ransom. Now, today, when we think of ransom, we think of hostages taken, in which the individual or group wants a ransom paid in order for them to release the prisoner. In biblical times, this word often has to do with slaves. If someone sold themselves into slavery, another could redeem them by paying their debt. 

Well, we are both. We are slaves to sin. And we owe a debt we can’t pay. But we are also hostages held captive by oppressive and powerful forces — the devil, the world, and even our own flesh with its wayward desires. Jesus gave his life as a ransom to redeem us from bondage, most particularly our bondage to sin.

TO WHOM DOES IT APPLY?

Last question. To whom does this apply? Jesus’ death? The end of the verse, he gave his life as a ransom … for many. Now there are a couple ways in which we can understand this word many. [Cheyenne is actually writing a paper on this very subject this weekend, and it’s due tonight! Anyway…]

Some take “many” to mean “all.” Jesus gave his life as a ransom for all — the entire human race. That doesn’t mean everyone will benefit. But that’s who he gave his life for. And it may surprise some, but that is Calvin’s take on this verse.

Not to be more Calvinistic than Calvin, but I believe that many is used in a narrower sense than Calvin claims. As a side note, our goal is never to exalt a theological framework over the text but to glean our theology out of the text.

Jesus most likely intends “many” to refer to God’s people or God’s elect. Here’s where I get that. Jesus is likely alluding to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53:12 says concerning the Suffering Servant that he poured out his soul to death — that’s Jesus giving his life — and was numbered with the transgressors, bearing the sin of many — that’s the ransom, bearing sin. For whom? Many. In order to make intercession for the transgressors. So, that’s where the language comes from.

Now, who is this many referring to? It’s God’s people. His elect. Verse 8. He was stricken for the transgression of … my people. So, in the context of Isaiah 53, Jesus, the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many, for God’s people, His elect, the church.

SUBSTITUTION – IN PLACE OF

Regardless of how you read many, the point is that Jesus gave his life for this group. And he did it as a substitution. That’s the little word for at the end of the sentence. For many. The preposition is most often translated “in place of.” For example, in Matthew 2, when Joseph brings Mary and baby Jesus back up from Egypt to Israel, he hears that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod. Or the father who gives good gifts to his son, when his son asks for bread, the father doesn’t give his son a stone in place ofbread. 

Here, Jesus gives his life in place of the many. 

Jesus came to serve. How did he serve? By giving his life in place of ours so that we could go free. So that we could be released from bondage to serve freely.

Jesus came to give his life. That little baby in a manger… he came to give his life. This is a reminder that Jesus’ violent death was not some meaningless accident in history but God’s good plan. Jesus was not a helpless unfortunate victim of injustice but a knowing and willing partner in God’s strategy to execute perfect justice in such a way that also made a way for unfathomable mercy.

We discussed surrender over the past several weeks in Jeremiah. Jesus wins the crown, first prize, is acclaimed the greatest, not because he sought such accolades for himself but because he surrendered his will to his Father’s will and his life to the cross as the most lowly and humble act of service ever. Service to us … to be sure. We are the ones ransomed. Praise the Lord! But also, service to his Father. We were ransomed for God. (Revelation 5:9).

CHILD’S LEVEL

So, to put it on a child’s level. We all struggle with this ugly sin called PRIDE — thinking too much of ourselves, thinking that we are somehow more important than others, thinking that we deserve better than our neighbor, a better seat, a better role, a better anything … than someone else.

Jesus teaches us humility … not to think of ourselves first, but to think of others first. When Jesus was hungry, or thirsty, or exhausted, or sleepy, or hurting, or sad, or made fun of, or spit on, or beaten, or stripped naked, or nailed to the cross, or struggling to take his last breath … Jesus wasn’t thinking about himself … he was thinking about his Father … and … you, His sheep. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Matthew will later record that the mother of James and John is there when Jesus is crucified, standing by … watching. I wonder if she thought about her request when she saw the two criminals crucified with Jesus — one on his right and the other on his left. 

You want to be exalted with Jesus? You want to be glorified with Jesus? You’ve got to be crucified with Jesus. If anyone would come after me, Jesus says, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 

There is only one road to true and lasting glory… it’s the cross.

https://youtu.be/MJ8gi6VfbdI

   Jeremiah 38:14-28 Surrendered to the King, part 2, The Fear of Man

INTRODUCTION:

Last week we looked at the courageous example of Ebed-melech in confronting the king and rescuing Jeremiah from the cistern. This week, we’ll be looking closer at the cowardly example of King Zedekiah — and the fear of man that keeps us from surrendering to the Lord.

READ: Jeremiah 38:14-17

SECRET AUDIENCE: (v.14)

Not sure if you’ve ever been in a position where the job wasn’t going so well. So, you kind of want to test the water to see what’s up, without raising any unnecessary attention. So, maybe you go to that guy who has the bosses ear … privately… of course, and try to get him to disclose what he knows.
Tell me, just how bad is it? 

Now, you do it privately, of course, because, well, we don’t want others to hear. We want to try and save as much face as possible. Why? Because saving face is what’s important. If I’m getting fired, I want to at least preserve a little dignity while I’m still on the job… while I still need to look these people in the eye.

That’s where are text picks up. Zedekiah recognizes his position … his job performance hasn’t gone all that well. So, he seeks a private audience with Jeremaih. Look at verse 14.

Notice, when Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah, he receives him at the third entrance to the temple of the LORD. Not the main entrance… not even the second entrance. This third entrance reveals the secrecy behind the meeting.

Why another meeting with Jeremiah? Well, Jeremiah was just rescued. And the king did, even if somewhat forced to, have a hand in this rescue operation. I mean, look Jeremiah, I was the one who commanded Ebed-melech to take 30 men and lift you out of the muddy cistern. So, just maybe, the Lord will look on this good deed of mine and respond a bit more favorably than previously.
But what Zedekiah fails to grasp, and sometimes us too, is that Grace isn’t earned… ever!

In fact, secrecy of this meeting recalls the same cowardice that led to Jeremiah being cast in the cistern to begin with. Zedekiah was afraid to stand up for justice. So, he gave Jeremiah into the hands of those who sought his life.

Now that Jeremiah’s cleaned up and dry, perhaps even enjoyed a better night’s sleep than the night before, the king says to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.”

EXPOSING A KING’S HEART: (v. 15)

We’re never actually given the question. But Jeremiah clearly knew what the king was asking. Verse 15. Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.”

Many suggest that after his stint in the cistern, Jeremiah is a little more fearful than previously. So, he’s holding out for some assurances before giving the king the LORD’s word on the matter.

That’s possible. But the same God who had just delivered Jeremiah from the miry bog can surely deliver him from whatever the king might threaten. 

What’s likely going on, and hopefully, you’ll be able to see it in light of the whole of our text, is that Jeremiah is exposing the king’s heart.

Jeremiah preps Zedekiah for what will no doubt be an unfavorable message in the king’s eyes, drawing attention to his heart issue. Listen, Zed, you won’t listen to me if I tell you. So, why do you want to hear it?

Jeremiah is also setting up Zedekiah to offer some assurances. But these assurances aren’t so much for Jeremiah’s sake. They are to expose Zedekiah’s irrational refusal to heed God’s word. 

How? Because Zedekiah is about to offer Jeremiah the same assurances that the LORD will give Zedekiah in verse 20. You will not be handed over to those who seek your life. Your life shall be spared!
If Zedekiah expects Jeremiah to trust this compromising king’s word, how much more should the king trust the Divine Word?

IRONIC ASSURANCE: (v. 16)

Verse 16. Then King Zedekiah swore secretly — notice the secrecy — “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

Zedekiah invokes the LORD’s name. He even acknowledges the LORD as Creator. But knowledge about God and some degree of belief in who He is, is not the same as trusting God and obeying Him. Invoking the LORD’s covenant name is not the same as submitting to the LORD of the covenant. Recognizing the Giver of life is not the same as entrusting oneself to the Sustainer of life.

TERMS OF SALVATION: (v.17)

Zedekiah has revealed — like the rest of us — that he is without excuse. As such, the terms of salvation don’t change. In fact, the king receives the same conditions of salvation that was offered to the people back in verse 2. Surrender and live. Resist and perish.

Verse 17. Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.

Even in this late hour … the city on the brink of destruction … Zedekiah’s fate seems all but sealed … mercy is still held out. Sadly, rather than being amazed at the mercy of God to even offer us salvation, we tend to find fault that the Almighty would demand the terms … that He would demand our surrender or submission to another.

SURRENDER AS SUBMISSION TO THE LORD

The thing is, and we need to grasp this, surrendering to the king of Babylon is not so much a surrender to Babylon as it is to the LORD. Submission to God’s chosen officials is submission to Him.

This does not mean that those who surrendered to Babylon are to heed the king of Babylon without question. All we need is to look at the examples of Daniel and his three friends: (What were their names?) Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego.

Heeding the voice of the LORD by surrendering to the Chaldeans would be to entrust oneself to the LORD’s sovereign care. This isn’t just an Old Testament idea. We see the same in New Testament texts like Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. 

CONSEQUENCES FOR RESISTANCE: (v.18)

While the terms of salvation are the same for Zedekiah as they were for the people, the stakes, however, are somewhat higher being that Zedekiah was the head of the people. Not only would Zedekiah’s surrender spare his own life, but the city would also be spared. 

The reverse is also true. Zedekiah’s refusal to surrender would spell unnecessary doom for the city.

The reason for this is that the king is a type of federal head. Like Adam was the representative for the entire human race in the Garden, kings are the representative of the people. When kings go astray, often the nation follows suit.

Loved ones, regardless of your sphere of influence, though most of us are not kings over nations, our surrender, as well as our refusal to surrender bears consequences for others. Our surrender might not spare an entire city. But it just might spare an entire household. How often do we read in Acts, “you and your household.” 

READY TO LISTEN OR READY TO NEGOTIATE?

Just as we tend to find fault with God’s terms of salvation, our flesh tends to find His consequences too severe. I mean, instead of surrendering, can’t I just stay in the city and tidy up my behavior here? I’m ready to listen here!

Here’s the problem with that. If you’re truly ready to listen, if you’re truly ready to heed God’s word, then do so. Surrender to the king as you have been instructed.

We might think of conversations we sometimes have with our kids after they lose a special privilege. Suddenly, they’re ready to listen. I’ll listen, just let me… The problem is they aren’t ready to listen; they’re ready to negotiate.  And before we give the kids a hard time… that’s us! 

We think we can negotiate with God. But get this. God doesn’t negotiate. He’s the all-wise all-knowing One. He doesn’t need our input. His terms are always the best. Why? Because He’s merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 

But for those who refuse His terms, He will not let the guilty go unpunished.

FEAR OF MAN:  (v.19)

Verse 19. Even with these elevated stakes, even with the additional extension of mercy, the fear of man wins out in Zedekiah’s life. I’m afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.

Zedekiah is more anxious over the severity of those who had deserted to the Chaldeans — those who actually heeded Jeremiah’s word and surrendered — than he is the severity of God’s judgment.

How many will choose the severity of divine wrath because of the fear of man who can at most kill the body? As Samuel read for us, the fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. 

What lies at the heart of the fear of man? They might take something from me … something I love, something I value, something I enjoy … those things that we esteem most in life. 

We fear man because we fear the physical harm they might inflict on us. We fear man because we fear the financial harm they might cause. We fear man because of the relational harm and the reputational harm that could ensue.  

Listen loved ones. The fear of man is an awful burden to bear… a burden that you and I were never intended to carry.

There’s only one remedy for this fear of man and that’s the fear of the Lord.  Zedekiah lacked the fear of the LORD, which is simply another way of saying he lacked biblical faith. How? Well, the fear of the Lord is believing who God is — believing God as He has disclosed Himself — and believing what He has said.

A FINAL PLEA – TRUE ASSURANCE: (v.20)

But Jeremiah makes one final plea to this king. Verse 20. King Zedekiah, you shall not be given into their hands. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared.

That’s the plea of every faithful proclaimer of God’s Word. That’s the plea of biblical preaching. Obey NOW the voice of the Lord! As the text is exposited, as God’s Word is proclaimed, we appeal to every hearer, “Heed God’s voice, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared.” Are you currently following the Lord? The proclamation for you is to do so more and more, and it shall be well with you. Are you caught up in some sinful pattern? The call for you is to surrender … repent … and it shall be well with you.

The proclamation of every message is a call for obedience to God’s voice, proclaimed through the lips of mere men, as they faithfully expound God’s Word. And for those who obey His voice, you have nothing at all to fear. No enemy’s threat need concern you. Though Satan should buffet, those trials may come, it shall be well with your soul. 

PLEADING WITH OUR ENEMIES

It shouldn’t be overlooked that Jeremiah here is pleading with one who initially gave him over to those who sought to kill him. Jeremiah is seeking the salvation of one who has proven his enemy.

Yet Jeremiah recognizes the good that will come from the king’s surrender… that the king’s salvation will lead to the salvation and good of others. Conversely, the king’s resistance will lead to great harm for not just him but for others also.

A VISION TO DREAD: (v.21)

But if you refuse… verse 21. This is the vision the Lord has shown me. Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon saying, ”Your trusted friends have deceived you and prevailed against you. Now that your feet are sunk in the mud, they turn away from you.” All your wives, Zedekiah, and all your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon. And this city shall be burned with fire.

SUNK IN THE MUD AND DESERTED: (v. 22)

Where you, o king, had no problem allowing me to be cast into the cistern to sink in the mud, my God rescued me. But should you refuse this door of salvation that is currently open to you, you shall find yourself sunk in the mud. But there’ll be no Ebed-melech — no servant of the King — to rescue you.

Listen Zedekiah… listen, you who are given over to the fear of man (of which none of us are immune). Those people you’re seeking so desperately to gain and maintain the favor of — those who flatter you with their affirmations and agreeable counsel now — once your feet are sunk in the mud, and you have nothing to offer them, they will desert you. You won’t be able to find them.
So why fear them now?!

SACRIFICING OF OTHERS: (v.23)

What’s more… your refusal to surrender due to your fear of man, will not only bring harm to you. It will bear devastating consequences for countless others, including your own family. 

At the beginning, Jeremiah was accused of not seeking the welfare of his own people. Let me ask. Who do you think is seeking the greater welfare of the people? The one who calls for his people to surrender and live? Or those who keep sacrificing brothers, and fathers, and sons, and friends, and neighbors to the front line? 

Zedekiah sought to retain his crown as long as he could. He refused to relinquish his crown, even though it would cost the lives of his wives and children. But, if we’re honest, we do the same things. No, we might not be kings and queens of nations. But how often do we seek to retain the crown of our own puny kingdoms … our own tiny towers with their tops in the heavens. And that at the expense and sacrifice of others.

If you recall the words of Jesus, that Josiah read from Matthew 16. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, Jesus says, will find it. If we seek to hold on to our lives in this age, seeking to retain our crowns here, we will ultimately lose them. Surrender, however, and you’ll receive your life as a prize of war.  And that prize is more glorious than any of us can begin to imagine.

DON’T TELL ON ME: (v. 24)

Sadly, even after this final plea, what Zedekiah cares about most at the moment is others finding out about their little conversation. Verse 24. Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die.”

The king pretty much says, “Don’t tell on me.” Zedekiah is still more concerned regarding his political standing … his reputation … than for the lives of his family, than for the welfare of the people, and more importantly than for obedience to God. He might as well be saying, I’ll concern myself with my spiritual condition sometime later. Right now, I have a reputation to maintain. 

Listen loved ones. The fear of man will only lead to an increase of sin and destruction that need not ever take place. How many will continue to allow their current trajectory of sin to play out because we fear others finding out.

HIDING SIN

I’m reminded of a fairly prominent pastor who was caught up in a grievous sin involving a woman who was not his wife. I wonder how that sin must have ate at him. But the fear of man, the fear of the immediate consequences that he’d have to face in confessing his sin, kept him from getting immediate help, and allowed the hurt and suffering to unnecessarily increase. 

Pain and heartache could have been minimized if only he had the courage to confess immediately and surrender himself to the King’s officials (as it were), the elders of the church, as a way of surrendering himself to the merciful judgment of Christ. Instead, there’s a wake of destruction that can’t be undone.

O but even in this hour, the gospel of grace calls! For while the gospel doesn’t undo the destruction, it does bring about restoration. This pastor recently publicly confessed his sin and grieved over the hurt it has caused. It’s a reminder, that though we are weak, though we fall short, God’s mercy is so much greater than our sins.

Loved ones — it’s better, eternally better that your sins are exposed now — one this side of judgment — that you might repent. And the sooner the better, so that the damage might be lessened and the bleeding stopped.

A CLEVER SCHEME: (v. 25-26)

Last few verses. Zedekiah concocts a clever scheme. Verse 25. If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say, “Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,” then you shall say to them, “I made a humble plea to the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.”

Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So, they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

LITTLE WHITE LIE or DON’T GIVE TO DOGS? (v. 27)

Commentaries are divided on Jeremiah’s faithfulness at this point. Respectable theologians whom I often agree with will say, “There’s no way getting around the fact that Jeremiah lied. He had one more opportunity to share the gospel, and he blew it. Perhaps Zedekiah wasn’t the only one in this scene who caved to the fear of man.” But is that what’s going on here?

First, Jeremiah has no additional news he’s obligated to tell these officials that he hasn’t already told them. Surrender and live. Resist and perish. And they cast him into the cistern because of his message. 

Second, he’s not under any obligation to disclose the full account of his conversation with the king. Rules of warfare are not the same as rules of court.

While it doesn’t excuse us from sharing the gospel and our obligation as watchmen to warn others to flee the coming wrath, Scripture does free us from certain obligation to what it refers to as scoffers. Proverbs 9:8 – Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you. Proverbs 23:9 - Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. Or consider Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet and then turn and tear you to pieces. 

KEPT IN PRISON UNTIL THE CITY IS TAKEN (v. 28)

Jeremiah had already said what needed to be said. The overwhelming majority refused to heed his words. His ministry isn’t over, but for now, he has nothing more to say until after the city is taken. What’s more, the biblical narrative gives no hint of Jeremiah acting unfaithfully in this situation. If nothing else, the opposite is the case, as we’ll see in the next chapter.

Finally, the fact that the city was taken confirms Jeremiah’s words and his faithful proclamation. But it needs to be said that there is no joy in Jeremiah being right. Jeremiah himself will lament this fact. Sometimes it must have felt like it would be preferrable to be found a false prophet and to see the city spared. Proclaiming God’s full counsel is hard, it weighs on the heart, especially when we consider all those who refuse to surrender, knowing the judgment that awaits them. But… there are those who hear the voice of the Lord and heed His Word. And that helps strengthen us to press on.

CONCLUSION –

Where the fear of man is a snare, the fear of the Lord releases us from that snare. But you have to surrender to the King to know this freedom. 

I mentioned scoffers. Let me tell you, there’s hope for scoffers. I don’t have time to share my testimony, but less than 14 years ago, I was one who scoffed at the terms of God’s salvation. Trust the Son and you’ll be saved; otherwise perish. 

Well, in case there’s someone here, who like me questioned God’s terms of salvation, let me point you to the high-cost God Himself paid to even offer you these terms.

CHRIST –

You see, God doesn’t call us to anything He wasn’t willing to subject Himself to. I mentioned Romans 13 earlier. Let every person be subject — or we might say, surrender himself — to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Jesus surrendered himself to the governing authorities of his day. And he did so, even knowing they would take his life… knowing they would crucify him… knowing they would put him to open shame… beaten and stripped naked before the watching world… before those who would mock him and spit on him.

The governing authorities, however, weren’t able to arrest Jesus without Jesus giving himself over to them. When the soldiers came to arrest him, they drew back and fell to the ground before him. 

Now listen. In surrendering himself to the authorities, the Son of God knew he was entrusting himself to His Father’s loving care. When we surrender to the authorities, we are entrusting ourselves to our heavenly Father’s loving care.

Whereas Zedekiah failed to capitalize on the opportunity to save others by surrendering himself … Jesus actually did. We are saved only because Jesus surrendered his life rather than seeking to preserve it.
Does that not move you to surrender to this King.

APPLICATION / HOPE – 

Last point. Do you recall how Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount? Everyone who hears my words and does them will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. Those who don’t will be like the fool who built his house on the sand.

Many will suggest Jesus’ sermon was a call to a higher morality. While there’s some truth to that, Jesus is actually calling us to something infinitely more important than “do better.” He’s calling us to trust Him.

Every heart will be exposed by God’s soul piercing Word. Every king’s heart, who has set him or herself upon thrones of their own making. 

You see, we have all built castles for ourselves. Everyone of us, at some point in our lives, and some of us even now, continue to erect or maintain or salvage our own puny kingdoms. But the footing of these castles is on sand. 

The difference between castles that fall and houses that stand is whom our faith is in. Outside of Christ, your little castle in the sand will eventually fall. But in Christ, you are brought in as a fellow laborer to build upon the Rock. And upon this Rock, this one foundation, Jesus’ house, the church is built. And in this house, there is rest … rest for your souls… and rest from the fear of man. 

And the great church victorious shall be the church at rest. 

Surrender to the King and know this rest.

https://youtu.be/H5DAJDNMHig

   Jeremiah 38:1-13 Surrendered to the King, part 1

INTRODUCTION:

Resurrection Story – type, shadow? Parallels many.

READ: Jeremiah 38:1-13

     THE MESSAGE: SURRENDER TO THE KING

The Message: Surrender to the King The message doesn’t really change.

I attended a conference a handful of years back with some pastor friends of mine. John Piper was the keynote. On the drive back from Memphis they were discussing the different speakers, and when they got to Piper, one of the guys made the comment: “He only has one message.” Now, the comment wasn’t meant as a compliment, but I assure you, Piper would receive it as one. And I’ve heard enough Piper messages to know what this pastor meant. I’ve never heard a message from Piper where the focus wasn’t the glory of God. So, in that sense, he does have only one message. But that’s because the Bible only has one message. O it’s expressed in many ways, but the message of the Bible is one. One message from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation.

And I do believe that Piper, along with countless other faithful theologians is right in recognizing the God’s glory is the central theme of this unifying message.
We might express the message of the Bible like this:
God’s glory publicly revealed in Creation; challenged in the Fall; defended in Redemption; and enjoyed in New Creation, with the climax of this glory displayed in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The preacher of God’s Word will no doubt have many sermons, exhorting God’s people through the various implications of the texts, but ultimately he better have one message,  and that message is the glory of God in Jesus Christ. (Road to Emmaus.)

It's not that Jeremiah never offers variety in its expression. It’s not that history and circumstances don’t change, hence the particular implications and applications will necessarily change. But for those in rebellion against the Lord, the proclamation is a constant call to surrender (repentance) or face judgment… because God is a just God.

So, verse 2. He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, famine, and plague, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war (literally: plunder) and shall live. For this city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.

Surrender to God’s chosen king and you will live. Seek to retain your current way of life,—your own puny kingdom—perish.

Right now, for a time, God’s chosen king is the ruthless Nebuchadnezzar. Why? Because the people refused to submit to the Lord as their King. “Give us a king,” they demanded.
Well, after years of rebellion, God has appointed a ruthless king. Why? So that they’d know the difference between serving the Lord and serving the kingdoms of the nations. (See 2 Chronicles 12:8.)

No surprise… some of those who heard Jeremiah’s words, were not to pleased. Now, Jeremiah was already under guard, in the court of the guard. They could throw Jeremiah in prison and lock him up, But what they couldn’t do was shut him up.

The world may seek to silence you, but my prayer is that so long as the Lord puts breath in your lungs, you would continue proclaiming God’s Word regardless of your circumstances.

     FAITHLESS INSIDERS

So, the 4 officials in verse 1, Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jucal, and Pashur, who heard Jeremiah’s message, which was going out to all the people, were going to see if they could silence him for good. So they take their concern to the king.

Verse 4.

Then the officials said to the king, (King Zedekiah), “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them.
For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

Now, it’s true that Jeremiah’s message — not encouraging —  but encouraging is not what’s needed. News of judgment – not good news! But what matters is not if the news is good or bad but true. If the news is God’s news it needs to be heard.

It’s not good news that a lion would be happy to eat you for dinner if he gets the chance, but it’s good that you know he’d be happy to do so. Bill, you’re a beekeeper. It’s not good news that bees sting! But I’m sure you’d agree that it’s good to know that they do. Why? So that you can approach the situation accordingly.  It’s not good news to be facing God’s judgment! BUT! It is good that you know! Why? So that you can respond accordingly. And the only correct response is, “Surrender and live.”

But to say Jeremiah only preached bad news / judgment dishonest Jeremiah was also proclaiming – way of salvation. SURRENDER!!!

SEEKING WELFARE

The accusation of these 4 officials was that Jeremiah not seeking welfare of this people. But that’s utterly false. He was the one actually doing so.

These officials weren’t seeking the welfare. They seemed content to deny reality and simply watch the last of the people perish rather than warning them that they could find life outside this city devoted to destruction.

Did they truly believe starvation, pestilence, and sword more acceptable than surrender? Problem not Babylonians God Himself fighting against!

Jeremiah’s words were discouraging! They did weaken hands! They were meant to! They were meant to discourage rebellion and sin. Meant to promote surrender. That’s what the gospel message is designed to do. Transfer one’s allegiance from the kingdom of destruction to the kingdom of God. Hence the need for the full gospel, not half.

These liberal theologians of Jeremiah’s day wanted a God of mercy, but not a God of justice: a God of victory, but not a God who allows suffering; a God of love, but not a God of discipline. They were willing to sacrifice the lives of God’s people for only half a god!

And not much has changed!  Countless books, articles, social media posts, university lecterns, and even pulpits content themselves with half a god. But half a god can’t save anyone, any more than half a gospel can.

What’s the verdict from these officials? Such a man deserves to die! (Paul, Stephen, Jesus) A prophet who refuses to divide God in two, so that people can pick the god they like, or the parts of God they like, will always be condemned by the world.

THE GOD OF AUTONOMY

But death, isn’t that a little harsh? Perhaps. But that’s to fail to realize what the world holds as its most treasured value. You see, in the world’s eyes, surrender, is the chief sin. Why?  Because fallen sinful man prizes nothing higher than personal autonomy. Autonomy is our god! It's the god the world worships more than anything else.
Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do with my body!
Don’t tell me what books should be in my kids school library!
Don’t tell me whether I’m a boy or a girl.
In fact, don’t tell me I have to go to the office if I want to keep my job!
Don’t tell me to report what I did this week! I’ll tell you… if I feel like it!

Whatever you do, don’t tell me to surrender my autonomy! Because it’s not going to happen. Okay. That’s fine. You don’t have to surrender. But understand,  it’s God’s grace that even offers you the opportunity to do so. But the world, rather than receiving God’s grace prefers to rail against such a patient God. But patience can only be extended for so long. Justice won’t be delayed indefinitely.

Verse 5.

King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.”

A KING WHO FEARS JUSTICE

What sort of response is this from a king? Well, for one, it’s the response of a king who has no claim to the throne. Zedekiah was installed by Nebuchadnezzar. He’s a puppet king. And he even rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah was also a cowardly king. (Next week.) His fear of man far outweighed any supposed fear of the Lord.

In fact, Zedekiah is a lot like Pontius Pilate in this sense. He knows Jeremiah is innocent. Just as Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. Neither of them had done anything deserving of death. But due to their fear of man, they both seemed to think they could hand over the accused to their accusers and somehow keep their hands clean. So, Zedekiah seeks to wash his hands of the whole situation. We might say, Zedekiah didn’t want innocent blood on his hands.

But he wasn’t bold enough to demand justice either! Zedekiah pretty much gives Jeremiah over to these Jewish officials just as Pilate gave Jesus over to the will of the Jewish officials in his day.

Verse 6.

So, they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

HYPOCRISY EXPOSED

Just as Zedekiah didn’t want innocent blood on his hands, these Jewish officials didn’t want blood on their hands either. O they wanted Jeremiah silenced. They wanted him dead. But they didn’t want to be the direct cause of his death.

Much like the Jewish officials of Jesus’ day, who called for Jesus to be crucified; they figured, so long as they didn’t physically spill his blood, they liked to think they were somehow innocent of this man’s blood.

So, notice, they lower Jeremiah down into the cistern with ropes to die a slow painful death of hunger. The cistern had no standing water, so Jeremiah sank into the mud – literally, mire. He sank into a sure grave in a miry pit.  In other words, Jeremiah was left for dead.

These self-righteous Jews, who accused Jeremiah of not seeking the welfare of the people, demonstrated their true character.

The truth always reveals itself. Hypocrisy always reveals itself. For example: Climate advocates have no problem flying their private jets half way around the globe in order to express their outrage over a problem they seem happy enough to contribute to. The tolerance crowd will always show their intolerance towards those who don’t share their views. The Jews condemned Jesus of breaking the Law of Moses, through an unlawful trial that broke the Law of Moses.

Jeremiah had been unlawfully sentenced to a bloodless execution, through a sham trial, and the governing authority – the Pontius Pilate of the day – stood by allowing injustice to win the day.  Or so it seemed…
Enter Ebed-Melech, servant of the king.

     FAITHFUL OUTSIDERS

Verses 7-9

When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (or your translation might say Cushite), a eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate— Ebed-melech went from the king’s house and said to the king, “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.”

Now, Ebed-melech is one of those obscure figures with a very significant role, obscure in the sense that we likely don’t even know his name. Ebed-melech is likely a title that describes his lowly position. It literally means slave or servant of the king. He was King Zedekiah’s slave.

He was also a foreigner. Whether from Ethiopia or Cush or Sudan. The point is, he is not Jewish.  He’s an outsider. 

What’s more, he’s a eunuch – that’s the more literal term, one who has been castrated or emasculated. Some of your translations may simply say “court official,” which the term can mean such, such as Potiphar, captain of the guard, who Joseph was sold to as a slave, was an official of Pharaoh.  Same word.

We don’t tend to think of Potiphar as being a eunuch because, well, he was married! And I haven’t looked into it all that deeply, but one might wonder why Potiphar’s wife sought the attention of other men such as Joseph. Just a thought. Anyway, Ebed-melech was most likely a eunuch, not simply an official.

OUTSIDE THE PROMISES

So, this Ebed-melech is not just an outsider as a eunuch, he is doubly cut-off from the promises of God. He’s also a slave. And he’s without a name. In fact, he’s without a name twice over. He's without a specific name, and hence referred to by his position. But he’s also without a name in the sense that  as a eunuch he has nothing to pass on.  He will have no progeny, no posterity.

Yet this outsider more readily recognizes the injustice done to God’s prophet
than the insiders, those who claimed themselves to be the people of God.

Ebed-melech was also one of the few who seemed to have given heed to Jeremiah’s message. What does Jeremiah’s message have to do with a guy like Ebed-melech.

FOR THE NATIONS

Well, from the beginning of his ministry, at his calling in chapter 1, Jeremiah was appointed a prophet to the nations. Behold, says the Lord, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.

Jeremiah’s message was not just for the Jews. It was for the nations. It was for Ebed-melech! For the Ebed-melechs! You think your worldly status, your lowly position somehow disqualifies you from service to the King. Well, let this account of Ebed-melech encourage you this morning.

COURAGEOUS SLAVE

The text doesn’t tell us how Ebed-melech heard that Jeremiah was cast into the cistern. It only tells us where he was when he heard the news. Perhaps, (and I’m speculating), some of the officials or guards boasted, “That troubler of Israel” finally got what was coming to him!”

Regardless. What we do know is that Ebed-melech left his post in the king’s house, an act that could land himself in some serious trouble. And he went to the king at the Benjamin Gate. Why is this significant? Well the gate was where business affairs took place. It would have been a very public setting. 

This bold, courageous slave confronted the king, while he was conducting kingdom affairs, and he did so publicly before the citizens, an action the king could have sentenced Ebed-melech to death for. In other words, Ebed-melech puts Jeremaih’s life before his own.

WISE SERVANT

But not only was Ebed-melech bold in his actions; he was wise. The king couldn’t wash his hands of this as easily as he thought. For Ebed-melech put the issue right back into the king’s hands.

And he likely reckoned that the king, when the case was presented to him before the people, would be forced to execute justice. For there were likely many who recognized Jeremiah as a prophet,  and not only a prophet, but an innocent one at that. Jeremiah never committed any crime deserving of death.

When we consider our Lord Jesus, he didn’t have the same defense of the crowd when Pilate sentenced him to the cross. Why? Because the Jewish leaders stirred up the crowd against him.

Verse 10.

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian — (Zedekiah wants to show, he’s still in charge, who is still the master and who’s the slave) — “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

GUARDING THE RESCUE

Well, why thirty men, King Zedekiah?  It’s doubtful that thirty men were needed to lift Jeremiah from the cistern. I mean, I don’t recall reading anywhere that Jeremiah was a particularly heavy man.

More likely, thirty men were needed to protect the rescue operation. It shows that Zedekiah’s fear of man wasn’t altogether unfounded. It recognizes that men can cause harm and often do. But the most they can do is harm the body. That doesn’t make it excusable by any means.  But it recognizes that there were likely hostile forces  that Zedekiah didn’t want to anger. But now that his hand’s forced, he has no choice.

Verse 11.

So, Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king,
to a wardrobe in the storehouse, (literally, to a place below the treasury), and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah,  “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

[Treasury and Rags: There’s likely some irony here that you’ll have to tease out on your own.]

PADDING HARSHNESS

What’s fascinating about this account, is that the insiders, those who considered themselves Jews, those who accused Jeremiah of not seeking the welfare of the people, are being utterly shamed by this outsider, Ebed-melech. And the narrator wants us to notice! Three times in this brief paragraph, the narrator finds it necessary to remind us that he's an Ethiopian.

But notice, Ebed-melech doesn’t simply seek to spare Jeremiah’s life, he cares about the whole person! Rags from the king’s treasure room  used to pad the harshness of the ropes that will save his life.

Listen. Jesus’ torn flesh pads the harshness of the cross that saves our lives, the cross that you and I must bear if we are to follow Him.

Maybe you noticed. We have a couple girls with some shorter hair this morning. Why? Because brushing out the knots was unnecessarily painful.
I think of pulling my kids teeth. They are already anxious enough. So, I have a choice. I can seek to be gentle. Or I can just get the job done.

CARE FOR THE WHOLE PERSON

Last week, I mentioned, we care about all suffering. But we care infinitely more about eternal suffering.  And that is absolutely true. But that priority doesn’t excuse our neglect of the temporal, the physical.

Our care for the physical is a witness of our concern for the eternal. Why? Because we’re psychosomatic beings. We have a body and a soul. The physical is a shadow of the spiritual. We don’t excuse ourselves saying,  “Well, that’s not a spiritual need, so we need not concern ourselves.”
RUBBISH!!! If we don’t concern ourselves with the physical that we can see, we can’t fool ourselves thinking we’re concerned for the spiritual, which we can’t see. The whole person matters.

Ebed-melech concerned himself with Jeremiah’s entire well-being to the extent he was able. We don’t just care for the soul. We care for the body also.

Consider the care given to Jesus’ body for his burial, by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. And remember, Jesus was already dead!

LOVING NEIGHBOR

Jeremiah’s own people refused to obey either of the great commandments. Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Of course, these two go hand in hand. It’s impossible to truly separate them. Because they didn’t love God,  they failed to love Jeremiah, who was one of their own.

But this foreigner, this outsider, this man cut-off from the covenant promises, he sought to love his neighbor well, by seeking the welfare of his neighbor, even when he himself was a slave. That’s amazing.

But, Jesus himself speaks of his own kinsmen being put to shame by foreigners. When giving an illustration on what loving one’s neighbor looks like, and just who is my neighbor, it was a Samaritan, who showed kindness and compassion for his neighbor, while the Jews passed by their own on the other side.
Ebed-melech refused to pass by on the other side. 

INSIDE OUT

Earlier, back in Jeremiah 13:23, the question is raised. Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you also can do good who are accustomed to evil. Judah could no more do good than this Ethiopian eunuch could change his skin or beget offspring to carry on his name.

But here’s the thing. The outside wasn’t the issue! It never was. Externals are not unimportant. The God who made the inside made the outside too. And He made both for His glory. But the externals are not the main thing. 

The problem with Israel and Judah was the heart. They were physically circumcised on the outside, bearing the covenant sign, but their hearts were far from God. They needed their hearts circumcised. The dead, unfeeling, sinful flesh around their hearts needed to be cut away.

Ebed-melech didn’t need to change his skin. This faithful outsider had shown himself to be, what Paul refers to in Romans 2, a true Jew, while the unfaithful insiders proved themselves to be the ones who were far from God, and so long as their hearts remained calloused and uncircumcised, they would be the ones cut off from the promises.

SERVANT OF THE KING

We might say that Ebed-melech, in other words, was named perfectly. He was indeed a Servant of the King, the true King. Ebed-melech was surrendered to the King. And because Ebed-melech was surrendered to the King, listen to this promise from Isaish 56:3-5. (Read Isaiah 56:3-5.)

ARE YOU AN EBED-MELECH?

Are you an Ebed-melech, a servant of the one true King? Or have you found yourself a slave to other masters? As Paul writes in Romans 6, we are ultimately slaves to whatever we obey, either slaves of sin which death, or of obedience to God which leads to life. It's not a both and. We can’t serve two masters. Our Lord made that clear. You’ll love one and hate the other.

Perhaps, rather than serving the true King by living to His glory, standing for what this King stands for, which He has clearly revealed in His Word, you have found yourself caving to public opinion like Zedekiah.

Maybe like the four Jewish officials you have found yourself offended by God’s Word, because you have bought into the lies of the world, the lie that human autonomy, to just “follow your heart” is one’s greatest good, and to be surrendered to anyone is the greatest evil.

FREEDOM IN SURRENDER

I assure you, you will never find genuine freedom in pursuing autonomy.
You will only find slavery. Because such is a ruthless taskmaster like none other. We weren’t made to be our own gods. We make crummy gods that offer only slavery to our ideals that we can never manifest, never live up to. God wants so much more for you than that. Surrender to the King of kings, be a servant of the King, as you were created to be, and you’ll find true freedom.

O the world may place you behind bars like Jeremiah was for holding fast to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. You may find yourself subjected to forced servitude like Ebed-melech. But in Christ, you are free, and your deliverance is sure.

SURE DELIVERANCE

When the Lord first called Jeremiah, He told Jeremiah, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you declares the Lord. Jeremiah may have found himself in a miry bog, due to the failure of a worldly king. You and I may find ourselves persecuted and put in harms way due to the failures of earthly kings. But Jeremiah’s hope wasn’t in any earthly king. Jeremiah waited for the deliverance that comes from the only true king, the King of kings. My hope is that you do too.

As Chase read for us in Psalm 40, Jeremiah waited patiently for the Lord. And the Lord inclined His ear to him. He drew Jeremiah up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set his feet upon a Rock.  Jeremiah might not have known it, but that Rock was Christ.

THE SURRENDERED KING

When Jeremiah found himself in the pit of destruction, God sent an Ebed-melech to deliver him. Well, God sent an Ebed-melech to deliver us. His name is Jesus.

You see, our Lord Jesus isn’t just foreshadowed through Jeremiah, but also Ebed-melech.  As Ebed-melech was surrendered to the King, Jesus surrendered Himself to the will of His Father. Not my will, but your will be done.

And that perfect surrender of the Lord Jesus strengthened Him to endure the cross, in order to deliver us out of the pit of destruction. As Christ was raised, as Jeremiah was raised, in Christ, you can be confident that our God will keep His promises, and you too will be raised.

One final point: You want to be an Ebed-melech, a servant of the King, useful to the Master as Paul writes? You first have to be surrendered to this King… in all areas of your life. Surrender to this King and live.

https://youtu.be/g-Z_s_luVhA

  Jeremiah 36 Word on Fire

ADDED TO THEM:

Many of the chapters in this second half of Jeremiah, are not as much about giving a new word from the Lord, as much as giving the responses to the Word of the Lord, and the consequences that follow. 

At the end of our chapter (verse 32), we’ll read:
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim had burned in the fire.
And many similar words were added to them. 

What we have here in chapter 36
 are the words added to them.
 We have the various responses to the Word.
We have the indifference of those
 who chose not to respond,
 as well as those who simply stood by
 thinking that they could remain neutral.
We have the faithful response of those
 who took the Word to heart,
 who listened intently,
 and then shared it with others.
And we have the hostility of one
 who thought he could so easily dispose of the Word
 by burning it in the fire.

As we read in several places in the New Testament: Whatever was written in former days
 — that being the whole of the Old Testament —
 was written for our instructions,
on whom the end of the ages has come.

My question for each of us,
 those on whom the end of the ages have come,
 what’s your response look like?
Before you answer that too quickly,
 we’d do well to dig into these responses.

READ: (Jeremiah 36:1-8)

ILLUSTRATION:

Many roads were closed due to flooding
 across several states earlier this week.
 I believe Kentucky got hit the worst.
In some of these areas, signs were put up.
 Bridge out due to flooding. 

What’s the purpose of the sign?
 It’s to warn you!
 There’s a flood ahead.
 Your current path isn’t safe.
Turn around so that
 the flood doesn’t sweep you away. 

The words the Lord has Jeremiah write
 are just that — a bridge out sign.
The flood of God’s wrath
 threatens to sweep you away.
But you don’t h{ave to drown.
 You can turn around.
There’s still time.

INTENT OF GOD’S WORD

Notice the intent of God’s Word in verse 3.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear
 all the disaster that I intend to do to them,
so that every one may turn from his evil way,
and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

And like the Lord,
his prophet shares the Word with the same intent.
Verse 7.
 It may be that their plea for mercy
 will come before the Lord,
and that every one will turn from his evil way…

Now, it’s clear that the words are indeed
 words of judgment.
But they aren’t given for the purpose of judgment. They are given as a warning
 so that the people might turn. 

REPENTANCE REQUIRED

The fact that God calls us to repent,
 rather than immediately enacting judgment,
 shows something of God’s heart.

Our God longs to forgive.
 He wants to forgive.
 He’s willing to forgive.
 He’s waiting to forgive.
But… forgiveness
 cannot take place
 apart from repentance.
Forgiveness requires repentance.

GOAL OF RECONCILATION

But do we understand why?
 Well. What’s the point of forgiveness?
Reconciliation. Reconciliation of what?
 Reconciliation of a relationship.

Okay. So what’s the point of repentance?
The exact same thing. Reconciling a relationship. 

It’s impossible to restore any relationship
 where both sides of this equation,
 haven’t taken place.
Yet… out of an overflow of grace and mercy,
 the gospel message,
 the offer of forgiveness
 which stands behind all the warnings,
 is extended first.
It’s here in out text.
The Lord offers forgiveness
 to everyone who turns,
 to everyone who repents.

The purpose of these words of warning
 is not to bring the people crushing news
 that leaves them in despair
but to crush their hearts and pride
 that they might repent
 and receive forgiveness.

WORDS ON THE SCROLL

Now let me be clear.
The dominant message on this scroll
 that Jeremiah will dictate to Baruch,
 is one of judgment and warning
The bridge is out! Turn around!
 There’s a flood of judgment up ahead.
But it’s important that we don’t lose sight
 of the purpose behind these words.

The message is intended to excite fear,
 that leads to repentance,
 that grants forgiveness,
 that the people might be spared
 the flood of judgment,
 and be reconciled to God.

ALL THE WORDS

Verse 2.
 The Lord commands Jeremiah to record
 ALL THE WORDS.
 Let me say that again. ALL THE WORDS.
that the Lord has spoken against Israel and Judah
from the day the Lord first spoke to him until now.
 

That is just over 20 years of ministry.
It includes all of chapters 1-20,
 plus chapters 25 and 26.
 and the bulk of chapters 46-49.

Now, listen. Just to read chapters 1-20 out loud
 takes a good hour and a half.
And as I already noted,
 these were predominantly words of judgment.

This phrase, ALL THE WORDS,
 is used 11 times in our passage,
 plus 5 times in which it’s implied,
 each time referring to
writing, reading, hearing, or reporting,
 the Word of God as recorded on this scroll.
 20 some chapters!

NOT THE PROPHET’S

Verse 4.
Baruch writes at the dictation of Jeremiah
 ALL THE WORDS!
not a mere selection
 not a paraphrase
 not the prophet’s views or commentary
but all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah
 over his thus far 20 year ministry.

Why?
Because Baruch’s nor Jeremiah’s
 cleverly devised articulation
 won’t save anyone.
Why?
Well, for one, God doesn’t share His glory.
 And if it takes their eloquence or skill
 to save people,
 then guess who gets the glory?
Only the double-edge, soul-piercing Word of God
 exposes the heart.
His Word alone can save.

Jeremiah and Baruch’s hope was not in their gifting
 but in the power of God’s Word
 to bring sinners to repentance.
This isn’t Jeremiah’s words
 so much as it’s God’s Word.

Since Jeremiah is banned from the house of the Lord
 —verse 6—
Jeremiah orders Baruch to go
 and read from the scroll
which you have written from my mouth
 the words of the Lord
 in the ears of the people
 in the house of the Lord
 on a day of fasting.

And Baruch does all that Jeremiah ordered him.
 About a year later, the people proclaim a fast,
 and Baruch reads this rather large scroll.

OUTWARD ZEAL, INNER INDIFFERENCE

VERSES 9-10 (read 9-10)

Here you have a people that exalted
 the external acts of piety,
 flocking to the house of the Lord,
 going through religious rituals,
But had little interest in God’s proclaimed Word.
 They had outward zeal
 but inwardly, they were indifferent.

All the people in Jerusalem and Judah who came
 supposedly before the Lord
 before the Lord’s house
were unaffected by Baruch’s reading…
 all … but … one
 a man named Micaiah

FAITHFUL RECEIVING OF GOD’S WORD

VERSES 11-12 (read 11-12) 

Where most were indifferent to Baruch’s reading,
 Micaiah demonstrates what a faithful response
 to God’s Word looks like.
HEARING – FEARING - SHARING

HEARING

First, Micaiah hears the Word.
 Notice in verse 11.
 Micaiah heard ALL THE WORDS

I don’t often quote others,
 but here’s what Philip Ryken,
 President of Wheaten College,
 had to say regarding these verses.
“Micaiah demonstrates the proper receiving of the Word of God. First comes the hearing of the Word… He listened to God’s Word in its entirety. He did not doze off in the middle of the reading… or leave before Baruch was finished. Micaiah listened to Jeremiah’s prophecies from beginning to end.”

And because Micaiah listened to the Word,
 he was moved by the Word
 to share the word
He immediately went to his father Gemariah
 and the officials who were with him.
But Micaiah also had to listen intently to the Word
 in order to fully and faithfully share it.
 Which he did!

SHARING

Verse 13.
And Micaiah told them ALL THE WORDS
 that he had heard,
when Baruch read the scroll
 in the hearing of the people.

This was not a popular message.
As we have seen throughout our study in Jeremiah,
 kings, priests, and prophets
 have sought to silence this message.
Speak to us pleasant things!
 Don’t speak to us about this Holy One of Israel!

And that is no less true today.
 As we saw in 2 Timothy just a few weeks ago:
 A time is coming when people
 will accumulate teachers
 to suit their own passions.

Why would Micaiah want to relay this message?
 The same reason Jeremiah and Baruch did.
 He believed the Word.
 He saw the peril.
 Now, he must warn others.
 The bridge is out!

And honestly, what better place to begin
 than with one’s own family.
That’s where Micaiah began.
 Now, that doesn’t mean they’ll listen.
 But I’ll tell you what won’t happen.

 

They will never respond to a message they never hear.
 And there’s only one way to ensure that they do.
You tell them.
 And tell them before it’s too late.

The faithful receiving of God’s Word
 makes one an evangelist.

RETURN VOID?

Now, I mentioned,
out of all the people who were in earshot of Baruch
 reading from the scroll earlier that morning,
 it seemed the vast majority showed no concern.
(I believe that’s implied in the text,
 and throughout the Book of Jeremiah.)

Does this mean that God’s Word had returned void?
 Not at all!
God’s Word never promises to save every individual.
 But consider this.
Because Jeremiah and Baruch put their lives
 and reputations on the line,
If but a single person is moved to repentance
 —saving repentance—
 —repentance that leads to life—
then it was worth it… eternally worth it…
 whatever the cost.

And now Micaiah is sharing with others…
 his dad and the other officials.
 What’s their response?

Verses 14-18 (read 14-18)

GOOD BEREANS

Micaiah passed along the message
 as it was passed on to him.
And now, some were moved like good Bereans
 to look closer at the message,
 get back to the source.
 Is the message authentic?
Tell us, Baruch. How did you write all these words?

Notice.
 It’s not enough to accept the Word secondhand.
They have Baruch sit down and read
 [guess what?]
 ALL THE WORDS.
And they listened … to ALL THE WORDS.

And they were moved with fear.
 We must report ALL THESE WORDS to the king.

But… verse 19.
Before we report to this king
 Baruch, you and Jeremiah need to hide.
Why?
 Because we know not everyone
 is going to be receptive
 to this word!
But just the opposite.
 There will be those who are hostile,
 those who will want to silence this word.

In fact, knowing this
 we better seek to preserve this word.
 So, we’ll put it in safe keeping
 before we take the news to the king.

Verses 20.
 So they went into the court to the king,
 having put the scroll in the chamber
 of Elishama the secretary,
and they reported ALL THE WORDS to the king.

EXPOSITION

Whatever these officials reported—notice—
 it was sufficient for the inspired author to say:
They reported ALL THE WORDS.

I hope you understand,
 that’s what we seek to do up here.
 It’s what we call: expository preaching.
We seek to report ALL THE WORDS of the text.

Now, I know, it’s not very popular,
 not when you consider
 just how many churches there are
 and what’s often proclaimed from the pulpits.

I’m very capable of standing up here,
and share a few brief nuggets of life application,
 and then we could all move on
 in our own merry way.
But that is not the preaching found in Scripture.

What application
 could possibly be transformative
 if we circumvent the text
 by skipping over the exegesis, the exposition,
 or to make is simpler,
 the explanation of the text.

To do so, fails to do justice to God’s Word,
 And it rids God’s Word of its power.
 Why?
Because to do such isn’t to share God’s Word
 but mine!

My task, is to proclaim this Word in such a way
 that it can rightly be said,
 I reported ALL THE WORDS.
Because my words have no power whatsoever.
 God’s Word alone is able to save.
And only to the degree
 I faithfully share His Word,
 do I have any standing up here.
My job is to be a faithful messenger.

Verse 21.
Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary.
And Jehudi read it to the king,
 and all the officials who stood beside the king.

Now, it seems King Jehoiakim
 is following the same response as the officials
 who received the Word from Micaiah.
He hears the word as relayed through the officials.
 And he immediately sends for the source file,
 the written scroll.
But the king has other plans.

THE EDITS

Verses 22-23 (Read 22-23)

Rather than receive God’s Word as authoritative,
 the king has some edits he would like to make.

As Jehudi reads,
 Jehoiakim performs his own,
 uninspired edits to God’s Word,
 redacting and cutting as he sees fit,
 removing the portions he doesn’t like,
 leaving none of it, as far as he’s concerned,
 as authoritative for him
or the people he was to shepherd.

How many, like Jehoiakim,
 take upon themselves the same task
 of editing God’s Word?
Now most won’t show their hostility
 as crudely and guilelessly as Jehoiakim.
Most won’t be found burning the scroll in a firepot.

Some exact their edits with a scholars knife,
 some by interpreting the Word to fit their fancy,
 some by ripping the Word from its context,
 some by avoiding certain portions as irrelevant,
some by promoting traditions and teachings
 of men as equal in authority,
some by raising suspicions concerning the source.

Each of these edits are no less an attack
 against God’s infallible Word
 than the serpent who asked, “Did God really say?”

 

Each of these edits seek to diminish its authority,
 calling into question whether God’s Word,
 as passed down and delivered
 once and all to the saints
 can or should be trusted.

Anytime one seeks to explain away
 any part of God’s Revelation,
it’s no different than Jehoiakim
 Taking a knife to God’s Word
 and casting it into the fire.

Why does this matter?
 Because this is the only Word that can save.
 It’s the only Word that can bring about repentance,
 so that people might receive forgiveness.

Lord, you have exalted above all things,
 your name and your Word.

Yes, much of this Book is hard,
 It shares hard things that aren’t pleasant
 to our fallen ears.

But this Word, the whole counsel of this Word,
 is given with the intent of sparing people
 from the coming flood of judgment.

[New Covenant Difference]

PLEADING

Verse 24-26 (Read 24-26)

While Jehudi and the king’s servants
 sought to remain neutral
—and let’s be clear, there’s no such thing
 as neutrality towards God’s Word—
A few faithful men
 three to be precise
 urged the king not to do such a blasphemous act
 not to burn the scroll
 that contained the Word of the Lord.
But their plea fell on deaf ears.

Loved ones, I don’t have to tell you,
 but many of our pleas will fall on deaf ears.

While we plead with others,
 O please don’t disregard God’s Word like this!
 Heaven and Hell hang in the balance!
 This Word is intended to save you!
Remember, their response
 isn’t up to you. It isn’t up to me.
O let them hear your constant pleas.
 Let them see you tears.
But it’s the Lord who softens hearts.
 It’s the Lord who grants repentance.
So pray! Pray that the Lord would do just that!

Rather than being moved to fear,
 rather than heeding the warning,
THE BRIDGE IS OUT and turning around,
 rather than tearing his garments,
 Jehoiakim tears down the sign,
 and sets it on fire.
And then he seeks to arrest those
 who would put up such a sign,
 a sign intended to save lives.

But the Lord hid Baruch and Jeremiah.
 And the same Lord
who preserves His faithful messengers
 preserves His Word.

NAÏVE 

Verses 26-31 (Read 26-31)

The world thinks us Christians naïve
to believe this book, to believe its Author,
to submit to the authority of God’s Word.

But what’s naïve are those like Jehoiakim
 who think they can escape this living and active
 razor sharp Word of the Lord
 by slicing it up and casting into the fire,
as if this Word is somehow bound
 to the scroll it’s penned on.

What’s naïve is that millennia after millennia
 of trying to escape the authorityof God’s Word
 —going all the way back to the Garden—
 the authority of God’s Word still stands!

What’s naïve is that our society,
 after 2000 years of trying
 and coming up short time and again
 continues to try to discredit this Book.
They enlist their brightest minds
 with the largest budgets.
But they can’t quench
 the purifying fire of the Word of the Lord.

Jehoiakim can set it on fire, and watch it burn.
 But what he can’t do is quench it.

Jehoiakim's efforts to burn God's Word were futile,
 because God's Word is fire.

NO LEGACY FOR JEHOIAKIM

Because Jehoiakim sought to cut off this Word
 from the people’s hearing,
 any hope of legacy will be cut off from him.
He will have none to sit on the throne of David.

For our New Testament reading,
 I strongly considered either
 Luke’s or Matthew’s genealogy.
Instead,
 I’ll leave you to read through them on your own.
But I bet you can guess who isn’t there.
 Jehoiakim. He’s not in either of them.
 He’s been completely passed over.
He sought to erase God’s Word
 So, he was erased
 from the greatest genealogical record ever.
Jehoiakim was left without a legacy.

THE LEGACY OF SHAPHAN

But there’s another man who is mentioned
 a few times in our text,
 who, while he’s not an active participant
 in this particular account,
 his offspring are.
His name is Shaphan. 

It was in the chamber of Gemariah,
 the son of Shaphan,
 that Baruch read this famous scroll.
It was Micaiah, the grandson of Shaphan (verse 11),
 who listened intently to Baruch’s reading
 of the scroll,
 who afterwards,
 went to share the news with his father, Gemariah.

Gemariah, Shaphan’s son, was one of the officials
 who was moved with fear at the reading of the scroll,
 who insisted on reporting ALL THESE WORDS
 to the king,
who also pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll.

Whereas Jehoiakim tore up the scroll
 rather than tearing his clothes,
 Gemariah likely recalled the time
 when the king in his father’s day
 had an entirely different response.

King Josiah had sent Shaphan
 to the house of the Lord.
And while Shaphan was there,
 Hilkiah the high priest told him,
I have found the Book of the Law
 in the house of the Lord.
And you know what Shaphan did?
 He read it.
 And after reading it, he reported it to the king.
 And Shaphan read it before the king.
And upon hearing the words of the Book of the Law,
 Shaphan witnessed a king who tore his clothes.

Shaphan’s legacy goes beyond
 his son and grandson mentioned here.
A few years earlier
 (you can read about it in chapter 26)
It was Shaphan’s son, Ahikam,
 who saved Jeremiah from being put to death
 when he gave his famous temple sermon.
A few years later, Shaphan’s son, Elasah,
 would carry Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles in Babylon.
And after Jerusalem falls to Babylon,
 another one of Shaphan’s grandsons, Gedaliah,
 would rescue Jeremiah, take him into his house,
 and eventually become governor
 over the Jewish remnant.

YOUR LEGACY

What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
You know what led to Shaphan’s legacy?
 It was his response to God’s Word.

O the world has its own idea
 of what makes for a legacy.
 But all of those legacies will one day be forgotten.
But a legacy like Shaphan’s
 will be remembered for eternity.

Unlike Jehoiakim, Shaphan’s legacy continues.
O his name isn’t found in Jesus’ genealogical record,
 at least not his physical or biological record.
It’s found in a far more important document:
 The Book of Life of the Lamb Who Was Slain.

That legacy can be yours.
 If you respond to this Word like Shaphan did,
 If you instill this Word in your kids and grandkids
 like Shaphan did.

JESUS DIDN’T TEAR HIS CLOTHES

Unlike King Josiah, Jesus didn’t tear his clothes.
 But it wasn’t because he wasn’t grieved
 over the judgment His people faced.
Rather, as our Great High Priest,
 He was forbidden to tear his clothes.
 So, he allowed his flesh to be torn open instead.

For so long, we had failed to heed
 the Bridge Out! sign.
 And get this.
The bridge was out
 because we had burned the bridge.
 We had burned our relationship with our Maker.
Rather than heed the sign, mankind has treated God’s warnings the same way Jehoiakim treated the scroll.
The flood of God’s judgment was all but certain.
 
Out of sheer mercy,
 God laid down a New Bridge,
 a wooden cross that spanned across the entire flood of God’s judgment.
0 to cross this bridge still requires no less repentance.
 You see, the flood of God’s wrath had surrounded us.
But Jesus laid down His life as a bridge
 that not only provides a way home,
 but as a bridge laid down at such a cost
 so as to display the immense love of God
 and His desire for reconciliation.

Jesus came as the Word made flesh.
The Word that kings and priests, governors and the people sought to silence by destroying Him,
 cutting Him off from the land of the living.
But just as God’s Word isn’t bound,
 Neither was this Word bound to mere flesh and bone.
For He is the eternal Word.
Death could never hold Him.

This Word, whose eyes are like flames of fire,
 seeing into the deepest recesses of every soul,
 This Word is fire, and it cannot be quenched!

This Word that the Lord so faithfully preserves
 it will preserve you…
 … but only if you respond to it faithfully,
 like the faithful men we read about today.

Will you be like Micaiah and Gemariah
 who intently listened to all the words,
 who responded with reverence to all the words,
 who were moved to share all the words,
 who pleaded with others concerning all the words?

Because ALL THESE WORDS are the Word of God.
 

https://youtu.be/h9G1wtPh2AU  

ADDED TO THEM:

Many of the chapters in this second half of Jeremiah, are not as much about giving a new word from the Lord, as much as giving the responses to the Word of the Lord, and the consequences that follow. 

At the end of our chapter (verse 32), we’ll read:
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim had burned in the fire.
And many similar words were added to them. 

What we have here in chapter 36
 are the words added to them.
 We have the various responses to the Word.
We have the indifference of those
 who chose not to respond,
 as well as those who simply stood by
 thinking that they could remain neutral.
We have the faithful response of those
 who took the Word to heart,
 who listened intently,
 and then shared it with others.
And we have the hostility of one
 who thought he could so easily dispose of the Word
 by burning it in the fire.

As we read in several places in the New Testament: Whatever was written in former days
 — that being the whole of the Old Testament —
 was written for our instructions,
on whom the end of the ages has come.

My question for each of us,
 those on whom the end of the ages have come,
 what’s your response look like?
Before you answer that too quickly,
 we’d do well to dig into these responses.

READ: (Jeremiah 36:1-8)

ILLUSTRATION:

Many roads were closed due to flooding
 across several states earlier this week.
 I believe Kentucky got hit the worst.
In some of these areas, signs were put up.
 Bridge out due to flooding. 

What’s the purpose of the sign?
 It’s to warn you!
 There’s a flood ahead.
 Your current path isn’t safe.
Turn around so that
 the flood doesn’t sweep you away. 

The words the Lord has Jeremiah write
 are just that — a bridge out sign.
The flood of God’s wrath
 threatens to sweep you away.
But you don’t h{ave to drown.
 You can turn around.
There’s still time.

INTENT OF GOD’S WORD

Notice the intent of God’s Word in verse 3.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear
 all the disaster that I intend to do to them,
so that every one may turn from his evil way,
and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

And like the Lord,
his prophet shares the Word with the same intent.
Verse 7.
 It may be that their plea for mercy
 will come before the Lord,
and that every one will turn from his evil way…

Now, it’s clear that the words are indeed
 words of judgment.
But they aren’t given for the purpose of judgment. They are given as a warning
 so that the people might turn. 

REPENTANCE REQUIRED

The fact that God calls us to repent,
 rather than immediately enacting judgment,
 shows something of God’s heart.

Our God longs to forgive.
 He wants to forgive.
 He’s willing to forgive.
 He’s waiting to forgive.
But… forgiveness
 cannot take place
 apart from repentance.
Forgiveness requires repentance.

GOAL OF RECONCILATION

But do we understand why?
 Well. What’s the point of forgiveness?
Reconciliation. Reconciliation of what?
 Reconciliation of a relationship.

Okay. So what’s the point of repentance?
The exact same thing. Reconciling a relationship. 

It’s impossible to restore any relationship
 where both sides of this equation,
 haven’t taken place.
Yet… out of an overflow of grace and mercy,
 the gospel message,
 the offer of forgiveness
 which stands behind all the warnings,
 is extended first.
It’s here in out text.
The Lord offers forgiveness
 to everyone who turns,
 to everyone who repents.

The purpose of these words of warning
 is not to bring the people crushing news
 that leaves them in despair
but to crush their hearts and pride
 that they might repent
 and receive forgiveness.

WORDS ON THE SCROLL

Now let me be clear.
The dominant message on this scroll
 that Jeremiah will dictate to Baruch,
 is one of judgment and warning
The bridge is out! Turn around!
 There’s a flood of judgment up ahead.
But it’s important that we don’t lose sight
 of the purpose behind these words.

The message is intended to excite fear,
 that leads to repentance,
 that grants forgiveness,
 that the people might be spared
 the flood of judgment,
 and be reconciled to God.

ALL THE WORDS

Verse 2.
 The Lord commands Jeremiah to record
 ALL THE WORDS.
 Let me say that again. ALL THE WORDS.
that the Lord has spoken against Israel and Judah
from the day the Lord first spoke to him until now.
 

That is just over 20 years of ministry.
It includes all of chapters 1-20,
 plus chapters 25 and 26.
 and the bulk of chapters 46-49.

Now, listen. Just to read chapters 1-20 out loud
 takes a good hour and a half.
And as I already noted,
 these were predominantly words of judgment.

This phrase, ALL THE WORDS,
 is used 11 times in our passage,
 plus 5 times in which it’s implied,
 each time referring to
writing, reading, hearing, or reporting,
 the Word of God as recorded on this scroll.
 20 some chapters!

NOT THE PROPHET’S

Verse 4.
Baruch writes at the dictation of Jeremiah
 ALL THE WORDS!
not a mere selection
 not a paraphrase
 not the prophet’s views or commentary
but all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah
 over his thus far 20 year ministry.

Why?
Because Baruch’s nor Jeremiah’s
 cleverly devised articulation
 won’t save anyone.
Why?
Well, for one, God doesn’t share His glory.
 And if it takes their eloquence or skill
 to save people,
 then guess who gets the glory?
Only the double-edge, soul-piercing Word of God
 exposes the heart.
His Word alone can save.

Jeremiah and Baruch’s hope was not in their gifting
 but in the power of God’s Word
 to bring sinners to repentance.
This isn’t Jeremiah’s words
 so much as it’s God’s Word.

Since Jeremiah is banned from the house of the Lord
 —verse 6—
Jeremiah orders Baruch to go
 and read from the scroll
which you have written from my mouth
 the words of the Lord
 in the ears of the people
 in the house of the Lord
 on a day of fasting.

And Baruch does all that Jeremiah ordered him.
 About a year later, the people proclaim a fast,
 and Baruch reads this rather large scroll.

OUTWARD ZEAL, INNER INDIFFERENCE

VERSES 9-10 (read 9-10)

Here you have a people that exalted
 the external acts of piety,
 flocking to the house of the Lord,
 going through religious rituals,
But had little interest in God’s proclaimed Word.
 They had outward zeal
 but inwardly, they were indifferent.

All the people in Jerusalem and Judah who came
 supposedly before the Lord
 before the Lord’s house
were unaffected by Baruch’s reading…
 all … but … one
 a man named Micaiah

FAITHFUL RECEIVING OF GOD’S WORD

VERSES 11-12 (read 11-12) 

Where most were indifferent to Baruch’s reading,
 Micaiah demonstrates what a faithful response
 to God’s Word looks like.
HEARING – FEARING - SHARING

HEARING

First, Micaiah hears the Word.
 Notice in verse 11.
 Micaiah heard ALL THE WORDS

I don’t often quote others,
 but here’s what Philip Ryken,
 President of Wheaten College,
 had to say regarding these verses.
“Micaiah demonstrates the proper receiving of the Word of God. First comes the hearing of the Word… He listened to God’s Word in its entirety. He did not doze off in the middle of the reading… or leave before Baruch was finished. Micaiah listened to Jeremiah’s prophecies from beginning to end.”

And because Micaiah listened to the Word,
 he was moved by the Word
 to share the word
He immediately went to his father Gemariah
 and the officials who were with him.
But Micaiah also had to listen intently to the Word
 in order to fully and faithfully share it.
 Which he did!

SHARING

Verse 13.
And Micaiah told them ALL THE WORDS
 that he had heard,
when Baruch read the scroll
 in the hearing of the people.

This was not a popular message.
As we have seen throughout our study in Jeremiah,
 kings, priests, and prophets
 have sought to silence this message.
Speak to us pleasant things!
 Don’t speak to us about this Holy One of Israel!

And that is no less true today.
 As we saw in 2 Timothy just a few weeks ago:
 A time is coming when people
 will accumulate teachers
 to suit their own passions.

Why would Micaiah want to relay this message?
 The same reason Jeremiah and Baruch did.
 He believed the Word.
 He saw the peril.
 Now, he must warn others.
 The bridge is out!

And honestly, what better place to begin
 than with one’s own family.
That’s where Micaiah began.
 Now, that doesn’t mean they’ll listen.
 But I’ll tell you what won’t happen.

 

They will never respond to a message they never hear.
 And there’s only one way to ensure that they do.
You tell them.
 And tell them before it’s too late.

The faithful receiving of God’s Word
 makes one an evangelist.

RETURN VOID?

Now, I mentioned,
out of all the people who were in earshot of Baruch
 reading from the scroll earlier that morning,
 it seemed the vast majority showed no concern.
(I believe that’s implied in the text,
 and throughout the Book of Jeremiah.)

Does this mean that God’s Word had returned void?
 Not at all!
God’s Word never promises to save every individual.
 But consider this.
Because Jeremiah and Baruch put their lives
 and reputations on the line,
If but a single person is moved to repentance
 —saving repentance—
 —repentance that leads to life—
then it was worth it… eternally worth it…
 whatever the cost.

And now Micaiah is sharing with others…
 his dad and the other officials.
 What’s their response?

Verses 14-18 (read 14-18)

GOOD BEREANS

Micaiah passed along the message
 as it was passed on to him.
And now, some were moved like good Bereans
 to look closer at the message,
 get back to the source.
 Is the message authentic?
Tell us, Baruch. How did you write all these words?

Notice.
 It’s not enough to accept the Word secondhand.
They have Baruch sit down and read
 [guess what?]
 ALL THE WORDS.
And they listened … to ALL THE WORDS.

And they were moved with fear.
 We must report ALL THESE WORDS to the king.

But… verse 19.
Before we report to this king
 Baruch, you and Jeremiah need to hide.
Why?
 Because we know not everyone
 is going to be receptive
 to this word!
But just the opposite.
 There will be those who are hostile,
 those who will want to silence this word.

In fact, knowing this
 we better seek to preserve this word.
 So, we’ll put it in safe keeping
 before we take the news to the king.

Verses 20.
 So they went into the court to the king,
 having put the scroll in the chamber
 of Elishama the secretary,
and they reported ALL THE WORDS to the king.

EXPOSITION

Whatever these officials reported—notice—
 it was sufficient for the inspired author to say:
They reported ALL THE WORDS.

I hope you understand,
 that’s what we seek to do up here.
 It’s what we call: expository preaching.
We seek to report ALL THE WORDS of the text.

Now, I know, it’s not very popular,
 not when you consider
 just how many churches there are
 and what’s often proclaimed from the pulpits.

I’m very capable of standing up here,
and share a few brief nuggets of life application,
 and then we could all move on
 in our own merry way.
But that is not the preaching found in Scripture.

What application
 could possibly be transformative
 if we circumvent the text
 by skipping over the exegesis, the exposition,
 or to make is simpler,
 the explanation of the text.

To do so, fails to do justice to God’s Word,
 And it rids God’s Word of its power.
 Why?
Because to do such isn’t to share God’s Word
 but mine!

My task, is to proclaim this Word in such a way
 that it can rightly be said,
 I reported ALL THE WORDS.
Because my words have no power whatsoever.
 God’s Word alone is able to save.
And only to the degree
 I faithfully share His Word,
 do I have any standing up here.
My job is to be a faithful messenger.

Verse 21.
Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary.
And Jehudi read it to the king,
 and all the officials who stood beside the king.

Now, it seems King Jehoiakim
 is following the same response as the officials
 who received the Word from Micaiah.
He hears the word as relayed through the officials.
 And he immediately sends for the source file,
 the written scroll.
But the king has other plans.

THE EDITS

Verses 22-23 (Read 22-23)

Rather than receive God’s Word as authoritative,
 the king has some edits he would like to make.

As Jehudi reads,
 Jehoiakim performs his own,
 uninspired edits to God’s Word,
 redacting and cutting as he sees fit,
 removing the portions he doesn’t like,
 leaving none of it, as far as he’s concerned,
 as authoritative for him
or the people he was to shepherd.

How many, like Jehoiakim,
 take upon themselves the same task
 of editing God’s Word?
Now most won’t show their hostility
 as crudely and guilelessly as Jehoiakim.
Most won’t be found burning the scroll in a firepot.

Some exact their edits with a scholars knife,
 some by interpreting the Word to fit their fancy,
 some by ripping the Word from its context,
 some by avoiding certain portions as irrelevant,
some by promoting traditions and teachings
 of men as equal in authority,
some by raising suspicions concerning the source.

Each of these edits are no less an attack
 against God’s infallible Word
 than the serpent who asked, “Did God really say?”

 

Each of these edits seek to diminish its authority,
 calling into question whether God’s Word,
 as passed down and delivered
 once and all to the saints
 can or should be trusted.

Anytime one seeks to explain away
 any part of God’s Revelation,
it’s no different than Jehoiakim
 Taking a knife to God’s Word
 and casting it into the fire.

Why does this matter?
 Because this is the only Word that can save.
 It’s the only Word that can bring about repentance,
 so that people might receive forgiveness.

Lord, you have exalted above all things,
 your name and your Word.

Yes, much of this Book is hard,
 It shares hard things that aren’t pleasant
 to our fallen ears.

But this Word, the whole counsel of this Word,
 is given with the intent of sparing people
 from the coming flood of judgment.

[New Covenant Difference]

PLEADING

Verse 24-26 (Read 24-26)

While Jehudi and the king’s servants
 sought to remain neutral
—and let’s be clear, there’s no such thing
 as neutrality towards God’s Word—
A few faithful men
 three to be precise
 urged the king not to do such a blasphemous act
 not to burn the scroll
 that contained the Word of the Lord.
But their plea fell on deaf ears.

Loved ones, I don’t have to tell you,
 but many of our pleas will fall on deaf ears.

While we plead with others,
 O please don’t disregard God’s Word like this!
 Heaven and Hell hang in the balance!
 This Word is intended to save you!
Remember, their response
 isn’t up to you. It isn’t up to me.
O let them hear your constant pleas.
 Let them see you tears.
But it’s the Lord who softens hearts.
 It’s the Lord who grants repentance.
So pray! Pray that the Lord would do just that!

Rather than being moved to fear,
 rather than heeding the warning,
THE BRIDGE IS OUT and turning around,
 rather than tearing his garments,
 Jehoiakim tears down the sign,
 and sets it on fire.
And then he seeks to arrest those
 who would put up such a sign,
 a sign intended to save lives.

But the Lord hid Baruch and Jeremiah.
 And the same Lord
who preserves His faithful messengers
 preserves His Word.

NAÏVE 

Verses 26-31 (Read 26-31)

The world thinks us Christians naïve
to believe this book, to believe its Author,
to submit to the authority of God’s Word.

But what’s naïve are those like Jehoiakim
 who think they can escape this living and active
 razor sharp Word of the Lord
 by slicing it up and casting into the fire,
as if this Word is somehow bound
 to the scroll it’s penned on.

What’s naïve is that millennia after millennia
 of trying to escape the authorityof God’s Word
 —going all the way back to the Garden—
 the authority of God’s Word still stands!

What’s naïve is that our society,
 after 2000 years of trying
 and coming up short time and again
 continues to try to discredit this Book.
They enlist their brightest minds
 with the largest budgets.
But they can’t quench
 the purifying fire of the Word of the Lord.

Jehoiakim can set it on fire, and watch it burn.
 But what he can’t do is quench it.

Jehoiakim's efforts to burn God's Word were futile,
 because God's Word is fire.

NO LEGACY FOR JEHOIAKIM

Because Jehoiakim sought to cut off this Word
 from the people’s hearing,
 any hope of legacy will be cut off from him.
He will have none to sit on the throne of David.

For our New Testament reading,
 I strongly considered either
 Luke’s or Matthew’s genealogy.
Instead,
 I’ll leave you to read through them on your own.
But I bet you can guess who isn’t there.
 Jehoiakim. He’s not in either of them.
 He’s been completely passed over.
He sought to erase God’s Word
 So, he was erased
 from the greatest genealogical record ever.
Jehoiakim was left without a legacy.

THE LEGACY OF SHAPHAN

But there’s another man who is mentioned
 a few times in our text,
 who, while he’s not an active participant
 in this particular account,
 his offspring are.
His name is Shaphan. 

It was in the chamber of Gemariah,
 the son of Shaphan,
 that Baruch read this famous scroll.
It was Micaiah, the grandson of Shaphan (verse 11),
 who listened intently to Baruch’s reading
 of the scroll,
 who afterwards,
 went to share the news with his father, Gemariah.

Gemariah, Shaphan’s son, was one of the officials
 who was moved with fear at the reading of the scroll,
 who insisted on reporting ALL THESE WORDS
 to the king,
who also pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll.

Whereas Jehoiakim tore up the scroll
 rather than tearing his clothes,
 Gemariah likely recalled the time
 when the king in his father’s day
 had an entirely different response.

King Josiah had sent Shaphan
 to the house of the Lord.
And while Shaphan was there,
 Hilkiah the high priest told him,
I have found the Book of the Law
 in the house of the Lord.
And you know what Shaphan did?
 He read it.
 And after reading it, he reported it to the king.
 And Shaphan read it before the king.
And upon hearing the words of the Book of the Law,
 Shaphan witnessed a king who tore his clothes.

Shaphan’s legacy goes beyond
 his son and grandson mentioned here.
A few years earlier
 (you can read about it in chapter 26)
It was Shaphan’s son, Ahikam,
 who saved Jeremiah from being put to death
 when he gave his famous temple sermon.
A few years later, Shaphan’s son, Elasah,
 would carry Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles in Babylon.
And after Jerusalem falls to Babylon,
 another one of Shaphan’s grandsons, Gedaliah,
 would rescue Jeremiah, take him into his house,
 and eventually become governor
 over the Jewish remnant.

YOUR LEGACY

What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
You know what led to Shaphan’s legacy?
 It was his response to God’s Word.

O the world has its own idea
 of what makes for a legacy.
 But all of those legacies will one day be forgotten.
But a legacy like Shaphan’s
 will be remembered for eternity.

Unlike Jehoiakim, Shaphan’s legacy continues.
O his name isn’t found in Jesus’ genealogical record,
 at least not his physical or biological record.
It’s found in a far more important document:
 The Book of Life of the Lamb Who Was Slain.

That legacy can be yours.
 If you respond to this Word like Shaphan did,
 If you instill this Word in your kids and grandkids
 like Shaphan did.

JESUS DIDN’T TEAR HIS CLOTHES

Unlike King Josiah, Jesus didn’t tear his clothes.
 But it wasn’t because he wasn’t grieved
 over the judgment His people faced.
Rather, as our Great High Priest,
 He was forbidden to tear his clothes.
 So, he allowed his flesh to be torn open instead.

For so long, we had failed to heed
 the Bridge Out! sign.
 And get this.
The bridge was out
 because we had burned the bridge.
 We had burned our relationship with our Maker.
Rather than heed the sign, mankind has treated God’s warnings the same way Jehoiakim treated the scroll.
The flood of God’s judgment was all but certain.
 
Out of sheer mercy,
 God laid down a New Bridge,
 a wooden cross that spanned across the entire flood of God’s judgment.
0 to cross this bridge still requires no less repentance.
 You see, the flood of God’s wrath had surrounded us.
But Jesus laid down His life as a bridge
 that not only provides a way home,
 but as a bridge laid down at such a cost
 so as to display the immense love of God
 and His desire for reconciliation.

Jesus came as the Word made flesh.
The Word that kings and priests, governors and the people sought to silence by destroying Him,
 cutting Him off from the land of the living.
But just as God’s Word isn’t bound,
 Neither was this Word bound to mere flesh and bone.
For He is the eternal Word.
Death could never hold Him.

This Word, whose eyes are like flames of fire,
 seeing into the deepest recesses of every soul,
 This Word is fire, and it cannot be quenched!

This Word that the Lord so faithfully preserves
 it will preserve you…
 … but only if you respond to it faithfully,
 like the faithful men we read about today.

Will you be like Micaiah and Gemariah
 who intently listened to all the words,
 who responded with reverence to all the words,
 who were moved to share all the words,
 who pleaded with others concerning all the words?

Because ALL THESE WORDS are the Word of God.
 

https://youtu.be/h9G1wtPh2AU

  Jeremiah 35:1-19 Covenant Breakers, Covenant Keepers, part 2

INTRODUCTION:

Pop Quiz – How many of you, before I mentioned them last week, are in anyway familiar with the Rechabites? (You don’t have to answer out loud or raise your hand. Just answer this for yourself.) How many of you could give a brief summary of the Rechabites? Well, regardless of how you did on our little pop quiz this morning, my hope is that before lunch today, you’ll know a lot more than you do now concerning the Rechabites and why this little account matters for us. And maybe you can share this little pop quiz with someone else.

Many of us have been out of school for a while, but remember those days, just an ordinary day like any other, or so you thought. You get to class, take your seat, and then the announcement. Today we’ll be taking a test. And terror fills every fiber of your being. 

Chase came home the other day sharing about his pop quiz. Open book. One question. Pass or fail. You either knew the answer, or you didn’t. No 50% or 90%. You either passed or you failed. 

The Rechabites are about to walk into a pop quiz. They are about to be tested. And here’s the test. “Whose voice will you obey?” 

We’re in Jeremiah 35, and we’re looking at Covenant Breakers, Covenant Keepers. Which one will you be?

READ: (Jeremiah 35:1-2)

Our text mentions nothing of a test. Likely due to the suspenseful nature of the narrative. And because, we’re not really told what pass or fail looks like until the end. 

Other passages, the narrator informs the reader upfront- Genesis 22

Sometimes God informs His people and their leader upfront – Exodus 16

Sometimes, no one is told or even realizes it’s a test until it’s too late – Genesis 2-3

But each test is pass/fail – no in between

God’s Prerogative:
- This raises the question, “Is it right for God to test?” Many would suggest, NO. Of course, they likely aren’t believers.
- The question is not whether God has the right, but:
 - “Why does God test?”

If God know all things, including the thoughts and intentions of the heart, He obviously doesn’t need to test, does He?

God never tests for His benefit.

So then, why does God test, if not for His benefit, for His knowledge? 

He does so for ours.

God tests us so that we might know what’s in our heart.

Test Versus Tempt:
- But we do need to clarify the difference between testing and tempting, because they are often the same word, even though we translate the two with different English words. 

James 1 makes clear that God tempts no one, and that `God Himself cannot be tempted. Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

But God does test! 

What’s the difference?

Tempting is attempting to entice someone to do something contrary to God’s revealed will. As such, tempting is aimed to make one fall. 

Testing is to expose or evaluate whether someone will act in line with or contrary to God’s revealed will. 

Testing exposes the heart

Hence our series – The Inescapable Edge…

God’s Word searches - and is inescapable

And that’s a good thing!

APPLICATION

It’s important that we aren’t fooling ourselves into thinking we are obeying the voice of God if we’re not.

Because only then can we turn and repent and receive the forgiveness and healing we need.

So God doesn’t casually set the stage

He doesn’t make the setting and conditions more favorable for us to pass the exam

That does no one any favors

Nor does God grade on a curve

God sets the stage in a way to expose the truth of what’s in here, in our hearts!

So He has Jeremiah do just ee. Jeremiah sets the stage large scale!

Verses 3-5 (read)

Now we don’t speak Hebrew (Exodus class)

But for the Israelite reader, and certainly the Rechabites, the meaning of these names would not be lost on them.

Verse 3 – the names of the Rechabite family are:

Jaazaniah – which means Yahweh hears

Son of Habazziniah – Yahweh delights

Well, we’re about to find out

Verse 4 – So Jeremiah leads them to one of the inner chambers

Listen to these names:

The chamber of the sons of Graciousness,

The son of May the Lord Be Magnified

Near the chamber of The Lord Works

The son of Shallum – or Peace

And the pressure continues to build in verse 5:

Jeremiah sets before them pitchers or bowls of wine

That word “pitchers,” shows up a total of 14 times, in 3 places

Here in our text

Also used in Exodus, in the design of the Menorah or Lampstandin the Tabernacle. 

It describes the cups of the individual lamps – 

The lamps were to give light in front of the lampstand.

Well, obviously. I mean that’s the point of a lamp, right?

But what was in front of the lampstand? The showbread.

12 loaves representing the 12 tribes of Israel.

In other words, it’s a portrait of God’s light shining on His people

The third place this word is used is in Genesis 44 

For Joseph’s cup which he placed in Benjamin’s sack

What was the purpose of the cup? 

To test his brothers

So the idea of testing and exposing is meant to be clear in our reading of this passage.

The test will expose like a lamp shining into the human soul just who the Rechabites will choose to obey.

One last thing to ratchet up the pressure of this test

Jeremiah is not some random guy off the street offering them a drink.

He is the Lord’s prophet

And he doesn’t merely offer them a drink of wine

This is an imperative

The Lord’s prophet has commanded them: Drink wine!

But, verse 6, the Rechabites answer: (Read 6-10)

Sorry, Jeremiah. We’re going to obey our father Jonadab.

4 prohibitions

Drink no wine

Build no houses

Sow no seed

Plant no vineyards

Instead

Live in tents all your days

Why? 

So you may live long in the land where you sojourn

And they have done just that – observing all the commands of their father.

But verse 11. (Read)

The word “fear” isn’t actually in the text. 

Rather: Come let us go from the face of the army of the Chaldeans and from the face of the army of the Syrians. So, we’re living in Jerusalem.

What’s likely going on, is God’s sovereign hand, through threat of the Babylonian army, moving the Rechabites into Jerusalem for the purpose of this test, and it’s illustration for the people of Jerusalem.

Suspense:

And now the suspense!

Did they pass?

Because the text is meant to be deliberately suspenseful

Let’s see

Verse 12. (Read 12-14)

Lesser to Greater:

It’s an argument from the lesser to the greater

The Rechabites have kept their father’s command

But this people – the people of Jerusalem and Judah – have not obeyed me! They haven’t obeyed the Lord!

Verse 15. (Read 15-16)

Notice. The Lord hasn’t simply given His people a command

He has sent to them again and again, prophet after prophet

Notice also. The Lord isn’t calling them to some sort of difficult stringent lifestyle of asceticism and abstinence from God’s good gifts.

He’s given them wine to drink

Houses to dwell in

He’s brought them into a land of milk and honey

With fields to sow

Vineyards to plant

God’s continued warning, verse 15, has been:

Turn from evil

Make good your deeds

Don’t walk after other gods

These commands are not too difficult for you!

Notice also the promise:

Then you shall dwell in the land!

Does that sound familiar?

That’s the assurance Jonadab gave to his family.

If they obeyed him, they’d live long in the land!

The Rechabites have heeded their father’s command

Taking that promise, that assurance to heart

Yet this people, says the Lord, has not obeyed Me.

Therefore, verse 17. (Read 17)

The Lord is going to respond to their lack of obedience by keeping His Word.

Bringing all the judgements He has declared.

Which ultimately will be exile.

A removal from the this good land

And away from the Lord’s presence. 

Why?

Because I have spoken, declares the Lord, and they have not listened.

I called to them and they have not answered

This people have shown themselves not to be God’s people.

How? Because God’s people hear His voice and listen.

That isn’t just true in the New Testament when Jesus says:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

That should have been true of Israel! 

That should have been true of Adam and Eve in the Garden. 

That should be true of you and me!

Throughout Scripture, that is the expectation.

Those who truly belong to the Lord 

Hear His voice

Listen to His voice

Heed His voice

And follow His commands

And this people has not!

But what of the Rechabites?

What’s the verdict?

They heeded their father, Jonadab’s voice.

They kept his commands.

What about heeding the Lord?

Verse 18. (Read 18-19)

COVENANT:

Passing the Test:

The Rechabites passed the test! Do you know why?

Because in obeying their father Jonadab, they were obeying the command of God. 

The 5th Commandment to be precise. 

But countless other exhortations throughout God’s Word are also built off that command. 

What’s the 5th Commandment? 

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

I hope you caught that promise. 

That’s the same promise the Lord said the people would receive 

if they would just repent and listen to His voice.

And it’s the same promise Jonadab assured his family of. Do these things:

No wine, houses, fields, or vineyards

But live in tents

So that you may live long in the land.

Even in the New Testament, we’re told, this is the first command with a promise! 

Ephesians 6:1 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor you father and mother (for this is the first command with a promise.)

While our culture seeks to belittle this command

And the religious leaders of Jesus’ day merely gave lip service

The Rechabites sought to honor the Lord by honoring their father Jonadab

Now, let’s be clear – this command isn’t an unconditional command to obey one’s parents without exception. 

Obviously, if your parents instruct you to sin, you have to decline to obey. 

But that doesn’t excuse you from honoring your father or mother.

Jonadab wasn’t commanding his children and their future generations to sin or disobey the voice of the Lord in any way.

In fact, if we look briefly at who Jonadab is

We’ll likely understand better, the reason behind his commands

Pop Quiz – Do you know who Jonadab is? 

Jonadab is by no means a major figure. 

But he does show up for a major event.

Jehu:

Hopefully, you’re at least familiar with Jehu, who is a major figure.

Jehu was anointed king of Israel during the days of Elisha the prophet

Jehu assassinated the wicked kings of Israel and Judah

He executed Jezabel, Ahab’s wife, who led Israel into Baal worship

He slaughtered all the descendants of Ahab.

But what Jehu is most noted for is wiping out Baal worship from Israel

You can read about it in 2 Kings 10.

Jehu devised this scheme to slaughter all the prophets of Baal

Inviting them to a great sacrifice at the house of Baal

To supposedly honor Baal, 

He stationed 80 men outside, saying:

The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.

Now guess who Jehu invited to this spectacle?

You got it. Jonadab. 

Jehu took Jonadab up in his chariot saying,

Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.

And when the time came for the slaughter, who entered with Jehu?

Jonadab.

Why do I share this background information?

How can this possibly help us better understand Jonadab’s strange list of commands for his family? Well, think about it. 

Israel, the Northern Kingdom, had strayed far from the Lord. 

The land was filled with idol worship. 

Jehu is the closest the Northern Kingdom would get to having what might possibly be considered a good king. 

Israel had broken the covenant at every level.

Jonadab rightly discerned that for any of God’s people to dwell in this apostate land, they would necessarily be sojourners. 

This was not the place to put down permanent roots.

As the Book of Hebrews says:

They greeted God’s promises from afar, acknowledging that they were but strangers and exiles on the earth.

They were seeking and awaiting another homeland

A better country. A heavenly kingdom.

As such, God is not ashamed to be called their God, 

For He has prepared for them a city.

Jonadab commanded his family, 

Verse 7. Dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.

LIFE:

Because the Rechabites have obeyed the voice of their father, look at the promise the Lord gives to them in verse 19.

Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.

Literally: shall not have a man cut off to stand before Me all the days.

That’s covenant language

Just to refresh, covenants are cut

To fail to keep the covenant is to be cut off from the covenant

But the Rechabites have kept the covenant

Therefore, they shall not be cut off from before the Lord.

This leads me to raise one final point: What is life? What does life consist of?

Well, let’s start with what it’s not. Verse 6.

Life is not found in wine, houses, sowing seed, or having vineyards.

Nor is it somehow hindered by living in tents

That’s the list of commands Jonadab gave his descendants.

But we can look at that same list in this way:

Life is not found in wine – or we might say pleasure

It’s not found in houses – or we might say shelter and comfort

Not in sowing seed – occupation 

Acquiring vineyards – security

(And as a side note, that’s what King Ahab did! He acquired Naboth’s vineyard – He was obsessed over it! So his wife Jezabel had Naboth framed and killed so her husband could have his vineyard for a vegetable garden.)

And life’s not hindered by living in tents – meaning, you’ll have a hard time accumulating much in the way of property or possessions.

So, just to lay it out more clearly:

Life’s not found in physical pleasure, comfort and shelter, our occupations, our security, or our possessions.

But if we’re honest, we all wrestle with these things, 

pursue these things, dwell on these things, worry over these things.

Also, society puts pressure on us to want and to have these things. 

And get this. None of them are bad

They’re all good gifts from God

But none of them are what makes for a good life

None of them are what life is, at least not defined biblically

Jesus had an interaction with a rich young ruler.

This guy wanted to know what he needed to do to have eternal life.

Jesus’ replies: If you would enter life… enter life! Keep the commands.

So the young man asks, which ones. 

And Jesus ticks them off:

Don’t murder; Don’t commit adultery; Don’t steal

Don’t bear false witness ; Honor your father and mother

And love your neighbor

And the young man replies: All these I have kept.

And then he asks the most astounding question:

What do I still lack?

He externally kept this list of commands, at least in his own eyes.

But he knew something was missing.

So, Jesus says, sell it all, give to the poor, then follow me.

In other words, what you’re missing is me.

Isn’t that how Jesus defines life in John 17:3

This is eternal life: 

To know the one true God, even Jesus Christ who was sent.

But the young man went away sorrowful, 

Why? Because he sought life in all the wrong places. 

He sought it in his possessions

As such, he didn’t listen to the voice of Jesus

Instead, he listened to his lustful flesh

He listened to the cadence of the world – more, more, more

And he listened to the deceit of the devil, 

The suggestion that God withholds good things

But the only thing God withholds are those things that get in the way of our fellowship with Him – because He is our life

Whose standards are you seeking to live by? 

The Pharisees of this world who suggest you have to uphold their traditions, yet failed to keep the command of God to honor their father and mother.

What about the culture? 

Do you feel you need to abide by society’s standards?

A certain size house? A certain income?

A certain standard of cleanliness?

(that’s what the Pharisees argued for)

A certain mode of transportation? A certain retirement plan?

A certain occupation?

The Rechabites were everything but the social norm.

The Rechabites may have failed to live up to society’s standards.

But they were unwavering in their commitment to obedience. 

We might say, that where the people of Israel and Judah were stubbornly disobedient, the Rechabites were stubbornly obedient.

Promise for Obedience?

So what was the promise for their obedience?

If you get nothing else, I hope you get this.

Verse 19. A man not cut off to stand before me.

The promise is that God would preserve them so that they will forever have a man to stand before the Lord.

This has great theological significance, but to keep it simple:

The blessing and promise is that of worship!

It’s the promise given to the Levites, to stand before the Lord and minister to Him and to bless His name forever.

If we’re honest, our flesh isn’t all that enthused over such a promise. 

We think of the 4 living creatures – Holy, Holy, Holy

And many would say, please don’t let heaven be like that!

But if you feel that way, it’s likely because you have failed to see, or have had a lapse in seeing God’s glory.

I mean, King David said he’d be content just to be a doorkeeper

Why? Just to get a regular glimpse of God’s immediate manifest glory!

And that’s what every true believer longs for

O for now we see it through a glass darkly

But soon, we’ll stand face to face with unveiled, undiminished glory

And it’s this hope that sustains us to press on

That sustains us to live as Rechabites

Meaning living as covenant keepers

Obeying the voice of the Lord

CONCLUSION

You and I are saved only because Jesus passed the test at every level – 

Jesus didn’t seek life in the physical pleasures, comforts, and securities that we often seek. 

If you recall, our Lord had no place to lay his head.

During his ministry he let go of having a permanent dwelling here

Why? Because, like the Rechabites, he knew he was but a sojourner.

The seed Jesus sowed was the Word

The fieldshe sowed in were human hearts

At the Last Supper, he vowed to abstain from the fruit of the vine until he drinks with you and me anew in the Kingdom.

Jesus also perfectly demonstrated what it means to keep the 5th Command.

Not only did Jesus honor his earthy parents

submitting to them as a child

He also, sought above all things to honor his Father in heaven.

And we see that most clearly when he is about to go to the cross

Speaking with his disciples, at the end of John 14, he says,

I do what the Father has commanded so that the world may know that I love the Father.

Now that is honor!

That’s our Lord. And His command is: Follow Me.

Our Test:

You and I are in the process of completing our test. 

And get this. It’s an open book test. 

The answers aren’t hidden from you.

It’s all right here.

It’s also a pass or fail test. 

No in between. No grading on a curve.

No, “well my good outweighs my bad.”

And here’s the thing about this test.

You and I never know for sure just when we’ll have to hand our papers in

But when that time comes, they’ll be no delay in the grading process

We’ll find out very quickly whether we passed or not

The test will come down tothis:

Whose voice do you listen to?

Jesus’ sheep hear his voice

So, they follow him

Keeping his commands

And the commands of His Father

Of course, it’s tough to obey the voice of someone if you don’t know what that someone has said.

But guess what? He wrote it all down!

Are you one of His Sheep?

Do you listen to His voice?

Are you a covenant keeper or a covenant breaker?

True faith, saving faith, listens to Him. It’s that simple.

Those who fail, will fail, not because the test is somehow hard, but because their hearts are.

Those who pass, will pass because the Lord graciously softened your heart, giving you a new heart, into which He Himself poured His very own Spirit, enabling you to indeed heed His voice, obey His commands, and thus keep His covenant.

https://youtu.be/uAaz8Bb_aQ8 

  Jeremiah 34:1-22 Covenant Breakers, Covenant Keepers, part 1

INTRODUCTION:

As we move back into Jeremiah, it’s important to note that we aren’t moving away from our January theme on the Word of God. If nothing else, we’re moving deeper into specific facets of this Word. 

A friend expressed to me recently how they really enjoy our conversations over the Word of God, but that when I start talking about certain books such as Jeremiah and Leviticus they tend to lose interest. I’m not sure this individual noticed the disconnect, but I hope you as a congregation does, because the Book of Jeremiah is the Word of God.

It’s one thing as a church for us to talk about the Bible and how we love the Bible, believe the Bible, heed the Bible. But if you recall from 2 Timothy 4, the Scriptures that Timothy was exhorted to preach were the Old Testament Scriptures. Because that’s what Timothy had!

Loved ones, I hope you understand. We need the whole of God’s Word to come to bear on our lives for us to mature in Christ. We need the razor-sharp edge of the Word of the Lord to prune us—to prune that which is diseased so that we might bear fruit in Christ.

Today, we begin looking at Covenant Breakers and Covenant Keepers. As for Covenant Breakers, we have the example of Zedekiah and the people of Judah. Next week, we’ll look at Covenant Keepers and the example of the Rechabites. 

To give a brief overview of our passage, King Zedekiah has made a covenant, along with the people of Jerusalem, to set their fellow Hebrew slaves free. But after setting them free, the people turned around and took back their slaves. No surprise, the Lord has a word concerning those who are Covenant Breakers.

We’ll be looking at 3 main themes this morning:
I. The Issue of Slavery
II. True and False Repentance
III. Covenant Faithfulness

READ (Jeremiah 34)

EMANCIPATION:

In 1619, a group of about 350 kidnapped Africans from Angola, were marched to the West-African slave-trading port of Luanda and forced aboard the Portuguese ship, the San Juan Bautista. 

20 or so of these kidnapped Africans eventually landed on the shores of colonial Virginia, where they were sold by privateers in exchange for provisions. While not the first people to be sold into slavery in the New World, this date marks the first known sale of kidnapped human beings in what would become the United States mainland.

244 years later, on January 1, 1863, the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all persons held as slaves shall now and henceforward be free… and commended to faithfully labor for reasonable wages.

In our passage, King Zedekiah declares his own Emancipation Proclamation. In verses 8-10, we read that Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, to make a proclamation of liberty, that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave his fellow Jew. And the people obeyed and entered into this covenant to no longer enslave their fellow Hebrew.

SLAVERY LAWS:

Now, it’s important to note that the type of slavery that existed here in the States was expressly forbidden in Scripture. You can read about the slavery laws in books like Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. 

In Exodus 21, immediately following the Ten Commandments, God lays out His laws concerning slavery. This shows the extremely high priority this issue is to God. I mean, it’s at the very front end of the giving of the Law! Verse 16 of Exodus 21 expressly states that whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. Forced subjugation of innocent civilians is strictly prohibited!

With that said, the law made allowances for slavery. Criminals and prisoners of war could be subjected to servitude, but we can discuss that another time. What concerns us for our passage today: if someone owed a debt he couldn’t pay, or if he simply fell on hard times, he could sell himself to work off that debt and receive basic provisions. 

But there was a limit to their servitude. After 6 years, the slave must be set free. In the 7th year, he was to go free for nothing. That’s it! Debt paid! 

We see that in verse 14 of our text. At the end of seven years each of you must set free your fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years.

In Leviticus 25 we read that slaves were to be treated as hired workers. They are not to be ruled over ruthlessly. 

Deuteronomy 15 further states that when you set your Hebrew slave free—whether man or woman—they shall not be sent away empty handed but be generously provided for.

In fact, let me read this to you from Deuteronomy 15, beginning at verse 13. When you let him go—that is your Hebrew slave—you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you.

What’s the basis for these slavery laws? Verse 13. I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 

The basis for freeing others is because God Himself freed you! 

APPLICATION:

And the same is true for us. Jesus has released us from our slavery to sin by paying off the full penalty of our debt. We have not only been set free but liberally provided for. As such, we release others from their debts to us because our Lord has released us from ours. That’s part of what it means for us to be conformed to Christ’s likeness.

But rather than reflecting the grace and kindness God showed them, obeying God by releasing their fellow brothers from both bondage and debt… end of verse 14—your fathers did not listen.

REPENTANCE:

Along with the issue of slavery, we also have the issue of true versus false repentance.

FORD ESCORT:

As a teen, I was known for what we might call “heavy-foot-syndrome.” I’m not sure if it was due to calcium deposits or too much protein in my diet. What I do know, is that it seemed only to affect my right foot, and that, only when driving. So, after countless warnings and more than a few speeding tickets, I managed to lose my license, not once, but twice before I turned 18, after receiving my second reckless driving ticket, this time for doing 86 in a 55.

So, my dad kindly traded me my 5-speed Volkswagen Jetta—which I had paid $3800 for back in the 90s—and in exchange, he gave me his $500 4-speed, Ford Escort. Let me just say that the Escort may have been a small step up from those cars the Flintstones drove.

In addition to the fine, the judge required me to pay for and complete a driver’s improvement class in order to have my license reinstated. So, 3 months later, I was back on the road; this time in my clunker, and my foot was still every bit as heavy, even if the Escort couldn’t quite do 86… downhill… even if I pushed it.

Now listen. I went through the motions of repentance. I paid the fine. I paid for the class. I completed the class. I acknowledged what was expected of me. I promised to change. But I did so, only so I could have my license restored. And Once the consequence was behind me, I immediately return to my old habits.
Can any of you relate?

JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED

That’s similar to what Zedekiah and the people of Judah did. The Lord has warned His people again and again concerning their oppression and injustice—both of which were an outflow of their idolatry. Oppression and injustice are always the result of idolatry. When we fail to worship anything other than the God whose image we are fashioned after, we will naturally be inclined to mistreat God’s image-bearers in order to serve our idols. 

After countless warnings, the Judge has not only handed down His verdict, the judgment is knocking on the gates. Verses 1-2. The Lord is giving Zedekiah and the entire city into the hand of the king of Babylon. And the Lord follows that up in verse 3 with the certainty of this judgment. You shall not escape! You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall be taken to Babylon.

But… even in light of this judgment, the Lord offers a message of hope—a word of consolation—that even this judgment doesn’t have to be the end. 

Yes, Zedekiah, your license to reign over Judah has been revoked. But even though the Volkswagen Jetta has been taken away, you can at least finish out your days in a Ford Escort. 

Verse 4 and 5. Yet hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah… You shall not die by the sword, but you shall die in peace and with honor, just as the former kings who were before you. And what’s more Zedekiah, you have my word on this matter. For I the Lord have spoken.

In other words, Zedekiah, you have my word on this.

But Zedekiah is aware, and I hope your are too, that both God’s judgments and His promises—His words of assurance and His words of warning—hinge on repentance. 

CONTINGENCY:

I know it’s been a while, but back in Jeremiah 18, we were reminded that there’s an understood contingency tied to God’s declarations. Listen to this from Jeremiah 18:7. 

If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended for it.
 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, if that nation does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.
 Now, therefore, … men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, … Behold, I am shaping disaster against you, and devising a plan against you. Return, every one form his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.

That’s what repentance is; it’s turning around. Zedekiah, I’ve given you my word on this, that you will die in peace and with honor. But understand, you can forfeit with good I intend for you.

PARK EXAMPLE:

Think of it like this. I can tell my girls I’m taking them to the park later today. They get excited and ask, “Really!?” And I reply absolutely. You have my word. But as we’re getting ready to go to the park, they start fighting and misbehaving. Guess what. We’re not going to the park. Now let me ask. Did I lie when I said I would take them, and even more so confirmed that they had my word on the matter? No! They forfeited the promise.

Now of course, I’m not omniscient like God is. God knows those who will forfeit His promises and those who will not. That doesn’t make God unfaithful. It makes those who forfeit the promises unfaithful. Just as the warnings are meant to lead us to reform our lives to God’s ways, so also, the promises are to encourage us to reform our lives and continue to order our lives likewise.

God has no problem relenting from this good He has declared to Zedekiah,
if Zedekiah forfeits God’s good plans for him by continuing in his wickedness. And spoiler alert. Far from peace and honor, Scripture records that when Zedekiah was carted off to Babylon, he indeed saw the king face to face, and he watched his sons slaughtered before his eyes. Then Nebuchadnezzar gouge out his eyes, and we’re told that he died in prison.

APPLICATION:

Loved ones, we have glorious promises given to us in the gospel. But those promise are conditioned to those who are in Christ, those who are genuinely in Christ, meaning that they have repented and have submitted their lives to the lordship of Christ. 

These promises will not come to pass for those who get their license reinstated and continue to speed off into their former ways and former worldviews.

IMMEDIATE SITUATION:

Verses 6 and 7 give the immediate situation. Jeremiah spoke all these words to Zedekiah when Jerusalem was but one of three fortified cities of Judah that remained. The rest had fallen. And now, Babylon is knocking on the door with God’s promised judgment.

It’s with this backdrop, when judgment seems certain, that Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem repent by releasing their fellow Hebrew slaves. And guess what? That was a good thing! And it was good in the sight of the Lord.

Verse 15. You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before ME in the house that is called by MY name.

But sadly, their repentance didn’t last long. Verse 16. But then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them back into subjection to be your slaves.

APPLICATION:

Have you ever noticed that when one’s life is threatened, when death comes near, that people suddenly develop a deeper awareness of their sin—whether or not they’d actually call it that? It’s a reminder of the truth that we all inwardly know—the fact that we will all give an account to our Creator. 

As the saying goes, there are no atheists in foxholes. In life and death circumstances, even the ungodly often seek to earn some sort of favor before God, sometimes in doing what they believe to be a good deed, at other times pledging undying devotion to God if He will just deliver them from this situation. But sadly, as soon as the threat is removed—at the first sign of relief—they turn back. They repent of their repentance. 

THREAT REMOVED

In verse 21 we learn that the king of Babylon had withdrawn. Later, in chapter 37, we find out that it was due to an opposing threat from Egypt. 

Zedekiah and company repented while death was knocking on their door, but as soon as the king of Babylon withdraws his army, the people went back on their word, showing that their repentance wasn’t grounded in the fear of the Lord but in the circumstances that threatened them.

Their repentance is what we might call a false repentance versus a genuine repentance, a worldly repentance versus a godly repentance. Or to put it in biblical terms (borrowing from 2 Corinthians 7), their repentance was not a repentance that leads to life and salvation, but to death. They went through the motions of repentance, but there was no change of heart. 

TRUE VERSUS FALSE REPENTANCE:

What are some of the differences between true and false repentance? 

1) False repentance is mostly concerned with consequences, and specifically adverse consequences to oneself. So, when the threat of judgment looms, we’ll reform our ways in order to avoid any adverse consequences for ourselves. That’s what Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem did. They went through the motions of repentance hoping to avert God’s justice. 

2) False repentance excuses oneself for his or her actions. Love ones, this is why we’re so quick to return to our former ways once the threat that led to our repentance is removed. We’ll justify our views and our actions. And when we do, we show that the only thing we’re sorry for is the fact that we got caught and it may cost us. 

Do you know why false repentance doesn’t last long? Because there’s no change of heart. If you find yourself returning to the same sins again and again, that’s because inside, you continue to justify your actions. You haven’t repented in here—in your heart and in your mind. You aren’t fully convinced that your actions were wrong, or at least not as not bad enough to land you in hell for an eternity, and certainly not bad enough for Jesus to have to pay for them on a gruesome bloody cross. 

The issue is that you haven’t found yourself in agreement with God. Rather, you’re still seeking to play God. You’re still seeking to determining what’s good and evil rather than submitting to God’s declaration as to what’s pleasing in His sight and what’s abhorrent. 

And because you have failed to see God’s Law, His commands, His ways as beautiful and glorious, you quickly return to old habits and patterns. 

But listen loved ones—in Christ—you don’t live there anymore! Quit speeding off down that same old dead-end street thinking you’ll find joy there, fulfillment there, satisfying your fleshly desires there. God alone can satisfy. Why? Because that’s how He has designed you. 

When we continue running back to the same sin, we show that there is little to no heart repentance—no true change of mind. 

The people took back their slaves because in their heart, they didn’t truly believe slavery was necessarily all that bad, so long as they weren’t the ones enslaved, and they were the ones who benefitted from the labor.
Ultimately, they refused to recognize their sin for what it was: sin.

3) False repentance calculates the situation. The same heart that excuses itself for its actions, calculates the situation, asking how little must I do to avert or lessen the judgment, and how might I repent in such a way that it actually benefits my unchanged desires. 

Do you not think that Zedekiah calculated the possible benefits of freeing the slaves? You know, freeing these slave just might encourage them to join the war effort. And hey, guess what! With the siege going on, we can’t exactly access our crops. By setting them free, we’ll have less mouths we’re responsible to feed. They can figure out how to feed themselves. 

But that same calculating heart that set the slaves free, is the same calculating heart that subjects them to slavery once again. It’s one thing to proclaim liberty, to announce emancipation, but if the slaves go from freedom right back into forced servitude, what kind of emancipation is that! 

Zedekiah might have proclaimed freedom. But now the threat from Babylon has been dismissed. And guess what? The dishes are piling up. Clothes need washed. Wood needs chopped. Who else is going to do all this work?

One of the reasons we return to our former sins, is because we calculate. We weigh the supposed benefit of temporary gains and worldly pleasures with the possibility or even likelihood that, you know, I can always repent later. And that my friends, if that’s you, it’s a very dangerous place to be. 

You know why I don’t do what many refer to as altar calls. First, I’m not convinced they’re biblical. Two, their focus, for the most part, tends to be on outward repentance, often leading to a false sense of security. 

I get nothing out of seeing people walk an aisle. You know why? Because God never calls anyone to walk an aisle, or raise a hand, or say a sinners prayer. Loved ones, those things don’t save you.

Rather, my desire is for your heart to be torn in two over your sin, and for it to bear the scars of love from where God Himself has sewn it back together making it altogether new. As Joel 2:13 says, rend your hearts and not your garments.If your heart is torn, the world will notice. You don’t have to do anything to parade it around; it will be obvious. But what’s far more important, is that the God who searches hearts, will see it.

If you think you’re safe living in sin, telling yourself you’ll have the opportunity to repent later, let me enlighten you with some hard facts. … You might… and you might not. It is possible, you may find yourself on your deathbed one day, and in that moment, if you haven’t already, genuinely repent. The thief on the cross did.

But realized, the thief on the cross didn’t go through some outward ritual. On the cross, he saw justice and mercy meet. 1) He recognized that he was getting the justice he very well deserved. He didn’t excuse his actions. 2) He looked at the sinless man on the middle cross, who, rather than being concern for his own fate, prayed, Father, forgive them! 3) He accepted the offer of forgiveness for which Jesus prayed and the promise that he would be with Jesus in paradise. 

O he didn’t have all his theology worked out just right. But what he did was repent… not with some outward show… but in here… from the heart.

But if you refuse to repent now, what makes you so confident your heart will be moved to repent later. Today is the day of salvation!

4) False repentance has no concern that their actions and attitudes dishonored the Lord. Going through the motions of repentance, whether that be raising a hand, saying a prayer, getting baptized, partaking of the Lord’s Supper… gain you no favor before God. Rather, if you’re heart isn’t transformed, and you continue living in rebellion to God and His Law, these outward displays only serve to further profane God’s name. 

How many churches, how many professing Christians bring dishonor on God’s name because they claim to be God’s people, but fail to reflect Him. They have no true desire to reflect Him.

The people made a covenant to set the slaves free, and they did so before the Lord in the house that is called by His name. Verse 16. But you turned around and took back your slaves, and in doing so, you profaned my name.

True repentance cares most about honoring the Lord who makes forgiveness even possible, and that at the highest possible price, not to the sinner, but to the Lord Himself, through his death on the cross.

COVENANT FAITHFULNESS

Along with the absence of genuine repentance, there’s the issue of covenant faithfulness, or lack thereof. God’s laws concerning slavery fell under the covenant stipulations given to Israel at Mt. Sinai. 

One thing that is absolutely clear concerning God’s covenant is that it’s conditioned by obedience. As Silas read for us from Exodus 19, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

You will be my people if you obey me… if you keep my covenant.

Now, don’t confuse the requirement for obedience as somehow making this a covenant of works. God freed the people from bondage first, before any covenant faithfulness on their part. But with freedom, comes the responsibility to live free. 

Here’s the thing with not keeping God’s covenant, not obeying His voice. It leaves one as a slave to something or someone else. They might as well still be in bondage in Egypt, because their physical location isn’t what makes one free.

The fact that they had failed to release their fellow Hebrews after 6 years was one of many ways they had been unfaithful to God’s covenant. And it was a sure sign that they themselves were still slaves to sin.

CUT OFF:

There’s also the issue of being cut off from the covenant. Through out the Law, we read numerous times that the person who breaks certain covenant stipulations shall be cut off from his people… which is another way of saying, cut off from the people of God… and more specifically, cut of from God’s covenant people, those who are to receive the covenant promises.
Many time the ultimate form of being cut off was death. 

CUT COVENANTS:

Now Covenants in the Bible—and we’ve covered this before—aren’t simply made; they’re cut. The literal phrase is the Lord cut a covenant, or as we read in verse 8 and verse 15, Zedekiah and the people cut a covenant. The Hebrew word is כָּרַת (karath), meaning to cut.

As such, there is often a sacrifice of sorts involved. We see this most explicitly in Genesis 15 with God’s covenant with Abraham to multiply his descendants and give them the land. Abraham asks, how shall I know. And the Lord has him bring a 3-year-old heifer, a goat, a ram, as well as a turtle dove and a pigeon. And Abraham cuts the innocent animals in half. 

To ratify the covenant, the covenant parties would walk between the divided carcasses as a way of expressing that if I fail to keep my end of the covenant, may I be like these slaughtered beasts.

Throughout the Old Testament you’ve probably run across the phrase, May the Lord do so to me and more also if (dot dot dot). That’s covenant language. Sometimes that phrase is spoken by covenant breakers like King Saul. Sometimes that phrase is spoken by covenant keepers like Ruth. 

Not only was Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem in danger of being cut off from the Lord’s covenant; they have also proven they aren’t even faithful to their own covenants that they initiate, such as the covenant they made to free their fellow Hebrews.

LIBERTY TO THE SWORD:

What’s God’s word to such covenant breakers? He will return to them the same liberty they gave to their fellow Hebrews.

Verse 17. Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty to your brothers… behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine…
 I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And the men who transgressed my covenant, and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they cut before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts…
 How? Verse 20. By giving them into the hand of their enemies and those who seek their lives. Nebuchadnezzar may have withdrawn, but I will bring him back. 

Covenant breakers, those who are unfaithful to the Lord’s covenant will find themselves cut off from His covenant people, His covenant blessings, His covenant protections. Why? Not because the Lord is somehow unfaithful, but because He is faithful.

CONCLUSION:

So, how do we wrap this up?

Our God is an emancipating God. He liberates us from the harshest of all taskmasters, our sin. And He releases us from our debt of sin so as not to become slaves again. How? Because He Himself paid that debt in full on the cross.

Our God is a relenting God. (That’s simply another word for repent.) God doesn’t sin and He doesn’t err. But God repents in the sense that He relents from bringing disaster; He turns back His fierce wrath. And He does so ultimately because He poured it out in full upon His Son in our place.

And our God is a covenant keeping God. He satisfies every covenant stipulation including paying the penalty for our breaking the covenant. On the cross, Jesus became like the slaughtered calf that was cut in two. In fact, Jesus satisfied the terms of the Old Covenant with the very blood of the New.

You and I, we enter this New Covenant only through the curtain of Jesus’ severed flesh, but also only with genuine repentance, a repentance that turns from going our way and going His—a repentance that forgives others their debts as we have been forgiven ours—a repentance that keeps the New Covenant commands such as Jesus commanded us to … love one another as I have loved you.

Will you be a covenant breaker or a covenant keeper?

Our Lord kept the covenant by being broken. If you want to keep the covenant, you’ll be broken in here, in your heart, allowing Him to put you back together.

https://youtu.be/6cv2CIb2ZB4

  2 Timothy 4:1-5 Preach the Word

INTRODUCTION:

     Well, it’s orientation day. You’ve just been offered a new position, and, well, like any company, it’s important that you’re well briefed as to what’s involved. Eli, you’re likely the most recent to go through the orientation process for a new job. Now, I’m not sure what Chick-fil-a’s process is like. Nor do I know who much owner, Randy Atkins, is involved in the process. I’m guessing, like many companies today, you likely had to sit through a series of orientation videos, highlighting some of the perks you get for working at the company. They want you excited about your new position.

But they also, at least I hope so, lay out their expectations for you regarding your new position. They likely covered who you are to report to, who you’re accountable to. What you primary position is, the scope of that position. Of course, you’ll need to know your schedule, when you should be expected to be available. What your position consists of, and the way you are to carry it out. (With that customary Chick-fil-a smile, and the trademark phrase: “My pleasure.”) What about your work environment. What challenges are you likely to face. Are there any hazards to be aware of? What other responsibilities are involved?

TIMOTHY

     We’re in 2 Timothy. And for a bit of background, Timothy isn’t exactly what we’d call a new hire or a new recruit. He’s been mentored by Paul for some 20 years. Nevertheless, Timothy is indeed stepping into a new position, a position where he’s going to have to carry the torch now. Why? Because Paul’s at the end of his service. He’s finished the race. It’s time for Timothy and others to carry on the work.

Now, Paul didn’t have Timothy sit through a bunch of impersonal cookie-cutter videos. No. Paul sent him a letter, a couple letters actually. 

Like a position at Chick-fil-a, Timothy’s position would be one of service, one of providing food and nourishment, but a food and nourishment that far exceed any physical meal. Timothy, however, would not provide his services so much to those who are lining up at the drive-thru, those who by nature have a craving for the meal he’s called to serve. For many, this bread would be bitter and distasteful. 

      As far as Timothy’s ultimate supervisor, the One he will give account to isn’t one who could merely fire him, although fire isn’t altogether absent the consequences for failing to faithfully carry out his duties. Timothy would give account to none other than God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ who is to judge the living and the dead. 

    That’s somewhat an overview of what we’ll be looking at this morning. But before you check out, thinking, well, I’m certainly not Timothy, or called to Timothy’s position, so this obviously doesn’t apply to me, let me assure you, this matters greatly to all of us, regardless of your calling.

READ: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

ACCOUNTABILITY

     As already mentioned, the One to whom Timothy will ultimately answer is God. Look again at verse 1. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

Before laying out the charge to Timothy to preach the Word, Paul reminds his young protégé that it’s not before Paul that Timothy will answer. Timothy, you will answer to God and Jesus Christ who took the nails of judgment in your place. Paul wants to make very clear the seriousness of this call by pointing Timothy to the authority that he will ultimately answer to. 

     Now, don’t think to yourself: well, I’m not Timothy. I’m not pastor Josh. I’m not even an adult male… so I’m somewhat exempt. Isn’t that what you complementarian reformed types teach. Well, there is certainly a high standard those who serve in the office of pastor and elder are expected to hold to. But if we were to walk through the qualifications, one thing you’d likely see is that most of the expectations, most of the standards are what every believer is called to. Let’s just take Paul’s first letter to Timothy as an example. An overseer is to be trustworthy, above reproach, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, not puffed up with conceit. Let me ask. Which of these expectations is the follower of Jesus exempt from?

     But what’s more, while most of you will not have to worry about giving an account for what you proclaim from up here, we all have a calling to be faithful in whatever our service in the Lord might be. We are to glorify God in all things, not simply church related functions. We are all called to be faithful stewards of the gifts God has given us. And just so we’re clear, neglect lets none of us off the hook.

     Beyond that, as followers of Christ, called to sit under the authority of God’s Word, you will give an account for how you respond to the faithful proclamation of this Word. You won’t give an account to me or Sherif. You will give account to Jesus himself… this Jesus who is to judge.

     We don’t tend to like the idea of Jesus judging. Or perhaps I should put it this way, those who aren’t truly in Christ don’t tend to like the idea of Jesus judging. You see, for those truly in Christ, we are looking forward to that day when Jesus judges the living and the dead. Why? Because it is the day of final vindication, where all of Jesus’ faithful are vindicated before all their enemies, as our King sets the faithful on His right and pronounces blessing over them, giving them the reward of their inheritance before the rest of the watching world. 

     I can’t stress to you enough how important it is that all stand before the great white throne of judgment. Because it is here that God is glorified in the vindication of His servants. All of our persecution, the slandering, the mocking, the disregarding our words of warning, our sufferings, our denying ourselves, while the world watched on thinking, o what fools. Why don’t they just eat, drink, and live it up. Sin all that you can now. All of it will be vindicated. While the unfaithful will be placed on the Lord’s left, will receive justice, the justice that seemed to have been set aside, will finally come upon them in full.

     Why does this matter for Timothy? Because Timothy is about to hear the impossible challenge he faces in carrying out his position. And you and I, in whatever capacity we serve, if we truly serve faithfully, we will face some of the same challenges. Not only will we give an account, but all will… that includes those who oppose our Commander in Chief, the Lord Jesus, and His calling on our lives. And knowing that should encourage us to press on in our service faithfully, knowing that justice will prevail, when Jesus returns and brings the fullness of His kingdom.

PREACH THE WORD

     So, what is this call for Timothy? Beginning of verse 2. Preach the Word. The word preach, κηρύσσω, means to proclaim, to preach, to herald a message openly and publicly. So before moving on, let’s address what preaching is not. Preaching is not private counsel. Preaching is a private service hidden from view. Preaching is public proclamation, not just for the church but for all who will hear to hear. In that sense, our doors here are open. We do not hold a closed service for members or believers only. 

SCOPE:

     What’s the scope of what we are to preach? The Word. This Book, the Bible. Which parts? The New Testament? Well, the New Testament was still in the process of being written down and disseminated.  At the time of Paul writing to Timothy, it would have been well understood that Paul wasn’t so much focused on what was currently being penned as he was the sacred writings of what we call the Old Testament. So for those who stick to a primarily New Testament diet, you obviously don’t hold to the New Testament’s teaching, if you even know what it’s teaching. 

     Perhaps many of you have noticed 1) that the Old Testament is four times the size of the New Testament, and 2) that Sherif and I like to spend a lot of time in the Old Testament. Why? Well, three verses earlier Paul points out to Timothy that ALLScripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 

     But if we back up one more verse, to 3:15, we see that it is this Word, again, Paul is referring primarily to the Old Testament Scriptures, which do what? They point to Jesus! That’s what Timothy grew up with. Those are the sacred writings that Timothy was acquainted with. And get this. Those are the Scriptures that are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

     Sorry, Josh. I want to understand. But I’m just not sure I get it. How is the Old Testament able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Jesus? Well, that’s a good question and honest question. And one that the church has sadly neglected answering, and worse, set an example that seems to suggest that the Old Testament has little to do with Jesus other than a few prophecies here or there. Shame on us. Jesus himself says the whole of Scripture is about Him. Not a few select prophecies throughout. Even if we’re talking 500 prophecies throughout the whole Old Testament, that’s a very small percentage of this huge codex.

     The Old Testament is not primarily a book of stories from which we are to glean some sort of life lesson. We sat through the half-time devotions for Upwards Basketball, and as is most often the case, the pastor, I believe he was the youth pastor, misused Scripture to teach what amounted to an Aesop’s Fable. When Jesus was twelve, the age of some of you guys in here (pointing to the ball players), he asked good questions. Make sure you go through life asking good questions. It will help you go far. 

     My point is not to single this pastor out. This is the extent in which most of the American church read their Bibles, and especially the Old Testament. But do you know what the apostles did with the Old Testament. They used it to prove that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. They used it to show that the God who doesn’t change, hadn’t forgotten His promises. They revealed that Jesus is Yahweh, the Lord of the Old Covenant now come in the flesh to satisfy the law, pay the penalty of sin through the sacrifice of Himself, and to gather the lost sheep of the house of Israel, which includes every sheep who hear and listen to His voice.

     These are the Scriptures, Timothy, that you are to preach, because they are able to make people wise for salvation in Jesus Christ. And this is the preaching Jesus’ church is to sit under.

SCHEDULE:

     Okay. So I get it. Preach the whole Word, the whole counsel of God, as Paul says in Acts 20, which Josiah read for us. What are my hours? What’s this schedule look like? When do I get vacation time? Or, just tell me when I’m supposed to be available. Well, Timothy, stand ready in season and out of season… or more literally, in good times and bad times. Preach during those opportune moments, and during those inopportune moments. Don’t base when to preach on whether it’s the in thing or popular, or whether you’ll be commended or stoned, not just when you see fruit or flocks are showing up in mass. Not when it’s safe, not even when people are receptive to what you have to say. 

     The prophet Isaiah, He was called to preach and immediately told that God Himself was going to close the ears of his hearers. How long? Well, way passed Isaiah’s ministry and the Lord sent his people into exile and only a remnant remained. 

The point here Timothy is for you not to concern yourself with the results. God alone gives the growth. You are simply to faithfully proclaim His Word. 

Now, I get that Paul is exhorting Timothy here. But we can certainly apply this to ourselves. While we’re not all Watchmen, as we Sherif read for us in Ezekiel 3, at least not in the same way, don’t think you and I are welcome to keep silent while droves are marching straight to destruction. As a reminder of our Wednesday night class series, we are all to be ready to give a reason for our the hope that is in us, our hope in Jesus, our hope in His gospel. Well, when are we to be ready? ALWAYS!!! That’s another way of saying, in season and out of season. Not just when it’s politically or socially acceptable. 

     Society will tell you not to bring up politics or religion over Thanksgiving Dinner. Let me ask. Are you going to listen to society, or are you going to listen to God’s Word. If your faith isn’t demonstrated and expressed verbally regarding Thanksgiving, what kind of Thanksgiving are you celebrating? A worldly one with a generic thanks to no one? Thank the Lord of creation who makes all of these blessings possible, and even more so, give public thanks before the entire gathering for what Christ has accomplished. Because only in Jesus being the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world makes it possible for any of the world to enjoy a single Thanksgiving. Because after Adam and Eve ate, that would have been the end of it. Christ was crucified in God’s mind before the first sin, and that’s the only reason why Adam and Eve were able to even walk out of the Garden to breath another day.

     What’s the schedule of the Christian? Always be ready, regardless of the season. So long as people are showing up at Grace, we’ll proclaim the Word here. But if a day comes when no one’s here, I’ll proclaim the Word somewhere else. It might be another church or in my family room or on a street corner. And I pray, you are somewhere either proclaiming or sitting under the proclamation of this Word.

MODE:

So, what does preaching consist of? Still in verse 2. Paul gives Timothy 3 rapid-fire imperatives: reprove, rebuke, and exhort. 

Reprove/Expose:

     The first: reprove, has to do with convicting or exposing sin. The preacher of God’s Word is to proclaim God’s Word in such a way that it exposes our sin. Now let me just say, there is nothing pleasant about this. As the author of Hebrews writes, For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. 

Trina just had open heart surgery, and she’ll tell you, it was painful. She wasn’t looking forward to the pain. She didn’t delight in the pain after the fact. But I’ll tell you what she is looking forward to: the restoration of physical health that surgery is intended to bring about. She wants to be able to walk the farm without being winded. She wants to care for her chicks and goats. But she’s been physically limited. 

     We don’t delight in the painful scalpel of God’s Word. We delight in the restoration the surgery is meant to bring about. And just so we’re clear, I have to work through these messages in my own heart before I ever get up here… and it’s hard. A lot of times, it’s really hard.

    Our neighbors just got married. And as a wedding gift, and I have found it to be a great wedding gift, we gave them a little book titled When Sinners Say I Do. It is by far the best counseling book I’ve yet to come across. You might ask, why on earth would anyone title a book, When Sinners Say I Do. But one of the things the author recognizes and doesn’t hold back on is the fact that we are all sinners. Even more so, he recognizes that like Paul, he is the chief of all sinners. In fact, you know who Paul wrote those words to? Paul wrote them to Timothy. 

     Harvey, the author of this book, points out the great blessing it is to come to terms with this reality. You see. So long as we fail to see our sin for what it is, 1) we can’t truly know the love of Christ, 2) we will never be able to love others well. Preaching is intended to expose our sin so that we repent and turn to Christ and receive His mercy. There is no transformation apart from our sin being exposed. And the God who saves, loves His people to much to leave them untransformed.

Rebuke/Warn:

     The second thing preaching does is rebuke or warn. The next step in the preaching of God’s Word, after exposing our sin is to warn us of sin’s consequences. 

     Now I get it. There is absolutely nothing popular about this. But again, this is meant to be good medicine. It’s one thing to have the MRI done and the cancer exposed. But if the doctor simply tells you what you have, alright Joe, it looks like you have cancer of the heart. Have a good day. But fails to tell you what needs to happen next and the consequences if you neglect suggested treatment, what good does that do? 

     Loved ones, we have cancer of the heart. That’s what sin is. But there’s a treatment regimen far stronger than the best chemotherapies. It’s called the gospel. But get this, one dose of chemotherapy isn’t going to do it. This cancer runs deep. It will take the rest of your life to rid yourself entirely of this disease. But with a steady dose of this gospel treatment, you’ll notice the cancer of sin gradually go into remission, to where it no longer reigns in your members.

     But if we fail to sit under the preaching of God’s Word, how do you expect to fight off the cancer of sin? Do you really think yourself wiser than the great Physician who prescribed this regimen of preaching? Don’t fool yourself.

Exhort:

     The last thing preaching must necessarily do is exhort. Now the word here translated exhortcan mean encourage or comfort. And in many texts it is used in that sense. And it is possible Paul is telling Timothy, after you’ve exposed their sin through the proclamation of God’s Word, and warned them of sin’s consequences through the proclamation of God’s Word, finally, encourage them through the proclamation of God’s Word. 

     While it’s true, the proclamation of God’s word should bring hope and encouragement, that’s likely not the context in which Paul is using exhort here. Rather, exhort here, after exposing and warning, is to plead with one’s hearers to act… respond. Repent and believe the good news. Certainly, there are words of comfort. But only so far as there is a positive response to the message of the gospel. Timothy, urge your hearers strongly and urgently, “Flee from the wrath of God, and flee to the stretched out bloody nail-pierced hands of Jesus that are ready to receive you.

     It's not enough to disclose the MRI results, and warn the patient, it looks terminal, and then walk away. We plead with the sick, “You don’t have to let this thing take you out. You don’t have to allow that cancer, that sin, that addiction, lead you to hell. There’s help. There’s hope. Don’t fight this thing on your own. You aren’t strong enough. But Jesus is.”

     That’s what preaching does. It exposes sin. It warns regarding sin’s consequences. And it pleads for sinners to repent and trust Jesus to heal them.

MANNER:

     But there’s a manner in which this is preaching thing is to be carried out. End of verse 2. With complete, or better, all patience and teaching. These words qualify the three preceding imperatives, with the “all” here applying to both the patience and the teaching. 

All Patience:

     The hard job of ministering this Word is that the fruit isn’t immediate. It’s not like building a custom shed, Josiah, and then you can step back and admire the accomplishment. Nor is it like finally passing a test, Carmen and our students here. 

It’s more like studying and preparing for a test that’s decades off. Or like raising kids. God knows how they’ll turn out, not us. The minister is to do the work, but in the end, he’s got to entrust that work to the Lord.

     Progress and signs of progress come slow. And this doesn’t just apply to preachers, but to parents raising there kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord. It also applies to those we are called to disciple. And just a reminder, who’s called to make disciples? The church. Not the pastor. Not Sherif. Although we certainly have a role and responsibility in the matter. But making disciples falls to the church. The process is often slow going. 

     Part of the issue is that we all have to start from guess what? Where we are. Were all at different points along the way. Be patient. Remember, you once had to start somewhere. Like a newborn infant there was a time you required milk. But there’s also a time when the child grows up and should be digesting solid food. 

   Patience and Warning aren’t at adds. You warn your child. But you also need to discern where she is. The same is true of God’s flock.

All Teaching:

     Not only does preaching require all patience, it also requires all teaching. Your translation might have the word “complete” or “great” before “patience.” It’s simply the word, “all,” and it applies to both the patience and the teaching.  Just as the apostle Paul, in Acts 20, which Josiah read for us, reminded the Ephesian elders that he didn’t shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God, so too the church is called to preach the whole counsel of God. 

     Which in turn means we are to sit under and receive the whole counsel of God, not just the pastor’s favorite themes or pet peeves, not just what’s in line with the times. Not even simply addresses the most prominent issues the church faces. Why does this matter? Because if we only focus on the current issues and avoid addressing those things that aren’t currently an issue, guess what? Soon enough they will be! 

     The whole counsel of God is required to make the man of God complete. The whole counsel of God is required to make one wise for salvation. That’s why, although we’ll do short series on this or that theme, such as our Word of God series we’re currently in, for the most part we teach and preach through books of the Bible and large sections of Scripture. 

     This is also why, Sherif and I try to make sure your diet at Grace doesn’t consist solely of the most familiar passages, but instead we include books and passages you may not be familiar with, such as Haggai and Leviticus, and yes, we’ll be returning to Jeremiah to finish that up this year. 

     So, while preaching is more than teaching, it’s not less. The Word must be taught and explained in order to truly proclaim its implications and exhort people to respond.

ENVIRONMENT:

     Okay, Timothy, you now know who you are accountable to, what you’re called to do, how you are to do it. Now, I think it’s important you understand the environment, the working conditions, you’re called to minister in. Verse 3.

     For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

   Paul’s words in verse 2, be ready in season and out of season, presupposes that Timothy is going to be facing a time not only where false teaching runs rampant, which Paul addresses multiple times throughout his letters, but where people are actually seeking out these false teachers. And I don’t have to tell you that what was true in Timothy’s day, is every bit as true in ours. 

     There are entire denominations that profess to be the church that have completely rejected the sound doctrine. They have rejected to the point where they can’t stand to listen to God’s authoritative Word. They speak out against what God’s Word clearly commands. And instead they promote worldviews and ideologies that are completely opposed to God’s Word.

     The Episcopal church on Tuesday served as a modern-day example of this turning away from truth and wandering off into myths. Not to mention the supposed bishop who was herself in direct contradiction with the clear teaching of Scripture. Here we have a denomination professing to be the church, professing to proclaim the teachings of Jesus, and yet completely disregarding the teachings of Jesus. What’s more, this false teacher perpetuated the myth of the transgender child. 

     Now, for anyone who listened to her message, she began with Psalm 19, May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. 

     But I assure you that here words were anything but acceptable in God’s sight, for she completely distorted the truth of God’s Word, in order to promote her own agenda and tickling the ears of her flock who sought out such a false teacher to proclaim, not God’s Word, but their own fanciful desires. 

     Bishop  Mariann Budde, rather than exposing sin, warning of sin’s consequence, and exhorting people to flee from God’s just wrath against sin into the merciful arms of Jesus, instead, she affirmed people in their sin and called others to do the same. Rather than pointing people to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, she is leading countless thousands to hell. And she will be called to account by the Lord Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead.

     Here's the thing. And I know there are many who would likely hear her message, and think, I don’t see the problem. I mean, she called for unity and asked everyone to be nice to each other. And this is exactly why we need to sit under the preaching of the whole counsel of God’s Word, so that we can be better discerning when false teachers arise using biblical words, while promoting something altogether contrary to the Bible. As J Gresham Machen, founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, argued, liberalism is not simply a different denomination of Christianity, it’s a different religion. 

     Budde stated in her message that “Jesus said unity is the solid rock upon which to build a nation” and that “unity teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect.” But get this. Unity isn’t the solid rock. Jesus is. And apart from following Jesus and submitting to Jesus as Lord, meaning submitting to His whole counsel, there is not unity, nor can there be unity. To suggest unity teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect, is to try to build unity on disunity. 

     Why do I bring this up and make such a big deal out of it? Because the text demands it. Scripture demands it. God demands it. People are heading for hell. And they are being led astray by false teachers who have blood on their hands. 

     Let me be clear. You can’t willfully disagree with Jesus, with His clear teaching, with His apostles’ clear teaching, and call Him Lord. Because He doesn’t simply demand outward obedience. He demands heart obedience, taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ. Don’t fool yourself, thinking it’s safe to hold an opinion different than Jesus. And just to be clear, Jesus affirmed the entirety of Scriptures’ teaching. So don’t think you are somehow safe holding an opinion on any issue that is contrary to Scripture. That is to reject Jesus as Lord. And to reject Jesus as Lord is to reject Him as Savior. If that’s you, the exhortation for you is to repent and receive mercy. 

     One more thing. And I’m pleading with some here. Don’t allow your bitterness towards an individual or a group keep you from submitting to Christ. Bitterness paves the road to hell. 

     A distorted gospel, where we’re all God’s children and He loves you just the way you are, saves no one! The pure unadulterated Word of God alone makes one wise for salvation because is exposes sin, it warns of sin’s consequence, and it pleads for sinners to repent and flee to Christ for refuge.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

     Timothy, rather than being like this false teacher, Verse 5. Always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Let’s look at these four last imperatives briefly. 

Sober minded:

     Being sober minded has to do with being free from influences and intoxicants, and it suggests being alert and watchful so as not to fall under such influences. Timothy, you must be alert so as not to fall into these same deceptive traps. You have one standard, one final source of authority: the Word. The same Word you are called to preach, make sure you are preaching it to yourself. 

Endure suffering:

     Furthermore, you are to endure all suffering. To stand here and proclaim this Word faithfully is to invite suffering, pain, hardship. The easy lifestyle preacher is foreign to biblical Christianity. When the truth of God’s Word is proclaimed, some people are going to be offended, some angry, some indifferent. Doing this Timothy, you’ll watch people wander from the truth. And it will be hard… painful. As much as you long for them to know life, they will choose the deadness of their sin. But your identity isn’t in your hearers. It’s in Jesus. 

Do the Work of an Evangelist:

     Timothy, you aren’t preaching this Word to no ends. You’re calling people to salvation. Remember, preaching isn’t about giving people life lessons on practical living. Preaching is to be gospel-centered with a focus on Jesus’ death for sins, his burial, and resurrection—our hope as believers. 

Fulfill Your Ministry:

     Finally, Timothy. Fulfill your ministry. Preaching is not the only thing Timothy was called to do. There are no doubt many other duties involved. Make preaching the priority, but do not neglect other responsibilities.

CONCLUSION:

     Church, I hope you understand, I can’t stand up here a proclaim to you fluffy messages. Pull up your pillows and relax. I wouldn’t be loving you if I did. I understand the average church wants everyone to feel comfortable, have a lot of laughs. But there’s an edge to God’s Word that’s there for a reason. That’s meant to prune us, removing those areas in our life that aren’t yet conformed to Christ. And there’s only one way you and I will be conformed to Christ, God’s prescribed means, through the faithful preaching of this Word and the Spirit opening our hearts to receive it.

     You see, this sharp double edge sword of God’s Word is what pruned Jesus. Jesus was the tender shoot from the stump of Jesse who came and bore the full penalty of God’s Law in order to fulfill all that was written, including being cut off from the land of the living, not for his transgressions but ours. And Jesus Himself is the Word, who not only prunes you, but prunes that which is dead in you, that you might have life in Him.

https://youtu.be/AFYaLbjA7EY