And he says in verse 29, "For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city, which is called
by my name," which is Jerusalem, "and shall ye be utterly unpunished?
Ye shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the
earth, saith the Lord of hosts.
Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall
roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation.
He shall mightily roar upon his habitation.
He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of
the earth.
His voice shall come even to the ends of the earth.
For the Lord hath a controversy with the nations.
He will plead with all flesh.
He will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord."
I mean, God's got a bone to pick with everybody.
That's what it's saying here.
He's got a controversy with the nations.
He will plead with all flesh.
Verse 32, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to
nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coast of the earth, and the slain
of the Lord shall be at that day, from one end of the earth, even unto the other end
of the earth.
They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
Howl ye shepherds, and cry, and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principle of the flock.
For the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished, and ye shall
fall like a pleasant vessel, and the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principle
of the flock to escape.
A voice of the cry of the shepherds and a howling of the principle of the flock shall
be heard, for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture, and the peaceable avitations are
cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
He hath forsaken his covert as the lion, for their land is desolate because of the fierceness
of the oppressor and because of his fierce anger.
So God here is likened unto a lion that's hidden in a covert, some kind of a covering,
and it's like he just comes out with a vengeance, just ready to just rip something apart.
And that's how God is.
Sometimes God hides himself and we see evil prosper and we see people get away with wickedness
and they think that they're getting away with it and that God's not going to judge, God
has forgotten, but in reality he's just waiting until the time is right when he's just going
to pounce and he's going to rip them apart.
And you know, God has a different timetable than us because with God a day is like a thousand
years.
So we might think that God is allowing evil to prosper for so long, but for him it's just
a short time because he knows that in just a few years he's going to cloud up and rain
on these people.
So the world doesn't understand that and they continue in their wickedness thinking, "Oh
look, I haven't been judged yet."
But once it comes down on them like a ton of bricks then it's too late.
And even in our personal lives we need to not just sit and wait.
We don't want to put our foot in the water of sin, "See, nothing bad's happening, look
I'm up to my knees, nothing bad, see, everything's fine, you know, hey look, I'm down up to my
waist now, everything's good, you know, look I'm all the way out of my way," you know,
the alligator comes and rips us apart.
That's life.
People just go into sin, "Oh yeah, this is great," until it all isn't great.
And then they say, "Oh, I'm such an idiot."
Look, how many people could we find who are old, who could just tell you what an idiot
they've been, right?
We could find all the old drunks and we could find all the old drug addicts and we could
find the old fornicators and the old adulterers and everything.
You know, I mean, how many do you need to talk to?
Why don't you just trust the Lord that He said that that way of life is doom?
Why don't you just trust in the Lord that if we do what's right, we're going to be
blessed.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Lord, we thank you so much for Jeremiah chapter 25, Lord, and thank you that you want your
word to go to all the nations, Lord, and I know that even today, in 2016, you want the
message of the gospel to go to all nations, Lord, but I believe that you want the whole
message of the Bible to go to all nations.
That which is positive and that which is negative, Lord, I pray that your word would circle this
globe, Lord, and that people would hear your word, your wrath, your love, your long suffering,
all of it, Lord.
I pray that they would hear all of it in this generation and every nation and tongue on
this earth, Lord, just like you did in the days of Jeremiah, Lord.
I pray that you'd raise up men like Jeremiah that would thunder out the word of the Lord
to all nations and all people, Lord, and I pray that you would help us to hearken unto
your word that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life and all godliness and honesty, Lord.
And I pray that no child or teenager that's in this church would go out of here and live
a foolish, wicked, sinful life, Lord, because I believe that they'll be judged doubly for
the preaching that they've heard, because unto whom much is given of him shall much
be required.
And Lord, I pray that that saying would sink down into their ears, Lord, and that they
would never forget those words of Jesus.
And it's in your name we pray.
Amen.