So if you look at Jeremiah 38 verse number 6, it begins by saying
Then took they Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of
Hamalek which was in the court of the prison. The title for the sermon this
morning is Jeremiah locked down. Jeremiah locked down. Hey I think it's great
timing. We find Jeremiah in prison and if you remember Jeremiah chapter 37 he
actually gets arrested and thrown into the dungeon. You know you could look at
that as being completely locked down. He's got no freedoms and then he's put
out of the dungeon by King Zedekiah and then he's thrown into the again back
into prison but into the court of the prison so he's still restricted. He's got
the restrictions but he's got a lot more freedom. Okay now what we'll find this
chapter is once again he gets taken and thrown into the dungeon. Okay so he's
completely locked down and then he gets released once again by King Zedekiah.
He gets completely you know completely released and then he gets thrown once
again into the court of the prison so he's facing restrictions again. So we see
this thing playing out for Jeremiah. Very inconsistent for his life. The dungeon
released in prison. Dungeon released prison. You see this playing out in his
life and I kind of think about that's the situation we're in right now in
Sydney right. We're in complete lockdown as it were in the dungeon and then we
have other times where we've you know in the past you know a few months we've
been under restrictions and then there's been other times we've had almost
complete freedom. So I think this is a great time to look at this passage. I
love how God times things so well many times in our lives. But so let's start
there in Jeremiah chapter 38 verse number 1. So we want to see how Jeremiah
responds to being locked down right. So Jeremiah 38 and verse number 1 it
begins by saying then Shepherd Tyre the son of Matan and Jedeliah the son of
Pasha and Juchel the son of Shelemiah and Pasha the son of Malchiah heard the
words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people saying thus saith the Lord
he that remaineth in this city remember that city is Jerusalem shall die by the
sword by the famine and by the pestilence but he that go forth to the
Chaldeans shall live for he shall have his life for a prey and shall live. Now
the timing for this chapter Jeremiah 38 we're very very close now very close to
the Chaldeans or the Babylonians from taking over the city taking the captives
away into Babylon and and turning you know destroying the city by fire and the
house of the Lord by fire. We're very close to the end of that period down okay.
Now you have these men who are these princes and they've been here in
Jeremiah preaching once again. What is Jeremiah preaching? He's preaching a very
unpopular sermon right. So again remind yourselves we have a foreign power we
have a wicked government we have wicked Nebuchadnezzar and the wicked Chaldeans
the wicked Babylonians worshiping some false god they're coming and basically
taking over the land of Judah they're taking over Jerusalem they're taking
people into captivity they're going to war and during this whole time not only
is there sword not only is there warfare there's famine there's pestilence there's
a lot of death taking place in the land of Judah at this point in time and you
know you have you have King Zedekiah who's basically stubborn and
rebellious King Zedekiah the last king of Judah who doesn't want to surrender
to King Nebuchadnezzar and that's his that's his point you know he's trying to
you know no we're gonna be strong we're gonna rebel we're gonna be stubborn
we're gonna fight this foreign power we're gonna fight this wicked power and
then you have Jeremiah that says hey guys surrender you know God's allowed
this foreign power to be put in place surrender give your life to the
Chaldeans and if you give your life over to the Chaldeans you surrender then
you're going to live otherwise you're going to die and so this is a very
unpopular sermon by Jeremiah and you know what since I've come down to Sydney
I've been saying the same thing to this church and to other people that inquire
of me you know do we obey the government do we rebel do we fight them you know
what surrender submit yourself to the government God has allowed that power to
come to place and you know what it's an unpopular sermon it's it's unpopular
preaching so what who cares you know my job is to preach God's Word and I'm here
to cause you to live I want you to live you know I don't want to die I don't
want you to die unnecessarily I don't want to suffer unnecessarily but hey
this is the preaching of Jeremiah this is my preaching to this church since
I've been down here in Sydney and you know again it's extremely unpopular but
I trust that you want to hear from God's Word you don't want to hear what's
popular you don't want to hear what the flesh wants to hear you don't want to
hear from a I don't know from a conspiratorial perspective you want to
hear from God's Word how we ought to behave in a situation where we have a
wicked government putting us down into lockdown you know putting restrictions
on us taking away our freedoms take away our rights you know the natural
response is we need to fight this well we're gonna have a look at this chapter
you'll see that God allows these things to happen for his purposes okay let's
keep going verse number three thus say for Lord this city shall surely be given
it's the hand of the king of Babylon's army which shall take it now I want you
to keep your finger there go to Daniel chapter 2 and verse number 20 so the
Lord is saying this will surely happen this land this city is going to be given
into Babylon's army okay go to Daniel chapter 2 for me Daniel chapter 2 and
verse number 20 Daniel 2 verse 20 and as it said there in Jeremiah that the city
shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army so Judah
Jerusalem God's people God's house wicked people in the land of Judah
hey even believers in the land of Judah they're being given into the hand of
Babylon so who is given this who is the one that's allowing these things to
happen already kind of spoke to you but we want to turn to Daniel chapter 2 and
what's great about turning to the book of Daniel is because Daniel was one of
these believers he was a he was a saved man obviously a great man a faithful man
of God he's one of these individuals that was taken into captivity by the
Babylonians okay and look what Daniel writes here in Daniel 2 20 Daniel 2
chapter 20 Daniel answered and said blessed be the name of God forever and
ever for wisdom and might are his look at verse number 21 and he changeth the
times and the seasons he removeth kings and seteth up kings he giveth wisdom
unto the wise and knowledge to them that no understanding so brethren who is that
sets up kings and removes kings who is that sets up governments and removes
governments it's the Lord God all right and you can see he Daniel he's taken
into captivity he loses his rights he loses his freedoms he loses his house
back in Judah he gets taken into captivity and you know what he says he
says blessed is the Lord that's his response blessed be the name of God
forever and ever that's the response from Daniel okay unfortunately as
Christians you know we're facing restrictions we're not even being taken
into captivity we're not even losing our homes and we whine and we complain
and we murmur and I understand what that's coming from because I want to
naturally do that I naturally want to whine and complain and murmur okay but
we look at a great man like Daniel taking into captivity just blesses the
Lord thank you Lord you know he's pleasing the Lord no matter what
situation you find himself in and brethren we're starting a lockdown here
in Sydney for two weeks I want to make sure your heart is right are you able to
bless the Lord Lord thank you for the lockdown thank you for raising Kings and
taking down Kings thank you for you know the nation that I live in and the
situation we find ourselves in Lord thank you for the live stream that we
can at least listen to God's Word we can still bless and praise God you know
through the live stream method at this point in time you know we need to think
about things in a positive light we need to thank God no matter what situation we
find ourselves in but back to Daniel 38 verse number four please Daniel 38 verse
number four therefore the princes so they're the ones that have heard the
preaching of Jeremiah therefore the princes said unto the king we beseech
thee let this man be put to death did they like Jeremiah's preaching no okay
are there some of you that's not gonna like my preaching this morning no I hope
no one no one desires to kill me though okay they wanted to kill Jeremiah right
it says let this man be put to death for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men
of war that remain this city and the hands of all the people in speaking
such words unto them notice what they say to them well they say what they say
about Jeremiah for this man seeketh not the welfare of these people but the
hurts so these Prince is saying to the king to Kings that achaya listen if
they're if people are listening to Jeremiah's preaching they're not gonna
want to fight the war they're not gonna want to go to battle against the
Babylonians you know Jeremiah's weakening the people know Jeremiah's
preaching God's Word he wants to strengthen the people he wants to
strengthen the people not against the Babylonians he wants to strengthen the
people toward the Lord right to do what the Lord has asked them to do that they
would live that they would survive that they would go into captivity and God
will barely use them in their subsequent generations to one day return back into
the land to you know come back into Judah re-establish a temple worship God
and get prepared for the coming of the Messiah some 400 years later after the
captivity period okay so what we see here is that people are claiming that
Jeremiah is seeking to hurt God's people in fact I've had that said about me not
long ago that I'm seeking to destroy the church brethren that is not the truth
you know I do not want the hurt of the people I'm looking for the welfare of
our people I want to make sure that what we do is biblical what is right that our
hearts are right that our minds are right with God and that we live that we
take care of ourselves that we take care of our families and that we praise the
Lord no matter what situation we find ourselves in let's go to verse number
five then Zedekiah the king said behold he is in your hand for the king is not
he that can do anything against you so what we learned with Zedekiah is that
he's just he's a hopeless leader like he's got he's got no strong convictions
about anything right because Zedekiah in the previous chapter we learned that he
realizes that Jeremiah is a man of God he wants to hear what Jeremiah has to
say and in fact it was look at at the end of this chapter once again he's
seeking what Jeremiah has to say he knows Jeremiah's legit he knows he's
preaching God's Word and when he was when Jeremiah was thrown into the
dungeon Zedekiah you know after hearing Jeremiah's plea to be released he took
him out of the dungeon and put him into the court of the prison so King Zedekiah
is somebody that is easily influenced now you have people that hate Jeremiah
that want to kill Jeremiah and now the Kings harken into the request of the
princes okay so he's the kind of leader and he actually you wouldn't call him a
leader right he's got an office he's got he's got a leadership you know he's a
king he's meant to be in charge right but he's the kind of guy that listens to
everyone's opinion and just goes with you know is tossed to and fro basically
with whatever somebody has to say now I do believe it is important for a leader
to listen to other opinions I do believe it is important for a leader to hear from
those that are under him under his authority okay but at the end of the day
it's the Kings decision it is whoever is in charge decision to make the to make
the decisions right for his people for those that he's over right and this guy
takes the view well you know there's nothing that I can say to you yeah you
can have Jeremiah you know you can do whatever you want to Jeremiah he is in
your hands okay so this King you know he's hopeless
is a hopeless leader now let's keep going verse number six then they took
Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hamalek that was
in the court of the prison and they let down Jeremiah with cords and in the
dungeon there was no water but Maya so Jeremiah sunk in the Maya so what is
Maya Maya is basically a muddy and boggy ground right so you know the picture
that I get here it's kind of like a well or it's some type of cistern that was
containing water and this is their dungeon underneath the prison right so
obviously that place is normally filled up with water but don't forget there's a
period of famine in the land so I assume that means there hasn't been a lot of
rain right to take care of the farming and all that kind of stuff again it's
the hand of God judging the nation and because there's been no water there's
been no rain the the mud you know it's just there's no water there and it's
just it's the place is just muddy it's filthy and that's where they lower
Jeremiah into that dungeon right into that that you know boggy muddy ground
right and you know you think about where Jeremiah is being placed I mean the fact
that he sinks into the Maya right I mean a part of I guess maybe part of his legs
are caught in there and he can't get out sort of situation but you know not only
is it a place that has no water it is obviously a very cold very damp kind of
place place we can easily get sick all right and I kind of think about a
situation like that environment like that I can kind of imagine eat like
insects you know like mosquitoes you know basically breeding that place
insects tend to like that kind of muddy damp right boggy kind of ground to
reproduce to have like a breeding ground so this is not an enjoyable place at all
right I mean Jeremiah is definitely locked down I mean literally locked down
right he's sinking into the Maya can't get out of that place so they do this
because they want to kill Jeremiah we'll find out later that this is they're not
just placing him temporarily they wanting to die there okay let's keep
going verse number seven now when Ebed-Melek the Ethiopian one of the
eunuchs was in the king's house heard that they had put Jeremiah in the
dungeon the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin Ebed-Melek went forth
out of the king's house and spoke to the king saying my lord the king these men
have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they
have cast into the dungeon and he is like to die for hunger there it is in
the place where he is for there is no more bread in the city now this man
Ebed-Melek he's an Ethiopian eunuch he's not even one of the you know chosen
people of God as he were right he's someone that has come to the nation and
you can see he loves Jeremiah he sees Jeremiah in a bad place so this tells me
that Ebed-Melek is a man who is a believer you know he realizes that
Jeremiah is a true prophet this is not right what has been done to him and he
seeks to deliver Jeremiah from this certain death now this is a name that I
want you to remember especially as we go into next week into chapter 39 this
Ebed-Melek is you know the Lord recognizes what he does for Jeremiah and
he takes care of this man okay so just remember this man and I think it's great
that you have a man you know a Gentile as it were you know looking after God's
man and you know I've been preaching about how you know about the Jews what
one of my sermons not long ago was about Jews the God's chosen people well you
have an Ethiopian here right he's not a he's not a child of Abraham physically
but he's a he's a child of Abraham spiritually you know he realizes this
amount of God again this just reinforces that Israel or Jude at this point in
time they were just mixed with all kinds of people anybody that sought to
worship the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob will work him into the land
and they became part of the people of that land okay now let's keep going
verse number 10 then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Ethiopian saying take
from hence thirty men with thee and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the
dungeon before he died so once again now we have Ebed-Melek right he gets an
opportunity to talk to the king and now the king is convinced that Ebed-Melek
is correct all right Ebed-Melek take 30 men with you and get
Jeremiah out of that dungeon once again a very poor leader now he's doing the
right thing finally getting Jeremiah out of there but I'm trying to show you that
this is the kind of guy that gets you know he makes one decision he makes the
next decision he's never he's never consistent he doesn't know who to side
with he doesn't know whether to side with godly people or the wicked that are
trying to hurt God's people they don't know that they're tossed to and fro
right this is this is King Zedekiah and you know I want to talk to the fathers
right now you have authority in your home okay you are accountable to God for
your family and please you know remember you know to do what is right so it's to
stand by God's Word lead your family by God's Word do what is right of course
here the request of your wife listen to the concerns of your children but at the
end of the day it's your decision fathers you can't turn around and blame
your wives you can't blame your kids you're in charge don't be like King
Zedekiah that he's being tossed to and fro he listens to one group listens to
another group and it just you know goes with whatever the people are saying this
man will never be able to be an effective leader okay this guy has has
no clue what to do in his leadership position but thankfully he listens you
know to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian and commands for Jeremiah to be taken out of
lockdown right so let's keep going verse number 11 so Ebed-Melech took the men
with him by the way that was 30 men so they needed 30 men to get Jeremiah out
of this dungeon okay this is not an easy place to get out of all right verse 11
once again so Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the
king under the Treasury and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags and
let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah so this is what's interesting
about this this dungeon they lower Jeremiah there okay but they had no way
to pull him out well they had to find rags and and cloths and whatever and
create a makeshift rope out of that right with 30 men to be able to pull I
mean Jeremiah must be pretty deep right in order for them to have to do
something like this and so they create this these cords for Jeremiah verse
number 12 and Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah put now these old
cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armpits under the cords and Jeremiah did
so so we can see the kind of situation we don't know exactly how long Jeremiah
was in the dungeon here but you know when they lower these cords to him he's
not able to climb out like I assume he's been there for a while now and he's he's
weak right he's he's you know hungry right he's he doesn't have the strength
to hold on to that rope and climbs you know get himself out of there partly
also he's stuck in the mire as well and so what they decide to do is just put
those things under his armpits that the rope you know the cords under his
armpits and that would just essentially pull him out of the dungeon so they need
30 men to accomplish this task okay verse number 13 so they drew up Jeremiah
with cords and took him up out of the dungeon and Jeremiah remained in the
court of the prison so he comes out of lockdown and now he's under restrictions
basically right he's got more freedoms he's in the courtyard he's able to get
you know move around but he's still restricted in the prison you know and I
want to think about this situation of Jeremiah because we're coming to the end
right the Babylonians are about to destroy all the city and this is what
God allows his prophet to suffer you know that he allows these prophets to be
in the dungeon in the in the prison of the courthouse you know right at the end
I mean Jeremiah's been faithfully serving God for how many years right for
several you know King King King Lee rains and you know you may look at this
passage and go man how is it that God allows his faithful man who's preaching
faithfully without compromise to suffer such fate how does God allow his people
to be put under lockdown or restrictions well you find out later that being in
this place actually protected him from the Babylonians destroying and killing
everybody okay I mean the fact that he's in prison actually kept him safe so
again Jeremiah probably doesn't even realize this okay he's in a tough
situation but brethren all things work together for good okay for God's people
for those that love him for those are a quarter a quarter according to his
purpose and we need to remember that as frustrated we might be with lockdown
alright whatever hey you know what God means it for our good and we just need
to be patient and learn what good it is that God wants us to learn or to gain
from this experience okay and I think for many of us it's just patience for
many of us it's to stop listening to our flesh stop listening to our pride and
start listening to God's Word and say hey in the future when I start seeing
situations like this instead of being worked up and emotional I'm gonna turn
to God's Word and say well God how do you want me to handle this situation I
mean we don't know you know God is working in our lives and I've said it
many times I'm so thankful for COVID I'm so thankful for the restrictions
because I've just learned to love this world less I've learned to seek God more
I've learned to turn to God's Word more to see how I how should I respond as a
Christian find parallels in the Bible of situations like that we're in and use
that as the basis to live out our life and I find myself to be a lot more
happier than I was when we first went into lockdown right a lot more happier
than I was when we first started facing COVID you know restrictions and all
these kinds of things so we have God's Word for God's Word for a purpose you
know it's to guide us in every day of our life so again Jeremiah's in a bad
place but God means well for Jeremiah now what chapter what verse am I up to
verse number 14 verse number 14 then okay so Jeremiah's taken out of lockdown
is put you know into the court of prison so he's done the restrictions now and
then it says then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him
into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord so now he's released
he's got a bit of freedom right things are very inconsistent for Jeremiah it
says here and the king said unto Jeremiah I will ask thee a thing hide
nothing from me okay so once again Zedekiah King Zedekiah just wants to
secretly get information from Jeremiah we remember in the last chapter he asked
for Jeremiah for a secret message Jeremiah once again said well got you
know the king of Babylon you're gonna be giving us the hand of the king of
Babylon the king of Babylon is going to destroy this place and that wasn't
popular preaching again for Zedekiah Zedekiah is hoping I think he's asking
again you know what else you know hide nothing from it I guess he's hoping he's
hoping that Jeremiah has a new message I guess he's hoping that Jeremiah was
like well God's changed his mind now and you know Babylonians they're going to be
defeated we're going to stay in the land we're not going to be taken into
captivity you're not going to be given to the hands of the of King Nebuchadnezzar
King right I mean that's probably what King Zedekiah is hoping for the
fact that is asking once again Jeremiah can you tell me what God has to say
okay and so he's hoping something different from God's Word now brethren
God's Word does not change it will never change and actually that's a great thing
okay yes there are people that just hope that God's Word will change right but
that's not the situation it'll remain the same we have God's Word right here
it's not going to change for all eternity okay get used to it all right
what you've learned from God's Word be established be grounded in what God has
to say and doesn't matter what situation you find yourself in life don't be
thinking well maybe I'll open God's Word again and maybe it'll say the opposite
of what you know what I heard last time because I didn't like what I heard last
time it's not going to change okay it's not going to change you know we're still
commanded to be submissive to our authorities that's not going to change
I'm sorry to tell I'm not sorry to tell you okay but that's what God's Word you
know that's what God's Word is you know and you got to learn to accept it verse
15 then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah if I declare it unto thee will thou not
surely put me to death and if I give thee counsel will thou not hearken unto
me okay so Jeremiah knows look I'm just going to give you the same message
Zedekiah aren't you going to kill me aren't you going to put me to death if I
just tell you once again that you're done for that this kingdom is done for
that you're going to be taken into the hand of the Babylonians aren't you going
to kill me now right I mean Jeremiah obviously realizes that this king does
not like what Jeremiah has to preach all right so definitely nothing has changed
nothing has changed and the first time he offended Zedekiah again he was
thrown into the courthouse now he's released temporarily once again okay
the second time you know King Zedekiah throws him into the dungeon right so the
first time he's just thrown into prison into the dungeon oh sorry he's thrown
into the dungeon right but he's taken care of the second time King Zedekiah
gives Jeremiah to the hands of these princes that seek to kill him and now
Jeremiah's well now you're going to kill me are you going to finish the job King
Zedekiah you're finally going to kill me for what I have to say and if you can
just keep your finger there and go to Psalm 33 for me please go to Psalm 33
Psalm 33
King Zedekiah is hoping that God will change King Zedekiah is hoping that
God's Word will change it'll never change you know what this church is
going to remain faithful to God's Word we're going to remain faithful to
preaching God's Word no matter how popular or unpopular it is I know our
society changes and you know what society wants God's church God's people
to change with society it's not going to happen right if you want to change in
church well there's plenty of them out there okay they're constantly changing
we're not going to change I'm not saying that we may change the way we do
services or run things what I'm saying is we're not going to change to preach
you know God's Word without compromise we're going to stand on God's Word
whether it's me as a preacher it's someone else's preaching you know we're
going to preach God's Word and it's not going to change you know maybe you've
heard a sermon that you you didn't like maybe you heard preaching against a sin
that you enjoy that you didn't like well you know what when you hear that sermon
once again it's not going to change when you open God's Word once again it ain't
going to change okay you're turning to Psalm 33 I'm going to read to you from
Malachi 3 6 while you turn to something free but Malachi 3 6 says for I am the
Lord I change not okay for I am the Lord I change not God is not going to change
our world changes right you change you're growing you know you have new
thoughts and new ideas right I'm watching my kids grow they're changing
right the world changes but God will never change and if God does not change
then neither will his word you're in Psalm 33 look at verse number 11 Psalm
33 verse number 11 the Bible says the counsel of the Lord stander forever the
thoughts of his heart to all generations so you know what if you're the very
first generation Adam and Eve right or the very last generation before God
destroys this earth God's Word will stand forever all generations will hear
the you know God's preaching all generations will ever experience God's
Word and it will never change it stands forever praise God you know you can't
turn around and say well pastor Kevin we're in 2021 you know things have
changed we've got to accept the homosexuals we're going to accept LGBT
right our nation has been aborting babies for how many decades now we need
to just accept the now just stop preaching against that stuff no God's
Word does not change it stands forever it's good for all generations you know
that the preacher that we hear today is good enough for our children and it's
good enough for our children's children God's Church should not change God's
Word will never change it stands forever you know what that might seem like a
negative but really it's so positive you know it's great to be able to stand firm
know what is right and wrong know what is sinful know what it is to please the
Lord and things never change things remain consistent that's wonderful when
it comes to God you know when things are constantly changing like our
restrictions constantly you know are we allowed to meet here how many people can
we have we need to wear the mask you know that's frustrating isn't it I love
a God that does not frustrate us more than we need to God's Word does not
change he does not change and he allows us to know exactly how he feels or what
he believes about certain things right I mean our God is just our God is perfect
right he's always right you know whatever God has to say in his word he
is always right and that right will never change praise God go to Psalm 119
Psalm 119 verse number 89 Psalm 119 and verse number 89 verse number 89 reads
forever oh Lord thy word is settled in heaven again forever oh Lord thy word is
settled in heaven so brethren we know about the modern English translations we
know the attempts that the devil is doing to destroy God's Word and listen
in the English language we've got the King James Bible the perfect Word of God
you know what people are trying to take the King James Bible out of your hands
and give you some modern corrupted translations right Satan is constantly
trying to destroy God's Word all right and again I don't know we may face a day
where people try to remove your Bibles it might become illegal one day to have
a Bible right in your home and to read God's Word to preach certain things
that might happen but listen no matter what happens on this earth one thing we
learn here is God's Word is settled in heaven so it's not going to change no
matter how much people try to change God's Word on this earth it's still
fixed it's established in heaven and it is God's job to preserve his word God's
people will always have you know his word available to us you know which is
wonderful once again you know we can't you know we cannot think or it will
never happen where God's Word will be completely removed from this earth and
that's a great blessing back to Jeremiah please Jeremiah
Jeremiah 38 please and verse number 16 Jeremiah 38 and verse number 16 so
Zedekiah the king swears secretly unto Jeremiah saying as the Lord liveth that
made us this soul I will not put thee to death neither will I give thee into
the hand of these men that seek thy life so once again the king being tossed
around right first he did give Jeremiah to the hand of those that seek his life
and I was saying well Jeremiah no now I won't okay verse number 17 then said
Jeremiah unto Zedekiah thus saith the Lord the God of hosts the God of Israel
if that was assuredly assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes then
thy soul shall live and this city shall not be burned with fire and thou shalt
live and thine house so what happened God's Word did not change okay what is
Jeremiah telling kings that are trying to do he's saying look surrender
surrender to the new power in the land be submissive to the Babylonians be
submissive to King Nebuchadnezzar ah but King Nebuchadnezzar is infringing on the
rights of the Jews he's infringing on the Constitution of Israel who cares piece
of paper Kings King Nebuchadnezzar doesn't care God doesn't care it's time
for these people to be judged okay and he's using a wicked government to judge
his people okay what's the message don't fight fight for your right now that's
not the message from Jeremiah surrender and all things will be well things will
be well with you you'll be able to live and if you surrender King because you're
in charge of the city you've got authority then the Babylonians the
Chaldeans they won't even burn this place down they won't they won't burn
down the city they won't burn down God's house if you just surrender if you just
be submissive to the authorities that God has set up again not popular
preaching probably again don't like the preaching this morning hey can't help it
God's Word doesn't change amen okay verse number 18 but if that will not go
so if you don't do it King Zedekiah if that will not go forth to the king of
Babylon's princes then shall the city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans and
they shall burn it with fire and thou shalt not escape out of their hand so if
it's not submissive he doesn't surrender to the Babylonians it's gonna end badly
for him and badly for the entire city verse number 19 and Zedekiah the king
said unto Jeremiah look what he says I am afraid of the Jews that have fallen
to their Chaldeans lest they deliver me into their hand and they mock me so Zedekiah
you know he kind of wants to do what Jeremiah's telling him to do he kind of
wants to surrender but he goes I'm too afraid to do it you know I'm gonna be
mocked people are gonna laugh at me they're gonna mock at me okay I mean far
out like you know who cares just do what is right Zedekiah and for those of
you that are listening you know what if God's Word says to do something just do
what is right who cares who mocks you boy you know we're not in primary school
anymore right we're not little children in our church but even our little
children in our church need to learn that you know what it doesn't matter
they're friends this world is gonna mock them okay who cares what's more
important is that we do what is right what God's Word says we do it who cares
what other people have to say who cares who mocks us as long as we're doing what
God commands of us then God's gonna take care of us now who is he actually
afraid of though okay so again and what kind of leader is this to care what
people have to say you know what the leader has to just take command of a
situation do what is right it doesn't matter what other people have to say
okay he's about doing what is right in God's eyes now who is he afraid of okay
so we saw he's afraid of the Jews but what Jews okay well notice again that
these Jews are fallen to the Chaldeans okay so these are Jews that have
listened to Jeremiah okay remember Jeremiah's preaching to the entire
nation he's telling the entire people go and surrender give yourself to the
Chaldeans okay and so these are people that actually have heard what Jeremiah
had to say whether they liked it or not you know who knows they probably didn't
like it but they listened to Jeremiah they know he's a prophet of God they
know they're doing what God has to say so they surrender to the Chaldeans right
and then you got Kings that Zedekiah on the other hand say no we're gonna fight
for our rights we're gonna fight for our freedom right and so they do what
Jeremiah says surrender rather than listening to what the king has to say
now Kings Zedekiah is afraid that if he surrenders that the same Jews that
listen to Jeremiah those Jews will mock Kings Zedekiah okay so they'll be like
so he thinks they're gonna be like ah so you know this whole time you know you've
been saying hey let's resist this whole time you've been saying let's fight this
foreign power and and now you're giving in now you're submitting yourselves okay
that's what he's afraid of they're afraid that they're gonna mock him but
listen that's not reality you know what if you're wrong about something and you
get right about it those that were right about it to begin with they're not gonna
mock you they're going to be happy they're gonna be pleased hey welcome on
board King Zedekiah thank God you made a change right thank God you changed your
mind thank God you listen to Jeremiah like the rest of us praise God for you
that's gonna be the right response they're gonna they're not gonna mock
King Zedekiah but that's what he's afraid of he's afraid what are people
gonna think about me well we really know what we think well for all eternity we
all know that it's a weak leader now okay so you know the things that he was
most afraid of comes true even today you know we look at King Zedekiah we
realize we're kind of mocking him aren't we about his weak leadership that he
can't make solid decisions you know he doesn't do you know he doesn't do God's
word you know he's more afraid of what people have to say about him let's keep
going verse number 20 but Jeremiah said they shall not deliver thee obey I
beseech you so those those those people that you're afraid that are gonna mock
you and deliver you okay they're not going to do it all right they shall not
deliver thee obey I beseech thee okay obey he says obey God's word and
brethren I beseech you the same thing obey you know obey the authorities that
are over you as long as they're not asking you to commit a sin all right
again what is sin it's the transgressions of the law sin is not
just your opinion I'm in convenience I'm uncomfortable that is not sin sin is the
transgression of the law okay well it says here obey I beseech thee the voice
of the Lord which I speak unto thee look at this so it shall be well with thee
and thy soul shall live King Zedekiah if you just submit to this new power it's
gonna be well with you okay it's not gonna be bad it's gonna be good for you
it'll go well for you you know God's gonna look down see your obedience he's
gonna bless he's gonna take care of you take care of your family take care of
your kingdom while you're in captivity right things will turn out well and I'm
sure you know if Zedekiah just listen to God's Word that when we read Jeremiah
now it would be very different I'm sure Zedekiah would be seen in a more
positive well in a positive light rather than being seen the way he is you know
in God's Word look at verse number 21 but if thou refuse to go forth this is
the word the Lord have showed me and behold all the women that are left in
the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's
princes and those women shall say thy friends have set thee on and have
prevailed against thee thy feet are sunk in the mire and they are turned away
back so God uses the illustration of Jeremiah being front in the dungeon and
into the mire well he's saying to King Zedekiah that if you don't obey God's
Word that you are going to be you know figurative figuratively speaking thrown
into the mire as well you got you're gonna be stuck you're gonna be in a cold
damp place that you can't get out of if you don't obey God's Word and listen if
he doesn't obey God's Word basically the women that are in the King's house so I
assume that's his wife or maybe concubines I don't know what kind of you
know maybe it's the servants maybe it's a you know women that you know have high
status in in Jerusalem that these women by his disobedience they're gonna be
given to other men okay otherwise if he obeys again things will go well you know
they'll be taken care of they'll be looked after but if he doesn't obey not
only does he hurt himself he hurts those people that are under his authority okay
and not only that but these women what are they gonna say they're going to it
says there in verse number 22 those women shall say thy friends have set thee on
and have prevailed against thee okay so instead of Zedekiah well you know Zedekiah
is afraid of what the Jews are gonna say those that are taken to captivity
already what are they gonna say about me if I surrender well if you don't
surrender the women of your own household are gonna be the ones mocking
you they're the ones they're gonna say hey he's been defeated he's been you
know they prevailed against him so you know what Jeremiah is basically saying
is this you're afraid of being mocked if you surrender but if you don't surrender
you're definitely gonna be mocked in other words you know what it doesn't
matter who mocks you once again it doesn't matter who makes fun of you
doesn't matter who makes fun of your your Christianity that your love for
God your love for God's word it doesn't matter just do what is right and you do
what is right things were taken care of taken care of you know for you things
will be well with you and brethren you know this whole time since COVID you
know restrictions and I appreciate the feedback that I get I you know I love
listening to other opinions but I know people think that I'm doing wrong like I
know people think that I shouldn't be you know agreeing to lock down I know
people don't think that I should be allowing masks and things like that you
know what I don't care what people have to say I don't care if people mock me I
don't care because for me as a pastor I have to do what is right I have to do
what is right according to God's Word all right it's not about looking well
that other pastors doing it like this or this other church is doing it like that
it that doesn't play you know a part what plays a part is what God's Word
has to say all right and establishing ourselves upon his word which never
changes and say God what can you teach us how is it that I need to behave in
2021 in this current situation it's not about what I believe about the virus a
lot of people think that you're compliant because you believe the virus
is this legit thing I don't know I don't care about the virus it's not about the
virus okay I don't care about it whatsoever all right I care about what
is it God that you want us to do what powers have you set up what kings have
you set up God are you judging this nation and in in you know as you judge
this nation you obviously gonna affect God's people as well but you know what
God show us in your word how we ought to behave show us how we ought to live we've
decided to go for Jeremiah I believe God's placed out of my heart and I'm
doing the best I can to follow God's Word with the parallels that we see in
the book of Jeremiah so I don't care what other people have to say you know
if people get frustrated at me well at the end of the day I know they're just
getting frustrated God's Word okay and you know again God doesn't change okay
it's the same God the same God of Jeremiah is the same God that teaches us
here in 2021 at Blessed Hope Baptist Church verse number 23 so they shall
bring all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans and thou shall not escape
out of their hand but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon and thou
shall cause this city to be burned with fire then said Zedekiah unto Jerusalem
to Jeremiah let no man know of these words and thou shalt not die okay now he
already promised Jeremiah that he's not gonna kill him but now he's saying hey
don't tell anyone that you told me this or I'm gonna kill you all right don't tell
anyone and I'll cause you to live I'll let you live okay so he doesn't want
anybody to find out that King Zedekiah has secretly gone to Jeremiah okay he
doesn't want people to find out that he's going to God's Word to find out
what he has to do you know what a shame this man this man is the king of Judah
right he's meant to be the kind of man that listens to prophets he ought to be
the man that listens to God's Word but he's too ashamed you know that people
may find out that he you know is seeking Godly counsel and you know again this is
just something you need to learn in life you know you may go to work and take
your Bible with you I've taken my Bible a few times to work and in lunch time
I've read my Bible and people saying why are you reading that book all right you
know I was in Christian school and it was unpopular to take your Bible to
Christian school and read it people think you're just dorky right you know
who cares you know you don't have to be ashamed you don't have to secretly do
things you know you just just be open be honest love God and you know what the
more you you do for the Lord the more you show your love and zeal for the Lord
the more people are gonna leave you alone you know like when you're all the
way you know plugged into church all the way plugged in to God's Word into
prayer you know what people will generally say well you know what at
least this man lives by his convictions at least this man lives in accordance to
you know what the Bible says he ought to live and people generally leave you
alone but you know when you're timid and afraid then you're oh man I don't want
people to find out this about me or that about me you know again just a very weak
leader that we've seen King Zedekiah oh the other funny thing is he's saying you
know he's doing it secretly he doesn't want anyone to find out that he's gone
to Jeremiah hey but it's captured for all eternity now okay well it's no
secret Zedekiah we all know you went to Jeremiah seeking godly counsel you know
so he didn't work out for you Zedekiah let's keep going verse number 25 but if
the princes here that I have talked with these so these are the princes that
were trying to kill Jeremiah and they come unto thee and say unto thee declare
unto us now what thou hast said unto the king hide it not from us and we will not
put thee to death also what the king said unto thee then thou shall say unto
them I presented my supplication before the king that he would not cause me to
return to Jonathan's house to die there
all right so instead of dealing with the potential destruction of Jerusalem
instead of like being afraid of God's judgment what is he afraid of what's the
what are the princes gonna say right what what are these powerful men in my
kingdom going to safety they find out I've gone to Jeremiah so it tells
Jeremiah look if they come and ask you what you asked of me and what I've
responded with don't tell them about you know what God said about surrendering
to the Babylonians don't tell them that just tell them that you've come and
you've petitioned my you know your release out of the dungeon and that you
know I've listened to your supplication that I've listened to your request okay
now obviously this is not he's not asking Jeremiah to tell a lie he's oh
outright lie he's asked basically telling Jeremiah don't tell them the
whole story okay just tell them this bit where you know you're hoping to be
released and that you know I've listened to your request okay so let's keep going
verse number 27 now we're near the end now of the chapter and I want you to
look at King Zedekiah and look at Jeremiah look at these two men look how
different they are with the authorities that are over them okay
Zedekiah is dealing with your phone the new authorities and new powers of
Babylon he doesn't want to surrender he doesn't want to listen okay
then you have Jeremiah who's under the authority of King Zedekiah and King
Zedekiah is basically telling him how he ought to respond you know don't tell
them that I've come to you for godly counsel okay now so both of these men
under are under authority okay Jeremiah under Zedekiah Zedekiah under Nebuchadnezzar
and the Chaldeans and I want you to notice a difference in these two men one
wants to rebel okay how does Jeremiah response Zedekiah again a wicked
lousy hopeless King poor leadership skills right it no convictions just a
hopeless man but how does Jeremiah respond to Zedekiah's request let's keep
going verse number 27 then came all the princes unto Jeremiah and asked him and
he told them look at this he told them according to all these words that the
king had commanded so they left off speaking with him for the matter was not
perceived so Jeremiah does exactly what his authority tells him to do the
wicked Zedekiah you know hopeless Zedekiah what does Jeremiah do he honors
the king's request all right and he doesn't the princes you know they don't
perceive the matter they don't realize you know they've left not not thinking
that Zedekiah came seeking godly counsel okay how does Jeremiah respond to a
stupid wicked godly godless King okay well he honors the authority okay which
one do you want to be you want to be Zedekiah rebellious and stubborn you
know unsure about what to do with life well you'll be like Jeremiah well this
is the authority that's over me I'm going to obey what they have to say even
though I don't like this guy very much he's put me in prison he's locked me
down right he's put restrictions on me let's keep going verse number actually
now before I read that I want you to keep your finger there and go to second
Peter chapter 2 2nd Peter chapter 2 in verse number 10 2nd Peter chapter 2 in
verse number 10 so once again Zedekiah struggling to submit to the new power of
the land but Jeremiah has no problem submitting to wicked King Zedekiah okay
which one do you want to be 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse number 10 2nd Peter
chapter 2 verse number 10 reads but chiefly them look at this that walk
after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness so these are you know if you
know about these about wicked false prophets okay but these are people that
walk after the flesh all right and it says here look and despise government
they despise government look at this presumptuous are they self-willed they
are not afraid to speak evil of dignities all right so what do we notice
here Zedekiah is behaving like these false prophets in 2nd Peter chapter 2
right he walks after the flesh all right he despises government he doesn't
despise his own government he despises the new government you know right he
despises the new power and again they are not afraid to speak evil of
dignities brethren are going to remember okay it's very easy to speak evil of
dignities it is very easy to speak evil of our government of our politicians and
I know many of them are wicked King Zedekiah was wicked as well okay but how
does Jeremiah respond is he someone that walks after the flesh is this someone that
despises government is it someone that despises authority or is it someone that
says you know what even though there's a wicked government over me wicked King
Zedekiah I'm still going to honor his request you know again which one are you
brethren which one are you so go back to Jeremiah 38 what are we up to 38 38
please verse number 28 Jeremiah 38 please last verse verse number 28 so
Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison so he's in he's not even locked
down here but he's he's restricted right he's restricted in the court of the
prison look how long he's there for until the day that Jerusalem was taken
and he was there when Jerusalem was taken so the Bible says he was in
prison until Jerusalem was completely taken over by the Babylonians that's
where he remained until that time came okay he remained in lockdown he remained
in restrictions all right every now and again he was let go to talk to the
Zedekiah but brethren in conclusion this is like our lives you know I'm glad the
Lord has given us this chapter to look at today okay we're in lockdown for two
weeks if you're from Sydney oh well you know maybe we're gonna be here for a
while who knows it's a minimum of two weeks it could be longer all right I can
be frustrated because you know what next week we're celebrating we're supposed to
be celebrating our free anniversary at blessed or Baptist Church I wanted to
make it a day of festivities a lot of fun all right and I can be frustrated
about that or I can just say well God this is the situation we find ourselves
in we're in lockdown we'll wait we'll postpone that front some other time we
postpone the anniversary some other time the celebrations praise God you know
whether we're in lockdown or whether we're free you know what blessed be the
name of the Lord it doesn't matter and you know what God whatever powers you've
put over us whatever powers you put as long as they're not asking us to commit
some sin Lord I pray that you help us to be submissive and obedient to them
help us to be like Jeremiah that ought to be our hearts that ought to be our
desire you know what you don't have to be ashamed if you change your mind if
you're once rebellious and I'm gonna fight this you know what no change your
mind no one's gonna mock you all right they're gonna be welcoming to you hey
welcome to the Word of God welcome to the obedience that you know that God has
asked us to live by and so brethren again how are you coping the Sydney
lockdown we just started how are you gonna go this week I don't know you know
how you gonna deal with this for the next two weeks or longer potentially and
again it's your choice brethren you know God gives us his word it's up to you now
I've preached God's Word maybe you aren't like me now maybe you think I'm
unpopular you know it's unpopular you don't like me anymore I don't know I
hope not hope you guys realize that I love you and I want the best for you I'm
looking after your welfare you know I want you to live I want you to be
blessed by God I want you to be obedient okay I want you to be if you
can't be obedient to the government at least be obedient to your pastor at
church and and you know the decisions that I make and I know it's on me I know
I'm accountable to God for all this okay and you know God's gonna hold you
accountable with how you obey the authorities that are over your life so
again once again it's your choice brethren are you going to respond like
Zedekiah or will you respond like Jeremiah let's pray