Leviticians 3 verse 40 begins by saying,
let us search and try our ways.
So take the title from the sermon,
from this passage,
let us search and try our ways,
search and try our ways.
And so the point of this entire chapter here
is that as Jeremiah and Jerusalem and Judah
going for these turmoils, the take-off of Babylon,
they would look at God's judgment.
Yes, they would assess that they're being judged by God,
but then they would look at themselves and say,
well, why are we being judged?
Why is this happening to us?
And that they would learn their lessons.
But let's start there in verse number 37.
Lamentations 3 verse number 37.
It says,
Jeremiah is saying,
who has said that certain things are going to come to pass,
but the Lord never commanded such a thing?
Now, brethren, we start there in verse number 37
basically speaking about the false prophets.
And just to remind ourselves,
let's go back to Jeremiah,
keep your finger there in Lamentations chapter 3,
and let's go to Jeremiah chapter 28.
Jeremiah chapter 28.
And let's remind ourselves of
Jeremiah's dealing with a false prophet.
And we learn how to deal with false prophets
through this chapter here
in Lamentations, sorry, Jeremiah 28.
Jeremiah chapter 28.
Let's start there in verse number 1.
Jeremiah 28 verse number 1.
And it came to pass the same year
in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah,
king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month,
that Hananiah, the son of Asa, the prophet,
which he was at Gibeon,
spake unto me in the house of the Lord
in the presence of the priests
and of all the people saying.
So Hananiah is the false prophet
that Jeremiah is butting heads with in this chapter.
Verse number 2.
This is what Hananiah says.
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, saying,
I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
So Hananiah says, that's it,
the Lord has released us
from the servitude and the burdens of Babylon.
You know, the Lord God has defeated Babylon for us.
Praise God!
That's what Hananiah is preaching.
The entire time, as you know,
Jeremiah is preaching,
you know, God's judgment is coming,
the bad ones are going to take us down,
surrender, give yourselves in,
it's time for our captivity.
That's what Jeremiah is preaching.
Hananiah, the false prophet,
is preaching the positive only message.
It's not going to happen.
The yoke's not going to fall upon us.
God has delivered us.
That's what Hananiah is saying.
It's interesting that he's invoking God's name,
but God never commanded such a thing.
Verse number 3,
he says, within two years,
he says, this is all going to take place
in less than two years.
Within two full years,
will I bring again into this place
all the vessels of the Lord's house
that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
took away from this place
and carried them to Babylon.
And I will bring again to this place
Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim,
king of Judah,
with all the captives of Judah,
that went into Babylon, saith the Lord,
for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Now, how does Jeremiah respond
here in verse number 5?
Then the prophet Jeremiah
said unto the prophet Hananiah,
in the presence of the priest,
in the presence of all the people
that stood in the house of the Lord,
even the prophet Jeremiah said,
Amen.
The Lord do so.
So, Hananiah is preaching something false.
And Jeremiah says, you know what?
This is a positive message.
You know, it's good to know
that you're saying that God will deliver us.
He says, I wish that was so. Amen.
Now, Jeremiah knows this is false though.
Okay?
But it is a good message.
I mean, we come to church, I suppose,
we would rather hear a positive message
than a negative message.
All right?
And so Jeremiah recognized, yeah, this is a good...
Amen.
You know, I hope this is the case.
But then what does he say?
He says,
verse number 6, Amen, the Lord do so.
The Lord performed thy words,
which thou hast prophesied,
to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house,
and all that is carried away captive
from Babylon into this place.
Jeremiah is saying, look, it'd be wonderful
if everything's returned back to the Lord's house,
we can meet once again in the temple of God,
in the house of God,
that'll be wonderful.
All right?
But then he says in verse number 7,
Nevertheless,
hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears,
and in the ears of all the people,
the prophets that have been before me,
and before thee of old,
prophesied both against many countries
and against great kingdoms,
of woe and of evil and of pestilence.
He says, all the prophets before you, Hananiah,
they preach that there's going to be turmoil,
there's going to be pestilence,
there's going to be judgment,
and you're preaching the opposite, Hananiah.
Now, this is important as a preacher of God's word,
that I don't come here preaching some new message,
okay?
That we go to the prophets of old,
and that we're consistent,
we line up with the prophets of old.
That we're moved by the Holy Ghost.
If I'm preaching something completely different, brethren,
then you'll know that I'm some type of false prophet.
Okay?
A true prophet will proclaim the prophecies of old.
They would uphold the prophecies of old.
And Jeremiah is simply following after
the trend of the prophets of old,
saying that Judah is going to be judged.
It says here in verse number 9,
the prophet which prophesied of peace,
when the word of the prophet shall come to pass,
then shall the prophet be known,
that the Lord have truly sent him.
He says, look, if you're prophesying peace,
if it truly happens,
then we know the Lord sent you.
Now obviously that did not take place.
Jerusalem got destroyed by Babylon,
meaning that this was not a prophet that God truly sent.
Hananiah was a false prophet.
Verse number 10.
Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off
the prophet Jeremiah's neck and break it.
You may remember Jeremiah's walking around with this
yoke upon his neck, this piece of wood.
Hananiah takes it, he breaks it.
And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people saying,
Thus saith the Lord,
even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations,
within the space of two full years.
And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
So now Hananiah prophesies even worse.
He says the yoke's going to fall off us,
but now actually within two full years,
Babylon's yoke's going to fall off all the nations.
They're not going to have any kingdom.
And obviously this is false prophecy.
But notice how Jeremiah responds,
and Jeremiah went his way.
He doesn't care.
Now brethren, this is the best way to learn
just how to deal with false prophets.
You don't have to get yourself worked up
about every single false prophet that's out there.
Okay, you don't have to get worked up
every time you hear something false
that's coming online and,
and I, look, I've got to share this with you.
Brethren, look, look at this false prophet.
Look how he's preaching.
Who cares?
Just walk away.
You know what, this world's full of false prophets.
All right?
Instead of pumping up some false prophet
that you want to share with the brethren,
how about you just forward some true prophets of God?
And share that which is, you know,
that is few and far between.
A true prophet of God,
a true preacher that loves God's word,
that's lined up with the prophets of old.
I'm not here to take down every false prophet.
Now brethren, if a false prophet crosses my way,
we cross paths, we butt heads,
then I'm going to call that person out,
but I'm not here to just label every person a false prophet.
It'll be unprofitable for you.
It's just a waste of our time.
We understand there are false prophets in this world.
All right?
And they're going to be preaching things
that God never commanded.
But I just want to show you there
Jeremiah's interaction with a false prophet.
He goes, man, he's preaching great things.
I hope that's the case, but I know full well
that that's not what God is saying.
And he knows full well that Hananiah
is a false prophet and he just gets on with his life.
He doesn't get caught up with debating
against people that are preaching false things.
So let that be a characteristic in you.
You know, have some thicker skin.
You don't have to get worked up and emotional
every time you hear someone say,
you don't have to write every wrong
that's out there in the universe, right?
Just get on and serve the Lord
in the capacity that God has given you.
Back to Lamentations 3, verse number 38.
Lamentations 3, 38.
It says, out of the mouth of the most high
proceedeth not evil and good.
So it's been said here, look,
yes, God, we get good,
beautiful gifts from the Lord, beautiful blessings.
But shouldn't we also expect evil?
Now, again, just I've said this
throughout the book of Jeremiah.
Evil is not always sinful.
God cannot sin, all right?
God does not commit sin, all right?
God does not tempt us with sin, okay?
But God can pronounce evil.
Now, let me just quickly say
all sin is evil,
but not all evil is sin.
The word evil means harmful, okay?
So is all sin harmful? Of course.
But is all harm sinful? No.
You know, when I discipline my kids,
we take out that rod,
hey, there's a bit of harm done
on the backside, isn't there?
Is that sinful?
That's exactly what God wants us to do,
to raise our kids with discipline,
with correction.
Hey, it causes harm,
but it's not sinful.
It's righteous to raise your kids
with a hand of discipline, all right?
So make that very clear in your mind.
When the Bible says that out of God
proceeds evil, it's not saying that
God created sin or something,
and God wants us to sin.
Hey, but that's what some Calvinists believe.
Some people that believe in Reformed theology,
they believe that God actually
predestined you to sin.
I remember talking to a friend of mine
who was a Calvinist,
and we were going through this topic of,
you know, God is sovereign,
he kept saying to me,
and I agree with that, you know,
largely extent,
because sovereign,
we call that word reign,
does God reign above all?
Of course.
Is he the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?
Of course he is.
But by sovereign, they basically mean
that God is instructing every little thing
to take place.
And I just, I couldn't, I said to him,
so are you saying to me
that when I sin,
God, that was God's hand,
God planned it out for me to sin?
He goes, he took a, he paused,
and he goes, yep, that's what I'm saying.
Like, what?
And he took me to these passages,
where out of God proceeds evil.
I said, but evil is not sin.
Now all sin is evil,
but not all evil is sin.
As I explained to you.
Let me just read some other passages to you.
Isaiah, this is one of the favourites
of the Calvinists.
Isaiah 45.7,
I form the light and create darkness.
I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things.
So who creates evil?
The Lord.
Who created darkness?
The Lord.
Who created light?
The Lord.
But is it saying that God created sin?
That God is sinful?
God wants us to sin?
Of course not.
God's evil is when he corrects
that which is wrong.
You know, to cast a soul into hellfire
for all eternity,
for rejecting Jesus Christ.
Hey, that is evil.
That is harmful.
That person is going to be tormented
day and night, forever and ever.
But it's not sinful.
It's the correct justice of God.
Alright, so, hey, even Job 2.10.
Remember when Job went through
a great tribulation,
lost his family, lost his possessions?
In Job 2.10, Job says,
and he said unto her, to his wife,
Thou speakest as one of the foolish women,
speaketh what?
Shall we receive good at the hand of God?
And shall we not receive evil?
In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Hey, if you don't want to sin against God with your lips,
you know what you need to learn?
That God will allow you to go through evil sometimes.
God will allow you to go through harm,
through tribulations, through difficulties.
But it's for your profit.
It's so you can learn.
As I said, the title for the sermon this morning
was Search and Try Our Ways.
You know what, brethren?
Any problem you go through,
you need to stop and say,
what is it?
What's causing this issue?
What is it within me that can be fixed?
You know, what is it about me
that is not serving God to my fullest capacity
and I need to change this about myself?
God may very well allow you to go through evil, okay?
So he can produce something good in you,
something profitable in you.
Look at verse number 39,
Lamentations 39.
Wherefore doth a living man complain,
a man for the punishment of his sins?
He says, look, if you're being punished for your sins,
what right do you have to complain?
Okay?
And I've said to you,
I believe we've been punished,
Australia's been punished for the sins of our nation
through this COVID world.
So you know what I'm going to do?
I'm not going to complain.
Okay?
I mean, look,
it's funny because so many of us,
all right,
and so many Christians that I speak to,
we know that Australia is a wicked nation
and we know it deserves the judgment of God.
But when God's judgment falls,
guess what happens?
We whine and complain.
That's what happens.
Don't you understand?
This is a sinful nation.
This is a sinful, wicked world that we live in.
All right?
Everybody of every religion,
of every status in life,
they're being affected by this COVID world,
not so much by the virus,
but by all the restrictions and the mandates
and the wicked governments that are in this world.
And then we complain about it.
And we all know full well
that our world deserves the judgment of God.
What right do we have to complain
if God allows us to go for some evil?
We've got no right, brethren.
We know that this nation,
it would be hypocritical of me
to say we live in a wicked nation
and then complain when God's judgment falls.
All right?
So, you know,
I tell you, brethren,
I've got 11 kids,
and the thing that drives me crazy is complaining.
My kids know this.
All right?
And especially when they say,
oh, it's not fair.
In fact, they don't say that anymore.
They know if they say that's not fair,
they're going to cop it.
They know that, okay?
You know what?
I don't go to God and say,
God, it's not fair,
because I know I'm going to cop it.
All right?
I mean, God does not like murmuring.
He does not like complaining.
All right?
We're going for evil.
It's not the time to complain.
And I have to be thankful.
God, thank you for allowing me to go for evil.
Help me grow out of this.
Help me produce something good
out of this evil time.
And look, there's something different.
Look, if you've got something new,
there's an issue.
And look, we're in the house of God,
blessing up Baptist Church.
Look, and let's say you have some constructive criticism.
All right?
That's what it should be,
constructive criticism.
You've got something that is bothering you
about our church.
Look, bring it to my attention.
I don't think you're complaining
as long as your criticism is constructive.
All right?
Now, what's the difference between
complaining and constructive criticism?
Well, it's similar in the fact
that you both find something
that's not great,
something that can be improved on.
Okay?
But the complainer, all they do
is point out,
this needs to be improved.
This needs to be changed.
This is bad.
That's the complainer.
The guy that's constructive
will bring a solution,
or several solutions.
It's constructive.
All right?
Pastor, we have this issue.
Maybe if we do X, Y, and Z.
Pastor, this has not been done in the church.
I'm willing to do this
because it's not being done in the church.
That's constructive.
All right?
So, hey, if you need to get something off your chest,
get off your chest,
but don't do it by complaining.
Do it by being constructive in your criticism.
Offer real solutions, okay?
And brethren, I'll be happy with you.
All right?
The Lord will be happy
if we're providing constructive criticism
to issues that we find.
Let's keep going.
Verse number 40.
Let us search and try our ways
and turn again to the Lord.
And so, brethren, that's the whole point
of going through evil,
for going through hardships,
is that we would search and try our ways.
Not complain.
Not whine.
Not murmur.
Brethren, it's contagious.
You know what?
I want to be happy.
I want to be happy every day.
Every day, I want to just have something
that I can rejoice about.
But you know what?
When I hear complaining,
you know what it does to my heart?
It causes me to complain.
It's contagious.
You murmur, you whine, you complain.
Brethren, it's going to affect everybody.
Okay?
So, I'd rather much be happy.
I'd much rather be joyful.
You know, our family, our church
has had a baby born into the family this week.
I'd rather have my focus on that,
God's blessings,
than whether or not this omicron
is going to cause us further restrictions
in the future.
Okay?
It's all about where we're putting
our mindset upon things, right?
But let us search and try our ways
and turn again to the Lord.
Now, let me tell you one of the biggest things
that I've had to learn in my life,
and it's helped me in my life,
is whenever I'm going through difficulties,
and whenever you're going through trials,
whatever it is, all right?
You don't always know
why you're going through that trial.
Understandable.
You know, you don't always know.
Okay?
Could it be chastisement from the Lord?
It could be.
Could it be persecution of the devil?
It could be.
Could it be God's judgment upon the nation,
which has been caught up
in the consequences of that?
It could be.
You know what?
I don't have to sit here and necessarily know
exactly the reason
I'm going through some tribulation
or some hardship.
But whenever you are,
whenever something is not going your way,
and you're getting worried and stressed,
that's the perfect time.
Regardless of what's happening,
you say to yourself,
God is allowing me to go through this evil.
Even if it's the persecution from the devil,
you say, God is allowing me
to go through this persecution.
Why?
Okay?
What is it, Lord?
What is it that you're trying to change in my life?
You look back in your eye,
look in your day,
look at your past week,
look at the wicked things that you've done.
And we've all done wicked things.
We've all done sinful things.
Look back in the last month,
look back in the last year,
because we know that God is long suffering.
And sometimes the hammer falls
long after we've done something.
Look back at your life
and recognize,
when did I offend my Lord?
How did I offend my Lord?
Is there something that I'm prideful about?
Is there some sin that I'm just not confessing to the Lord?
Is there some wrong that I've done?
Is there some conflict that I'm not trying to resolve?
Is there some bitterness in me?
Is there some pride?
Am I not forgiving my brother
for something that they've done?
Look at what it is, brethren.
This is your chance.
And say, Lord, I recognize now
why you're allowing me to go for evil.
Now I realize this is a problem that I have in my life.
I need to search and try my ways
and turn again to the Lord.
You know what? I've learned to rejoice in hardships.
It's hard to say, but I've learned this.
I want you to learn it, okay?
No matter what challenges there are,
just thank God.
There's something here
that God wants me to learn from.
And I think when you take that attitude, brethren,
you can actually rejoice every day.
Because you know the Lord's everyday,
whatever, if it's good, if it's evil,
it's going to help you in the future.
God is allowing you to go through that
for your benefit, for your profit.
Now, when it says,
let's search and try our ways,
sometimes because we are prideful,
we don't like to admit necessarily
that we've sinned against the Lord
or necessarily admit our weaknesses, right?
So, I'm going to read a couple of psalms to you.
And I like these psalms as well.
Psalm 139, verse 23.
The psalmist says,
Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Boy, are you ready to say that prayer?
You know what? I'd much rather search myself
and just humble myself,
and this is where I've messed up.
I'd much rather than that than say,
actually, God, yeah, I think I'm good, you know?
How about you search me, God?
You search my thoughts, you search my heart,
you find if there's a wicked way in me,
because if I ask God to do that,
guess what? He guaranteed he's going to find something.
And I was too embarrassed for God to know all my,
and he really knows all my thoughts.
But you know what I'm saying, right?
To be so open to the Lord God and say,
look, just every single thought that I have, Lord,
every single feeling that I have,
every single motive that I have,
every single act that I've done, Lord,
can you look and see if there's a wicked way,
and God will find something, okay?
And bring it to your attention.
Psalm 34, 18.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,
and saith of such as be of a contrite spirit.
You know what? God wants us to be broken
about the wickedness that we have in our lives.
When we search ourselves, we need to be contrite.
Contrite means expressing remorse, all right?
God, I've sinned against you again.
The same sin, Lord, that I just did 10 minutes ago,
I've sinned against you again.
Look, just show some remorse.
Show some humility.
Show yourself to be broken, all right?
Instead of prideful, I've sinned, who cares?
Same sin that I did five minutes ago.
Same sin that I did yesterday.
Same sin that I did last week.
I don't seem to have victory over this.
I'm going to stop confessing it to the Lord.
Who cares?
No, that's selfishness. That's stubbornness.
That's rebellion, brethren, all right?
And then, listen, if you don't learn your lessons,
this is the thing about it as well,
if you don't learn your lessons
when God puts you for evil,
don't expect yourself to get out of that evil, okay?
I mean, that evil may be prolonged in your life
simply while God is allowing you to learn your lesson, all right?
Or even if God delivers you from that evil,
He may allow you to go for that evil once again,
you know, over and over and over again,
simply because you won't learn the lessons the first time.
And so, brethren, if you want to limit the hardships,
learn the lesson the first time, okay?
Find out what it is that's wicked within you
and change that and turn again unto the Lord.
Back to Lamentations 3, 41.
Lamentations 3, verse number 41.
Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens.
So, you know, going before the Lord God in prayer, okay?
Stating, so, basically, Jeremiah's here, of course,
this is a work of poetry,
expressing here what the nation is saying to the Lord God, right?
Now, we need to understand this all together.
We're going to put all these verses together,
otherwise it sounds a little bit off.
So, the nation is going before God,
lifting up their hands in prayer,
going to Him, they need His help,
because they're being taken over by Babylon.
But look at verse number 42.
We have transgressed, so this is part of their prayer.
We have transgressed and have rebelled.
Saying, God, you've not forgiven us.
Say, Pastor Kevin, is that right?
These people are going to God,
seeking forgiveness and God's not pardoning them?
Now, we need to remember what we covered last week, okay?
And then combine this and understand it together.
Let's just remind ourselves of last week's sermon.
If we go back to verse number 22 in the same chapter, Lamentations 3, 22.
It says,
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassion fails not.
They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
Listen, we learnt that God's compassion, God's mercies are new every morning.
Meaning that if you've sinned today, brethren,
this morning God's mercies are brand new,
He's ready to forgive you all over again.
And tomorrow they're brand new again,
He's willing and ready to forgive you all over again.
Every morning, okay?
So that's true.
Now, when we go back to verse number 42,
is this saying that they're asking,
that they're coming with a broken and contrite heart,
and they realize they've done wrong,
and they just want to get right with God and God's not forgiven them?
No, it's not what it's saying.
Let's understand again.
It says we have transgressed and have rebelled.
Now listen, if you're transgressing and rebelling against God,
God will not pardon you, all right?
You need to get to the point where you have that broken and contrite heart,
and say, God, I'm sorry, please forgive me,
help me not to make the same mistakes again.
But these guys, they're asking for God's pardon
while they continue transgressing,
while they continue rebelling against God,
while they continue serving their false gods,
while they continue offering their children unto Moloch, okay?
While they continue living their wicked, ungodly lives,
they recognize, man, we continue down this path,
God is not pardoning us.
Of course he's not going to pardon you, okay?
God will forgive those that come with that broken heart,
with that contrite spirit.
That's not what this nation has become at this point in time.
Verse number 43.
Thou has covered with anger and persecuted us,
thou has slain, thou has not pitied,
thou has covered thyself with a cloud,
that our prayer should not pass through.
So we saw this last week as well,
where God would not receive the prayers of Jeremiah
because he was praying for a wicked nation.
These people were not ready to commit themselves back unto the Lord.
And so, brethren, listen, you can go to God in prayer
and just be rebellious
and not willing to confess your faults,
not willing to confess your sins.
God's not going to hear your prayers, brethren, okay?
You need to come before him humbly confessing your sins.
Verse number 45.
Thou has made us as the off-skirring and refuse
in the midst of the people.
The off-skirring basically means rejected.
Now, the people are finally realizing
we are a rejected nation amongst all the people, all right?
And that's what we learned to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 6.30.
Reprobate silver shall men call them
because the Lord hath rejected them, okay?
So we're dealing with a rejected, a reprobate generation, okay?
And God's allowing this nation to be taken over by the Babylonians.
Not only that, in verse number 45 it says, and refuse.
That word refuse is not refuse, but kind of similar, I guess.
But the word refuse is the noun form is trash or garbage.
They're saying, look, we're rejected amongst all the nations
and we're the garbage, we're the trash of the world, okay?
Verse number 48.
Sorry, verse number 46.
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
Fear and a snare has come upon us.
Desolation and destruction.
So Babylon is the enemy that has opened their mouth against them
and they know that this is God's judgment upon them.
Verse number 48.
Now we have the words of Jeremiah, okay?
Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water
for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Now, verse number 48 is kind of interesting in light of last week's sermon.
So you may remember when we started Lamentations 3,
Jeremiah felt that God's judgment, God's anger was upon him.
He felt God is angry at me.
This is why I'm going through the consequences of the judgment on this nation.
But now, of course, he's learnt his lesson, he's woken up to himself.
No, God's preserving me through this judgment.
He's keeping me.
His mercies are new every morning.
He realizes in verse number 48, it's not him that God is angry at,
but rather the daughter of my people.
It's my people.
It's my nation.
It's the city of Jerusalem.
It's the people of Judah that God is destroying.
And as he sees this, he sees that he's weeping.
My eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction.
So he's weeping, you know?
He's sad that his nation is so ungodly that it's being destroyed for its sin.
You know, if people just listen to his preaching,
if they just got right with God, this whole judgment was unnecessary.
And so he begins to weep.
Verse number 49.
Mine eye trickleth down and ceaseth not without any intermission
till the Lord looked down and behold from heaven.
Mine eye affected mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
And so he weeps.
And, Reverend, there's a time to weep.
There's a time to have sorrow.
And, you know, as your pastor, you know, one of my titles is a bishop, the overseer.
You know, and I've said it before, I'm like a supervisor.
And I love you.
I love your souls.
You know, I just want you to walk in the paths of righteousness.
I just want you to take, you know what, it's not about me, Reverend.
I'm not here trying to make a name for myself.
I just want God's Word to be proclaimed.
And I want you guys to take God's Word, apply it to your life,
and grow and walk in God's ways, all right, and not suffer needlessly,
not destroy your lives, destroy your family,
destroy your children's future.
You know what, if I saw my people, this church, you know,
go to the devil, go into the world, destroy their lives.
Yeah, you're saved, praise God.
You're saved.
You're going to heaven.
But I hate to see you destroy your lives in this world.
You know what, I know very well I'd be like Jeremiah weeping.
If I saw people within my church destroy themselves.
You know what, hey, if you love this pastor, take on ballroom preaching.
I want to see you flourish.
I want to see you serve the Lord at a full capacity.
I want to see you doing great work for the kingdom of Christ.
I want to see you winning souls to the Lord.
What a great thing when you're able to give the gospel to someone
and their eternal destiny is no longer held by heaven.
You know what, I want to see you guys serve God in a full capacity.
I want to see my children continue to love and serve the Lord
even when they're out of my authority.
You know what, otherwise it'd break my heart.
For Jeremiah, it broke his heart.
You know, what did it say there in verse number 51?
Mine eye affecteth mine heart.
He's got a broken heart.
He's sorrowing, he's weeping, but he's got a broken heart
because of all the daughters of my city.
But I want you to notice as well, he just weeps for his people,
but he's also looking for comfort from the Lord
because it says in verse number 50,
till the Lord look down and behold from heaven.
He goes, I'm going to weep until the Lord realizes how broken I am
and he's the one that I'm going to find comfort in, okay?
Jeremiah is seeking the Lord's comfort.
Now notice verse number 52.
Mine enemies chased me sore like a bird without cause.
Now we know Jeremiah had enemies.
We know people were trying to kill him as he preached, right?
They were trying to imprison him, they were trying to make his life difficult.
But he says that his enemies are chasing him.
They're kind of hunting him like a bird, right?
It's like a hunter trying to hunt down a bird, but without cause.
He goes, they've got no reason to hunt me.
They've got no reason to hurt me.
He says, with these enemies, I've done nothing evil toward them.
You know, I'm not a troublemaker.
I'm not there in their face trying to cause them problems.
They're hunting me without cause.
Now Brevin, let it be true for you as well.
If you've got enemies, you've got people that are trying to hurt you,
you know what, I'd like you to say to me,
these people are trying to hurt me, they're trying to destroy me without cause.
I've done nothing to fuel this conflict.
That's how it should be, right?
Hey, we saw how Jeremiah dealt with Hananiah.
Is he there trying to debate Hananiah, waste his time?
You know, is he growing in bitterness toward Hananiah?
I don't know, you know, going around speaking slander against that guy,
he just goes, whatever, Hananiah, you want to believe that?
He gets on with his life.
You know what, it's without cause.
And Brevin, you know what, if people hate you simply because you love the Lord,
because you love his word, so be it, okay?
But let it be without cause.
Make sure you're not a troublemaker.
Make sure you're not some public nuisance,
going around causing problems everywhere you go,
and then saying, I'm being persecuted for the Lord.
You probably deserve it.
Jeremiah had to like a bird then, if you're actually causing the conflicts, alright?
Now, this reminds me, Jeremiah's spirit, you know, reminds me of Jesus Christ.
Keep your finger there and go to Matthew chapter 12.
Go to Matthew chapter 12, please.
You know what, when you have conflicts,
when you have enemies and they're trying to bring you down,
I want you to examine yourself and decide, what spirit has caused this conflict?
Do I have the same spirit as Jeremiah, where I'm not causing any problems,
I'm not a troublemaker, or do you have a spirit more like Hananiah?
The spirit that was leading Jeremiah was the Holy Spirit of God, okay?
And he was being persecuted without cause, alright?
Or are you just a troublemaker, okay, like Hananiah?
You know, getting in people's faces and then causing conflict, alright?
Now, you say, well, I'm trying to be like Jesus. Don't you know, Pastor Kevin,
Jesus Christ there is calling out the Pharisees, calling out the wicked Jews,
and he's taking the whip and he's driving them out of the temple.
Hey, yes, he did that. Praise God for that, okay?
But, look, those times are captured for us in the scriptures,
but that wasn't, his ministry was three years long.
That's not what he's doing for the whole three years.
He's constantly fighting with people, just constantly driving people out of the temple of God.
That's not like a major part of Jesus Christ's ministry, okay?
Look at Matthew 12 to 18. Matthew 12, 18.
This is about Christ.
Hey, what spirit was driving Christ? The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.
Look at this.
Hey, was Jesus just constantly striving with people?
Was he just constantly getting in arguments, constantly getting in fights?
No, he was being chased, he was being persecuted without cause as well.
The Holy Spirit that drove Christ in his ministry is the same spirit that Jeremiah had, alright?
He wasn't there to strive. He wasn't there crying, yelling, and arguing with people, alright?
On the streets, just arguing with everybody that he comes across.
That wasn't Christ's nature, brethren, alright?
Hey, when the Jews got in his face, when the false prophets got in his face,
when they started to blaspheme the name of God, or they defiled the temple by selling the merchandise,
absolutely Christ got angry, absolutely Christ tore down those people.
But listen, the largest part of his ministry is him just serving the Lord.
Alright, there's Pharisees, there are Sadducees, there are people preaching false things.
Christ said, look, I'm just going to get on with my mission.
I'm not going to waste my time entangling myself constantly with all these false prophets, okay?
The Spirit of God drove Christ, and you can see, he did not strive.
Jeremiah wasn't interested in striving, okay?
Did he have enemies? He had enemies, but he had enemies without cause.
They just hated him because he stood for the Lord God, okay?
He wasn't a troublemaker.
Alright, back to Jeremiah. Sorry, Lamentations 3. Keep saying Jeremiah.
Lamentations 3, verse number 53. Lamentations 3, 53.
So, his enemies, what do they do to him? Verse number 53.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
Waters flowed over mine head, then I said, I am cut off.
So, what we learn here in Lamentations, you may remember that Jeremiah was thrown into a dungeon
when we're going through the book of Jeremiah.
Now, we learn some more information about what, like, in the book of Jeremiah,
we just kind of get a story, how he's thrown in, and then he gets taken out, okay?
But what we learn in Lamentations is really how he felt about being thrown in the dungeon.
Okay, we see more of his, of his spirit within, how he's responding to it.
And I want you to keep your finger there. Go to Jeremiah chapter 38.
Go to Jeremiah chapter 38, and just remind ourselves a couple of things, you know.
Jeremiah chapter 38, when he gets thrown into the dungeon.
Jeremiah 38, verse 12. It says,
And Ebed-melek, sorry, I'm missing my, let me just, sorry,
Jeremiah 38, verse 6. Jeremiah 38, verse 6, please.
It says, Then took they 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 mire.
So Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
So when they put him in, there's no water in this mire.
Now normally there is water, so this dungeon's probably some type of cistern.
I was looking into this, and the thought is that this is a place where maybe rainwater is collected.
Kind of like we have, you know, our, what do we call them?
Yeah, our stormwater drains, you know.
So when the rain comes, instead of it being flooded, you know, the waters get processed in a place.
Well, it's the same kind of thing, that this dungeon is a place where when there's a lot of rainwater,
instead of flooding the land, it would fall into this cistern or this dungeon.
But currently, when they put Jeremiah in there, there is no water.
It's just this murky, mirey ground, and he sinks into it, okay?
And so there's no water, but, so we don't get any more details about this,
but when we go back to Lamentations in verse number 3, verse number 54, it says,
Waters flowed over mine head, and I said, I am cut off.
So when he gets put in there, there's no water, but then he's there for some time,
at some point, rain falls on the land, water starts to rush into that cistern,
water's falling upon his head, and he says, I am cut off.
He thinks, I'm going to die. I'm going to drown.
He's stuck in that mirey clay, the waters are rising around him,
he says, I'm going to die, I'm going to drown here.
Now, we don't get that level of detail in the Book of Jeremiah, but we get in Lamentations.
I think it's interesting when we put these things together.
Now, the other thing that we don't learn in Jeremiah,
is we don't find out that he prays to the Lord while he's in the dungeon.
It's safe to assume, of course, he prayed. He's a prophet of the Lord.
Of course, he's calling out to the Lord and seeking his help.
Just keep your finger there in Jeremiah 38,
and I'll just quickly read to you Lamentations 3.55.
It says in Lamentations 3.55,
I called unto thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.
Thou hast heard my voice, hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
So what do we learn there?
Jeremiah's been filled with, the water's coming in, he thinks I'm going to drown,
he cries unto the Lord, he says, Lord, deliver me, the Lord, save me.
But we don't really get that in the story of Jeremiah 38.
So back to Jeremiah 38, verse number 12.
Jeremiah 38 verse 12.
Jeremiah's calling unto the Lord out of the low dungeon.
In Jeremiah 38, 12, it says,
And he bed-melleced the Ethiopians, said unto Jeremiah,
Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags
under thine armholes, under the cords, and Jeremiah did so.
And they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon,
and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
So we get the story there in Jeremiah, right?
He bed-melleced this Ethiopian,
helps Jeremiah, goes to the king,
and asks for permission to pull Jeremiah out of the miry clay,
because he's going to die there.
We know why he's going to die there, because he's going to drown, all right?
And you see that the Lord answered Jeremiah's prayer, all right?
But that's what's beautiful about Lamentations.
We just see the anguish that he's going through.
He's in the dungeon without cause.
He thinks he's going to die.
He calls to the Lord, and the Lord delivers him.
Back to Lamentations 3, verse number 57.
Lamentations 3, 57.
Praise God for that.
You know, Jeremiah's praying.
He thinks he's going to drown.
That's it. He's stuck in the clay.
And the response that he gets from the Lord is,
Fear not.
Now, brethren, I don't think you're ever going to get thrown in a dungeon, all right?
I don't think you're going to see waters rising up,
and you can't get out of the miry clay, all right?
That's not going to happen to you, unlikely.
But we all go through difficulties, yeah?
We all go through tribulations, trials, hardships, problems.
But I want you to remember what the Lord said to Jeremiah,
because it's the same message to you.
Fear not.
Don't be afraid.
God has not forgotten you.
God did not forget Jeremiah in the dungeon, all right?
God knows Jeremiah did nothing.
He did nothing deserving to be thrown into that place.
And, brethren, as I said, sometimes we go through trials and tribulations.
It could be the devil's persecution.
It just could be the reality of living in a sin-cursed world, all right?
Don't beat yourself up about it.
You're in a bad place.
Figure out if there's some wicked thing that you've done.
Fix that wicked thing.
Go to the Lord.
Call upon Him.
Ask Him for deliverance, all right?
And God says fear not, because He's eyes upon you.
Whatever difficulty you go through, brethren,
His eyes upon you, He does not want you to be afraid.
He's not given us the spirit of fear.
And I think it's beautiful when we can think about the Lord God.
Luke 12, 7, the words of Christ, it says,
But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Fear not.
God knows every hair that's on your head, okay?
God knows if a single hair on your head perishes.
He's watching you.
He tells you fear not.
As I said, 2 Timothy 1, 7,
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of sound mind.
So, brethren, when you're afraid when you're fearful,
it takes away the power.
It takes away the love.
It takes away the sound mind that God has given you.
When you're afraid, go to the Lord, okay?
And don't think you're some weak Christian because you're afraid.
Jeremiah was afraid, okay?
And God says fear not.
Okay, we need to take our fears to the Lord
and he's going to replace that fear with power, with love, with a sound mind.
Verse number 8 then says,
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel
according to the power of God.
You know what? Jeremiah is just going,
he's suffering but he's just a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel.
Alright, brethren?
And you just, right, you've got enemies,
you've got people that don't like your position,
they don't like that you love the Lord and that you love his word.
Listen, you just keep serving the Lord,
your enemies are going to hate you,
they're going to persecute you, they're going to do you wrong,
but just remind yourself,
I'm just partaking in the afflictions of Christ.
And what an honor to participate in such affliction
because Christ suffered much more for me.
Back to Lamentations 3, Lamentations 3, verse number 58.
Now, I love Jeremiah's attitude
because, listen, if your enemy throws you into a dungeon without cause,
if your enemies do something harmful to you
and you know you don't deserve it,
you've done nothing but good to your enemies,
how are you going to feel about it once you're out?
I reckon a lot of us are going to want to take revenge.
A lot of us are going to want to, you know,
what's the word I'm looking for?
Expose that person for their wickedness, okay?
I think a lot of us are going to get caught up,
what can I do to make sure this guy gets it coming to him?
What does Jeremiah do? Verse number 58.
He says,
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul,
thou hast redeemed my life.
O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong,
thou hast seen my wrong,
judged thou my cause.
Listen, when someone does you wrong,
listen, you don't have to, like I said,
you don't have to right every wrong, okay?
Now look, if you've got certain control and power of a situation
and you can right a wrong, so be it.
But listen, you're not going to right every wrong in this world.
You know, everyone that's harmed you and hurt you and done wrong to you,
you're not going to be able to fix it all.
You're always going to be able to carry out justice, all right?
So what do you do? Like Jeremiah, you say,
Lord, thou hast seen my wrong, judged thou my cause.
Lord, you be the judge.
You be the judge between me and my enemy.
Lord, you determine whether I've done something wrong or if it's all in them,
and then Lord, you judge the situation.
That's another great lesson that I've learnt in life,
just to leave it in God's hands.
You know what, someone does something wrong and bad,
I'm just going to move on, I don't care.
You know what, God, you deal with it.
Lord, you know, you know if I've done wrong, judge me, Lord.
If I've done wrong, you chastise me, Lord.
I'd rather be chastised by you because I know it's loving.
I know there's profit in your chastisement.
And Lord, if you know that I'm innocent here and someone else has done me wrong,
Lord, I don't even need to know about it.
You deal with it, Lord, I'm going to trust you that you're going to deal with those that have wronged me.
And brethren, I tell you what, the burden's off your shoulders,
the bitterness is off you, you're no longer prideful,
you just carry on, you're no longer distracted,
you're no longer caught up with all the problems of the past,
and you just move on into the future serving the Lord.
That's Jeremiah's attitude, right?
Verse number 60.
Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.
Lord, you know it all, you know how much they hate me,
you know how they're trying to hurt me.
Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord,
and all their imaginations against me.
Verse number 62.
The lips of those that rose up against me,
and their device against me all the day.
Lord, you've heard what they've said against me.
Lord, you've seen how they've thrown me into the dungeon.
You've seen the evil, and the evil they still want to do to me.
God, I don't know what it is, but you know.
Boy, this is the right attitude, brethren.
I promise you, you are going to be much happier
when you can take this approach to your enemies,
those that harm you.
You know that part of you that just wants to get even?
You know, I need to step in and I need to expose them.
That's just your pride.
You know why?
Listen, even within your pride, if you get even,
it's still not going to satisfy you.
I promise you, it's not going to satisfy you.
You'll still be bitter, all right?
But you leave it with God, you can move on.
Whoever's wrong with you, you leave it with God, you move on.
Verse number 63.
Behold, they're sitting down and they're rising up.
I am their music.
They're mocking at me, they're laughing at me.
Render unto them a recompense, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands.
Give them sorrow of heart.
Thy curse unto them.
You want to get this stuff off your chest?
Go to God in prayer like Jeremiah.
You've got enemies, they've wronged you, they've done you bad.
You say to God, God, as you go and pray before him,
God, give them a sorrow of heart.
Thy curse unto them.
God, you curse them.
You know what they've done to your son, to your child, child of God here?
Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.
I love it.
That's what you do, brethren.
There's a time to vent.
There is a time to get the things off your chest, how people have wronged you,
but not to me and not to each other.
You vent and you take it to God and say, God, you judge.
You've seen the Lord.
I don't even know how much they hate me.
I don't even know all the wicked things they want to do against me, Lord.
They've hurt me.
They still want to hurt me.
And, Lord, I'm not going to get even.
I'm going to leave it with you.
You destroy them.
You curse them.
You give them recompense for what they've done.
You leave judgment in the hands of the Lord.
And this is the great lesson that we learn in the New Testament as well.
It goes together.
Dearly beloved, Romans 12, 19.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath,
for it is written, vengeance is mine.
I will repay, saith the Lord.
That's it.
Okay?
Your enemy does you wrong.
You just vent to the Lord.
Say, Lord, deal with it.
Okay?
Then what do you do?
The world keeps going.
Verse number 20.
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him.
If he thirst, give him drink.
For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
You say, yeah, Pastor Kevin, I'm ready to just give it to the Lord.
God, you judge my enemies.
Yeah, now you go and give them some water.
You go and give your enemies some gifts.
You go and make them happy.
You say, oh, I can't do that when Pastor Kevin.
You should do that.
You know what?
If you want God's judgment to fall upon them the heaviest,
you do good unto them.
Because it says, for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
So, listen, the point is this.
If you've got an enemy and they've wronged you, hey, and you do good unto them,
what's the advantage of that?
Hey, it might soften their heart.
Say, boy, why am I persecuting this guy?
He's been nothing but good for me.
You might even turn that enemy into a friend.
You might even turn that enemy into a believer in Jesus Christ.
How good would that be?
Hey, that would be good.
If you do good unto them, you can change their hearts.
But, look, you do good unto them and you don't change their hearts,
all you're doing is adding coals of fire.
God's vengeance is going to be even heavy upon them if they don't get right with you.
Well, let it be, you know.
That's the attitude of Jeremiah, thrown into a dungeon.
And, brethren, if you say to me, Pastor Kevin, I just can't forgive this person.
Well, have you been thrown?
Did they throw you into a dungeon?
Did they throw you into Murray Clay and actually leave you for dead that you could drown?
Listen, if that's not you, you can still forgive your enemies.
You can still do good unto your enemies.
So, don't tell me you've gone through Jeremiah's difficulties and you just can't do it.
Jeremiah was able to do it.
And he set us a great example that we can follow.
Alright, let's pray.