We are continuing, or actually I should say we're ending our study through the Book of Lamentations.
And in fact, not just Lamentations, but I've spent over a year going through Jeremiah.
And I think we've learned a lot about Jeremiah, the kind of man he was, the kind of environment that he lived in.
I think we can see a lot of parallels in the time and the age that we live in today.
But if you have a look at verse number 19, there, Lamentations chapter 5, verse number 19, it says,
Thou, O Lord, remainest forever. Amen.
Then it says, Thy throne from generation to generation.
The title for the sermon this afternoon is, From Generation to Generation, From Generation to Generation.
And I think one of the great things that we can learn in this chapter is just to understand the importance of the generations.
You know, we live right now in this time and age, but you know what, if the Lord tarries, we're not going to be here forever.
You know, our kids will continue to learn, to continue to live through this world, and then our children's children, etc, etc.
And it's important that we pass our faith down to the next generation.
You know, I'm very thankful that I've grown up in a Christian home, very, very thankful.
I know many of you have not. But you know, my parents passed down the faith to me, right?
And Johnny, if I can get you up here. Johnny, just get you up here, just very quickly.
You know, when I think about this idea of generation to generation, you know, sometimes we think about our Christian life,
about ourselves, like the journey that we're on. But you know, there's a much bigger picture at play.
You know, without feeling insignificant, we are very significant in this time, the Lord wants to use us.
But the Lord wants us to take this word, He wants us to take the Bible, and to pass it down like a baton.
You know, I'm sure you guys have seen, you know, Olympics or races where they have like a team sport, and they pass on the baton.
They run as hard as they can, and then they try to pass it on to the next person.
They run as hard as they can, and they try to win the race.
We need to remember, you know, my parents passed down the baton to me, and it's important that I pass down my baton to my children.
And if the Lord allows me to see my grandchildren, I'm also going to do the best I can to pass it down to my grandchildren.
You can sit down.
And so we have this thought of generation to generation.
You know, our generation is not going to be forever.
You know, we're going to pass away forever.
Okay, this world's going to continue.
But one thing that we see there in that verse number 19, thou, O Lord, remainest forever.
Okay, the world keeps changing.
You know what, in 100 years, it's going to be another virus.
There's just a constant change.
But the one consistency in this world is our Lord God and His throne.
And I love that.
I love the fact that even though the world changes, we can be consistent.
We can be stable.
You know, we can have our hearts set upon the Lord.
He knows what generation we live in.
He knows whether we're going to see the end times.
He knows whether it's our children, our children's children.
And we can rest and be stable in our Lord God.
And you know what, you may not have children.
You know, there are people that just don't end up getting married or don't have kids or whatever.
They can't have kids.
But you know, we have a church, and we are a church family.
And even though you personally may not have children, your heart should still be about the next generation.
You know, you should still desire that Blessed Repentance Church is a church that remains faithful to the Lord,
that's serving the Lord, and look, we're going to get older.
One day I hope our young people, other ones, come behind the pulpit, you know, song leading,
getting behind the pulpit, reading the Bible, you know, preaching God's Word.
I'd love it that we would be overtaken by the next generation that loves the Lord and maybe even be more zealous than us.
You know, it runs harder than we've run before, but the thought is that we need to pass down that baton generation to generation.
You know, the Bible says in Hebrews 12 verse 1,
We're foreseen, we are also compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses.
That cloud of witnesses are the witnesses that are named there in Hebrews 11, the great men of faith.
You know, we've received this baton of faith generation to generation.
You know, from Abraham, you know, down to the great men of God that we read in the Bible,
you know, to John the Baptist, to Jesus Christ, to his disciples, generation after generation,
passing down the gospel, passing down the faith, and we've received it, brethren.
How hard are you going to run? How hard are you going to run in this current generation and prepare the next generation to come?
It then says, we're compassed with such great cloud of witnesses.
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
That makes sense. If it's Jesus Christ, if it's the Lord God that remains consistent in this ever-changing world,
then we need to make sure that we set our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despised and ashamed,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
And so, brethren, the title for the sermon this morning is, this afternoon is Generation to Generation.
And, you know, we're in a time here where Judah's being overtaken by Babylon, they're being destroyed.
What do they pass down generation to generation? Do they pass down the words of God? Do they pass down the faith?
No, they pass down false religion. They pass down wickedness. They pass down sin.
And it ultimately ended up destroying their generations.
So let's start there in verse number one. Lamentations chapter five and verse number one.
So Jeremiah here, in this whole chapter, is speaking on behalf of the nation of Judah, on behalf of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah says to the Lord, remember, O Lord, what has come upon us. Consider and behold our reproach.
And so, yeah, they've been destroyed by Babylon here.
And Jeremiah's asking, you know, asking the Lord, look down and look at the suffering.
Look at the hardships that we're going through, Lord.
And he's asking God, like, in a merciful manner.
Lord, look, be merciful to us. Look how much we're suffering.
Verse number two. It says, our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
Okay, so their land and their houses, they've been taken over by the Babylonians.
Babylonians coming in, they're taking everything that, you know, all the, I guess, the wealth, the costly possessions of the people.
They come in, they're taking the lands, they're taking the cattle, they're taking their gold, they're taking their money.
You know, it's all been given into the hands of the, to the strangers, to the houses of the aliens.
Like I said to you, we're thinking about the generation, generation to generation.
And we ought to be thinking about what can we pass down.
You know, we don't want our children to be taken away by some stranger, right?
We don't want to lose everything that, you know, we've committed ourselves to this building.
The last thing I would want is for some charismatic Pentecostal church to come in here and take over this building.
You know what's wonderful about the New Life Baptist Church up there?
There was a charismatic church meeting in the building that we're meeting now.
And they didn't have enough members or whatever happened, the pastor had a change of mind.
And they had the lease, they couldn't see out the lease.
And the pastor told me, he went down through every list on the Sunshine Coast, asking every church, do they want the building?
We were the last on the list.
Because we were like the church that was the furthest from what they are like, right?
We're the last on his list and we took the building, praise God.
The building had chairs, the building had air conditioning, right?
And we have to take that for ourselves.
But, you know, what a sad thing to think about the testimony, the work that we've done, that had been taken over by others.
And to be mindful about, you know, the next generation, making sure that the next generation has the Word of God.
They've got the foundation to continue serving God here in Fairfield East.
But not only, when we look at verse number 2, do we think about the inheritance of possessions, of houses and land.
It says in verse number 3, we are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
Why are the mothers as widows? Why are the people becoming orphans and fatherless?
Because that generation was being taken into captivity.
I look at my children, I want to keep my children safe and protected.
I want them loving the Lord and serving the Lord.
How bad would it be if my children were taken away from me?
What if I lost? My children are my inheritance.
You know, the Bible says in Psalm 127 verse 3,
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Our children are the heritage of the Lord. That means they're the inheritance.
It's an inheritance that God has given us, that we can be an influence to the next generation to come.
But the next generation of the Jews in this time, they were taken away into the land of the strangers, they were taken into captivity.
And so, you know, we need to consider what are we passing down to our children?
And look, all of us, you know, parents, none of us are perfect.
You know, this pastor, we're not perfect, right?
We're still battling this flesh, we still have sin and we still have wickedness in our lives,
but what are we passing down to our children?
You know, we can pass down the pleasures of this world, we can pass down the sins that so easily beset us,
or we can pass down our faith, pass down our love for God, pass down the Scriptures.
We need to make sure that our children understand how important it is to love the Lord.
You guys know how hard it has been to find a good church, to find a church that preaches from the King James Bible,
a church that goes soul-willing, a church that preaches without compromise.
You know, there's many doctrines that we've spent years studying and slowly trying to un-brainwash us from the influences of this world.
You know, we put so much effort into the faith that we've been given and then we forget to pass it down to our kids.
You know, we pass down everything else to our children.
You know, we tell our children how important it is for them to get an education, and it is important to get an education.
We tell our children how important it is for them to get a job that they can provide for themselves in the future, and that is important as well.
But many times we just forget to tell them about the faith, how important it is.
Look, these things have eternal value.
You know, what we amass on this earth has temporary value.
We need it, it's important, we need things, we need to be able to live, you know, we can be a blessing with the things that God has given us,
but the things that are of eternal value, brethren, is our faith, the works that we do for God, laying up our treasures in heaven.
And so many times we forget to pass that on generation to generation.
The problem with Jude at this time, they did not pass down the faith.
They passed down the worldliness, they passed down the false religion, they passed down the false prophets.
You know, they passed down everything else but the love and the service that this nation should have had for God.
Another passage of scripture, I'll just read it to you, Proverbs 13-22.
Proverbs 13-22 says,
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children.
You know what is that saying? That's saying that we should not just live for ourselves.
We should be mindful about the next generation to come.
And yes, you know, you could apply this to maybe,
nothing wrong with one generation leaving like houses and land and money or whatever it is, right?
That's what usually people think of inheritance.
But I'm talking to you about a spiritual inheritance.
We need to make sure we pass that down to our children, but to our children's children, right?
I mean, I can't wait to hopefully one day have grandkids.
I don't know how long that would be, you know, once my kids start getting married.
Well, maybe five to ten years potentially might be a sign to see some grandchildren.
But you know what? Even we, when we become grandparents,
we're able to have an influence on the next generation and the generations to come after that.
Our children's children.
But again, what inheritance are you passing down?
You know, make sure you pass down the faith.
Make sure you pass down the love for the Lord.
Let's keep going to verse number 4.
Lamentations 5 verse 4.
The Bible reads,
We have drunken our water for money.
Our wood is sold unto us.
So these are their rights?
They have the right to their water on their land.
They've got right to the wood that's on their land.
But it's been taken away.
They've lost it all, Brevin.
Babylonians come and now they've got to pay for their own water.
They've got to pay for their own wood.
It's amazing that they've lost their freedoms, right?
And that's what I kind of feel like now with the mask mandates.
You almost have to pay for air.
It's like, just to breathe.
It's like, you know, something that should be given.
You know, given by God.
Something that, you know, we take for granted.
It's almost like, just to breathe.
That thought has been taken away from us.
All the liberties we have.
You know, that's why I see, I see parallels.
The things, the rights that every man should have, they've been removed.
And then they want you to be thankful when they give it back to you.
Right?
But this is what Babylon does.
They take the things that belong to others.
And then you've got to pay for it back.
Okay?
And yes, we want our liberties back.
We want our freedoms back.
You know, it kind of broke my heart a little bit when the mask mandate comes back.
Broke my heart a little bit when the two-square-meter rule came back, Reverend.
But you know what?
As I've been saying for this whole series, and I hope you've learnt this.
You know, fighting the governments, fighting the authorities, that's not going to change anything.
What we do is, what are we saying?
It's from generation to generation.
If we want to retain freedoms and liberties, and we want this nation to turn its heart back to God.
We want our nation to have a fear of God.
If we want a fear of God, what we have to do is pass down our faith to the next generation.
We need to make sure we go door to door preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
warning people about hell, showing them that they need a saviour,
that they would receive the righteousness of Christ.
That's what's going to turn this nation around back to God.
That's what's going to give us back our freedoms and our liberties
if we just make sure as a church we continue to serve God.
You fighting the government, brethren, is just going to make things worse.
Okay?
These Jews, they tried to fight the Babylonians.
This is why they're in the state they are now.
You know, Jeremiah's been saying, look, just surrender.
This is God's judgment. Just give in.
God is judging you.
If they surrendered, it would have been better for them.
Okay?
But they refused.
They said, no, we're going to frighten this new power, and things turned out really bad for them.
Okay?
They've lost more liberties.
They've lost more freedoms than they would have if they just surrendered.
Let's keep going. Verse number five.
It says, our necks are under persecution.
We labour and have no rest.
Now the Babylonians are putting the Jews under hard labour.
Kind of reminds me of the times of the Egyptians when they were taking, remember, they were taken into slavery.
Well, they weren't really taken into slavery.
They went into the land of Egypt.
They were well looked after, but eventually the Egyptians would take the Jews and put them,
or the Israelites, and put them under slavery.
But I think it's interesting, you know, the words that have been used here.
Our necks are under persecution.
We labour and have no rest.
Now let's apply it to 2021, and as we come into 2022, let's apply this a little bit in a spiritual sense.
You know, when we go door to the soul winning, what are people trying to do to go to heaven?
They're trying to labour.
They're trying to labour hard.
They're trying to be a good person.
They're trying to keep the commandments.
But listen, they have no rest.
They have no rest.
And you know what's wonderful about our church?
We understand that salvation is rest.
It's resting in the finished work of Christ.
Christ did all the hard work.
Salvation isn't us labouring.
There is no works that can get us saved.
We just have to enter into the rest of Jesus Christ.
You know, the Bible says in John 8.32,
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
You know, it doesn't matter how much liberties and freedoms we lose in Australia.
Let's say this is our life from now on.
Let's say we just continue to lose our liberties.
They come and they go, they come and they go.
But truly, brethren, we're already free.
We're already resting in the finished work of Christ.
We're more free than any government liberties can be given to us.
You know, we're spiritually free.
We know that we're saved because we're resting in Jesus Christ.
The Bible also says in John 8.36,
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
You can never be put under bondage once again.
Once you're saved, you're always saved.
You've got that freedom, you've got that liberty in Christ.
You know that you'll be going to heaven.
You know you're a child of God.
Actually, can you please keep your finger there and turn to Hebrews chapter 4.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 4, please.
Hebrews chapter 4.
You might feel like, as it's said there in Lamentations,
Our necks are under persecution.
We labour and have no rest.
But we truly are a free people.
Hebrews chapter 4 verse number 1.
Hebrews 4.1 reads,
So brethren, the gospel is being preached to this whole world.
It's been preached to us.
It's been preached to them.
But notice what it says here in verse, it continues by saying,
But the word preached did not profit them,
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
And so how is it that the gospel profits you?
You have to mix faith with the gospel.
What's faith? It's believing.
It's trust in Christ.
It's entering into the rest of Christ.
Verse number 3.
For we which have believed do enter into rest.
As he said, as I have sworn in my wrath,
if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world,
and he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on the wise,
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
And so once again it's just bringing us to that picture of creation.
Where God worked for six days and he rested on the seventh.
That seventh day being a picture of salvation.
Resting from works.
Works cannot save us brethren.
If you are trying to work your way to heaven,
you are under that persecution.
You have that bondage, you have that labour,
and you've not rested.
And brethren, if you're not sure if you're saved this afternoon,
please speak to me.
I want you to stop laboring.
Salvation is not by laboring.
Salvation is not by good works.
Salvation is resting in Jesus Christ.
And so that's the symbolism that we can see here.
And brethren, once again, we can lose it all.
We look at the stories of the Apostle Paul.
We see the great men of God in the Bible.
How many times were they thrown in prison?
How many times have they been persecuted?
They continue to rejoice in the Lord.
Because spiritually they're free.
Their souls are free.
They're resting in Christ.
Back to Lamentations chapter 5 verse number 6.
Lamentations chapter 5 and verse number 6.
So don't worry about fighting for the freedoms and the liberties in this world brethren.
We fight for the freedom that comes through Jesus Christ.
That's what God has left us to do.
And I truly believe if we just serve God in the best capacity that we can as this church,
then eventually this nation will have the fury of God.
Eventually this nation will return its freedoms and its liberties.
But listen brethren, we just have to focus in the right places.
Focus on eternal matters, not on carnal, temporary issues.
Verse number 6.
We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread.
So we know they've gone for a time of famine.
Remember they were under the siege. They did not have food.
So they turned to the Egyptians and the Assyrians for food, for bread.
Now what are they doing? They're relying on former enemies of Israel.
Obviously we know that Egypt was an enemy of Israel.
We know the Assyrians are the ones that took the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity.
And so they've got to turn to their enemies for food.
They don't turn to God. They turn to the enemies for food.
And what is one of the things that Christ taught us in his model prayer to pray for?
In Matthew 6.11 Christ says, give us this day our daily bread.
Give us this day our daily bread.
So when we need food, when we need provisions, when we need the things to live for, we ought to turn to Christ.
But the Jews here, they're so far from God, they don't turn to God, they don't turn to Christ.
They turn to their enemies for their daily food.
They've got no reliance on God. You can see how far this generation has gone from serving the Lord.
Verse number 7.
Our fathers have sinned and are not. Meaning they've passed on.
But we have borne their iniquities.
As I said, the title for the sermon this afternoon is Generations to Generation.
Our children can bear the iniquities of our sins. It can happen.
If we just live a life that pleases this flesh, a life full of sin, our children are going to face the consequences.
If we don't work hard in our marriage, if we don't, husbands, we don't work hard loving our wives and wives,
we don't work hard to be submissive to our husband.
It requires work. We need to give it attention, we need to give it care.
It's not just I do and that's it, it's going to be sorted for the rest of our lives.
We need to keep working on it every day.
And if you don't work on it, if you don't keep your marriage strong, it's going to fall apart,
you're going to have divorce, and guess who's going to suffer the consequences?
Your children. Your children are going to suffer the consequences.
Not growing up with mum and dad, they're going to struggle in life, they're going to feel like they're not accepted by society,
they're going to lack the leadership of a man, or they're going to lack the emotional support of a mother.
These things happen, children that grow up in broken homes, they have struggles.
They have struggles in life.
And many times we can just be carrying the consequences of sin from the former generations.
This is not saying that if your father sins that God's going to punish you.
This is saying that if your father sins, there may very well be the consequences that fall in your life.
We need to try to overcome the things that are bad habits in our lives.
If you're a smoker, you don't want to be out there smoking in front of your kids because, man, your kids might pick up that bad habit.
And look, they can take it worse. They might go from smoking tobacco to smoking marijuana,
and then they're taking cocaine, and then they're destroying their lives.
As parents, and this idea of generation to generation, the baton that we're trying to pass down,
we've got to be careful what we're passing down. Be careful what we're passing down.
We need to clean up our lives.
You're not just hurting yourselves, you're hurting the generations that come after you.
Let's keep going. Verse number eight.
Servants have ruled over us. There is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
And so Nebuchadnezzar's servants are now the rulers of the people over the Jews.
So this is part of the consequences of the judgment of God. The servants become rulers.
What does that sound like?
Our politicians? What are they? Public servants?
But are they acting like public servants?
They're acting like rulers.
You can't breathe! You can't sing! You can't have fun during Christmas!
Said our chief health officer.
I mean, that is not serving us.
I don't know, they're serving somebody, they're serving something.
They're serving some spiritual Babylon, okay?
But those servants have become rulers.
And even Victoria's Daniel Andrews, do you know what his nickname is?
Dictator Dan.
Have you heard that before?
Premiering Victoria, right? Dictator Dan.
He's not a servant, he's a ruler now.
And he wants to amass more power for himself and he's been successful so far.
So boy, when you see your public servants become the rulers, you know God's judgment has fallen upon us.
And that's what we're dealing with right now. Let's keep going, verse number nine.
We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
So here we see, you know, they've gone to Assyria and Egypt trying to smuggle bread, smuggle food.
Because remember that they're going hungry and they're doing it at the peril of their lives.
Because if they get caught as they go and smuggle, you know, they're going to be killed by the Babylonians.
Let's keep going, verse number ten.
Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
Now this is kind of interesting. If what I can get you to do, just keep your finger there and turn to Song of Solomon.
Turn to Song of Solomon.
So our skin was black like an oven.
Now, have you guys heard of the black Hebrew, what are they called?
Black Hebrew Israelites.
So you've got people with the African background and they claim to be the Jews.
They believe the Jews were black. They believe Jesus was black.
There's nothing wrong with black skin. Praise God, we're all different.
I love all of God's creations. God has given us so many genetic differences.
It's amazing how we all look. We all look differently and we all have different skin and etcetera, etcetera.
I think it's great.
Now, this very clearly shows us they weren't black.
Because it said there in verse number ten, our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
Meaning that it wasn't black before.
So it's become black because of the famine.
Now in what sense, how can we make sense of this?
Well, I kind of thought about Song of Solomon.
Because if you look at Song of Solomon chapter one verse six.
Song of Solomon chapter one verse six.
If you know the book of Song of Solomon, it's a book between husband and wife.
And sometimes the husband speaks, sometimes the wife speaks.
It's a great book about marriage.
But if you look at verse number six, the wife says,
Look not upon me, because I am black.
Why is she black?
Then she says, Because the sun have looked upon me, my mother's children were angry with me.
They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
So why has she gone black?
Because the sun has looked upon her. She's gone in a tan.
She's gone in darker because she's been out there working in the vineyards.
She's out there working in the open. The sun has come upon her.
She's getting darker because of her tan.
And I guess for some reason, you know how women are, they're not happy what color they are.
If they've got long hair, they want curly hair.
If they've got short hair, they want long hair.
If they've got brown hair, they want blonde hair.
And if they've got blonde hair, they want black. You know how it is.
Ladies, you know what I'm talking about.
As soon as I go, don't look at me because I've gone tan. I've gone in darker.
And so when we think about that, she's gone in darker because she's been out in the sun.
Well then, if we go back to Lamentations chapter 5 and verse number 10,
our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
So you may recall how children are out there in the streets, they're trying to find food.
Hey, they're even trying to dig through the dung, trying to find something to eat.
You know, these people you see here that they've gone to Egypt and Assyria out in the wilderness out there trying to get food.
And so obviously the sun is upon them. They're not in home.
There's no food at home. They're out there on the streets trying to find food because of the famine.
And so they become dark because they become tanned because of the sun.
Let's keep going. Verse number 11.
They ravished the women in Zion and the maids in the cities of Judah.
And so when Babylon came and they took over Jerusalem,
unfortunately part of warfare and a hostile takeover, the women were raped.
Now again, you say, God, why did you do this? Why is this your judgment?
Don't forget, Jeremiah said, surrender.
God wants us to surrender to the Babylonians.
And what we're looking at here are people that still rejected Christ.
People that would not hear the words of God. They're making it worse for them.
They're making it worse because they just don't surrender to Babylon.
They want to fight it all. Yeah, okay, you want to fight it and now your women are being raped.
These things happen, brethren. This happens even in modern warfare.
You know, I was reading a lot long ago about Afghanistan.
You guys know how the American troops have pulled out of Afghanistan and the Taliban has taken over.
And one of the things that you often hear about the Taliban, and look, I'm not pro-Taliban or anything like that.
I'm not saying that they're good or anything. All I'm saying to you, brethren, everyone's wicked.
It doesn't matter if you support the Taliban, which I don't think anybody does,
or whether you think the American troops are doing great things, everybody is wicked.
Because I was reading about how when the Taliban comes through, what are they doing?
They're raping the women. And then, but here's the thing.
Once you say, well, when the American troops came into Afghanistan, man, that stopped the rapes.
And yes, it did. It stopped the rapes of the women.
But you know what? Then the American soldiers gave their guns to Afghan soldiers, the Afghan police.
And what are those men doing? They're raping little boys.
Okay, raping little boys. Well documented. And the American soldiers know about this,
but they've been commanded not to stop it. They say, oh, it's just their tradition.
It's the way of life. You know, don't stop these Afghanistan men from raping little boys.
Okay, so what are they? They're pedophiles? They're homosexuals?
Look, at least the Taliban, when they come in, they're going to put the homosexuals to death.
At least they're against that wicked filth, okay?
This is what happens when you have a hostile takeover.
We support the American troops. Okay, well, you're supporting pedophiles.
You're supporting people who are giving authority and power over little boys.
You're supporting homosexuals. You know, I'm not saying one is better than the other.
I'm just saying the world is wicked. We live in a wicked world.
You have hostile takeovers. This is what happens.
People get abused. People get taken. You know what?
This is why we need to be close to the Lord. Walking with the Lord.
We can't have our faith in governments of this world.
They're not our servants anymore, brethren. They're rulers.
They've turned against their people.
Again, this is the judgment of God. Our world has turned against God.
You know, our nation has turned against God.
Brethren, let's just stay close to God. God's throne does not change.
This world changes. You know, this world gets worse and worse, but God's throne,
God is still on the throne. We're still children of God.
We remain close to God. We keep eternity in mind.
We do what God wants us to do.
You know, let's not get sidetracked with all the filth
and disgusting stuff, things that go on in this world.
Verse number 12. Sorry, it's another negative chapter, isn't it?
Hey, it's the last chapter. Then we're done with Jeremiah.
But I think you guys know Jeremiah probably better than many other prophets these days
because of how much we've gone through.
And this is what they suffered. This is what they've gone through.
How can we complain about the struggles we go through today?
Are we going anywhere near the struggles that these people went through when Babylon came through?
We haven't. It's nowhere near, okay?
So let's not complain. Let's be thankful that we still are able to come to the house of God.
Be thankful that we're still able to live our lives and have a job and provide for ourselves.
You know, we're not facing anywhere near the difficulties that they've gone through here in the Book of Lamentations.
Verse number 12. Princes were hanged by their hand.
The faces of elders were not honored.
Let me just deal with the second part. The faces of elders were not honored.
So as Babylonians came through, you know, we're meant to honor our elderly, right?
But they did not care for that. They came through and they had no respect for the elderly.
But the first part says princes are hanged by their hand.
I thought this was a bit hard too. I couldn't wrap my head around it.
But I think if we look at verse number 11 again, they ravished the women in Zion.
So the they there are the Babylonians. They've ravished the women.
And then the princes are hanged by their hands.
So I think it's just saying that as the Babylonians came in, they took those people in authority, the princes, and hung them.
That's what I think is happening here.
Verse number 13. They took the young men to grind and the children fell under the wood.
So they look at the strongest young men. The Babylonians looked at the strongest young men of the Jews and they put them to work.
They put them to labor. And it says and the children fell under the wood.
So you've got little children who have been put under bondage as well.
They're trying to carry wood and I guess they fall. It's too heavy for them. They're struggling.
And again, part of the consequence of our child labor here.
The children aren't strong enough to even carry the wood and the work that they're trying to put them under.
Verse number 14. The elders have ceased from the gates. The young men from their music.
So the idea there about being at the gates. So if you're at the gates of Jerusalem, that's where commerce will take place.
That's where the business will take place, right?
You've got imports and exports coming through the gates. And generally speaking, if someone was at the gates.
You're involved in some type of business or even just like a mayor.
You're overseeing the city and all that kind of stuff.
And so that means the elders have ceased from the gate meaning that business has stopped operating because of the siege.
And this is the young men from their music. Even the music shows have stopped.
And again, it's something we've gone through, right? I mean during the lockdowns, business has had to close down.
You know, the entertainment, the music, the concerts, all of that was shut down for some period of time.
And so again, I kind of see that parallel there.
Verse number 15. The joy of our heart is ceased. Our dance is turned into morning.
The crown is fallen from our head. Woe unto us that we have sinned.
Okay, so again, these are the words of Jeremiah, okay?
It's not, you know, the people of Judah, Jerusalem, they're so far from God.
They're so lifted up. They're so rebellious against God.
You need to understand, this is Jeremiah speaking on behalf of the nation.
Jeremiah obviously understands that they've sinned.
Jeremiah understands. He's putting himself in that category.
This generation that I live in, this city, this nation that I live in, we've sinned against God.
You know, we used to be happy. We used to rejoice, but now we're all mourning.
Now we're all suffering. They've all been humbled by the hand of God.
Verse number 17. For this our heart is faint. For these things our eyes are dim.
Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
So the mountain of Zion there is basically where Jerusalem is. It's been destroyed.
Now you've got foxes, you've got wild animals, you know, walking across the ruins there.
Verse number 19. Then we have the verse.
Thou, O Lord, remainest forever, Thy throne from generation to generation.
So amongst all this negativity, you've got this one glimmer of hope in the eyes of Jeremiah.
You know, back to the Lord God, you remain forever, Lord.
Thy throne from generation to generation.
You know, Jeremiah sets his eyes upon the Lord God once again.
God, even though, you know, we're being destroyed, even though we're at the hands of a wicked power,
Lord, you are above all these things.
You know, we should not be people that are afraid of man.
We should not be people like that, brethren.
You know, if they're a wicked man ruling this nation and ruling this world,
remind yourself what we've learnt. God has allowed them to do that.
Okay? Either God has put them in place for His judgement,
or sometimes they just rise in their own, you know, wickedness, but still God allows it.
Okay? But we serve a God that is above that. We serve the King of Kings.
We serve the Lord of Lords.
Okay? The Lord God is above that.
And that's where security and safety and our worries,
you know, when we have our worries, you know, we don't turn to man for help,
we don't turn to Egypt and Assyria like the Jews did, we turn to God.
Say, God, you are in control.
You know, if we run out of bread, we don't need to go to the enemy.
We say, Lord, you are able to feed the 5,000 with a little boy's food,
with, you know, just a few fishes and a few loaves of bread.
You're able to multiply, Lord.
You know, if we set our trust and hearts on the Lord,
we will be stable even when the world is falling apart around us.
The Bible says in Hebrews 13, 8,
Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday and today and forever.
God does not change.
Even we change. Right?
Sometimes we can be on fire for God and sometimes we can just be in the dumps
and we just have no heart for the Lord.
We go through changes, but our Lord never changes.
Praise God. God's Word never changes.
You know, the things that are called out as sin in God's Word,
it's still going to be sin 100 years from now.
Yeah, living righteously, coming to church, hearing, preaching,
reading the Bible, praying to God, going soul winning.
I know a thousand years from now if the Lord tarries.
You know, that's still what God wants His people to do.
And so God is using us, brethren, in this time and age,
but also don't forget we're here to pass down the baton, the baton of our faith.
We need people to continue to serve the Lord, you know, in coming generations.
I want Australia to turn its heart back to the Lord.
You say it's impossible. I don't think it's impossible.
You know, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
We are able to change the heart of this nation,
but we need to make sure that we serve God.
We need to make sure that we think about the next generations to come.
And look, maybe we are in the end times and maybe it's all downhill from now.
Could very well be. I don't know, brethren.
Regardless, our Lord is on the throne. We serve Him where we can.
And you know what? We have these limitations. We have these restrictions.
I understand they're uncomfortable. We don't like them.
I'm telling you, obey and let's just serve God as best as we can during this time.
Jeremiah was able to do great things for God,
and yet he lived in a time where they've had a lack of food.
He lived in a time when they've been surrounded by the Babylonians.
He lived in a time when he's been thrown in the dungeon.
He lives in a time when all his freedoms are being removed.
He lives in a time when he can't even go to the house of God and preach because they don't want him there.
He went through similar things that we've been going through at a lesser extent.
But you know what? He still served God in whatever capacity he could.
The Bible says in Malachi 3, 6, I am the Lord. I change not.
I am the Lord. I change not.
So if you want consistency in life, brethren, you want consistency, stay close to God.
Stay at the right hand of God. Raise your children.
We want our children to have stability, don't we?
We want our children to live a life without fear.
We realize that our children may not have the same liberties that we had in our life,
but if they stay true to God, they will be consistent, they will be stable,
and then they will be able to pass on the baton of faith onto the next generation.
Verse number 20.
Wherefore dost thou forget us forever and forsake us so long time?
So Jeremiah is now realizing, yes, Lord, you are, you know, my eyes are upon you,
but it's as though you've forgotten us, Lord.
Of course the Lord has not forgotten them because he's judging them.
But that's how Jeremiah feels. That's on behalf of the nation.
Like God has forgotten them. They've been forsaken.
But notice verse 21.
Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned.
Renew our days as of old. I love that.
Turn thou unto us, O Lord.
Jeremiah realized, I don't think we can do this on our own.
I don't think as a people we can turn back to God.
It has to be God that turns us back to him.
And that's the whole experience.
That's why God allowed this nation to be taken into captivity for some 70 years.
Because God knew this current generation is a reprobate generation
and they need the hand of God, they need the wrath of God,
they need God's chastisement for the next generation to come around to serve God,
to want to come back into the land, to rebuild the temple, to serve God once again.
That was God's method.
He was trying to bring a new generation that would stop doing the practices of the old generations
and come back to God. This is the doing of God.
Renew our days as of old.
And brethren, you may be feeling this way this morning, I don't know, or this afternoon.
You may feel I'm far from God, you know, I'm in the house of God,
but really, you know, I don't have the same love that I once had,
I don't have the same zeal that I once had,
you know, I've forgotten to really instruct my children in the ways of the Lord
and I'm just not living for God like I used to.
Well, don't forget, ask God, renew our days as of old.
You know, even Jeremiah is able to recognize this.
We need to, you know, we've lost our hearts.
You know, we've lost our ways.
And we need that to be renewed.
We need to come back to the Lord.
We need to stop in this backslidden state.
But look at verse number 22.
But thou hast utterly rejected us.
Thou art very wroth against us.
But thou hast rejected us.
Now, if we can, can we just turn back to Jeremiah, we're done with lamentations.
Turn back to Jeremiah chapter 6, Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse number 29.
Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse number 29.
But thou hast utterly rejected us.
And so you see Jeremiah's heart.
He wants this nation back serving the Lord.
But then he remembers, no, actually God, you rejected us.
And that comes there in Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse number 29.
Just to remind ourselves here.
Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse number 29.
The bellows are burned.
The lead is consumed of the fire.
The founder melteth in vain.
For the wicked are not plucked away.
Reprobate silver shall men call them,
because the Lord hath rejected them.
And so this generation that Jeremiah lived in,
it was a reprobate generation.
It was rejected by God.
But don't forget where Jeremiah's hope is.
He said in verse number 21,
Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned.
Renew our days as of old.
You know what?
God may very well be just allowing his hand of judgment upon Australia.
And he might be painful.
You know, I hope 2022 is a better year for us all, brethren.
But you know what?
Even though 2021 is a bit of a frustration,
I've still enjoyed my time.
I've still had sweet fellowship with the Lord.
We've still been able to come to church.
We've still been able to sing praises to the Lord.
We've still been able to spend time with the family.
In fact, we'll probably spend more time with the family than we spent before.
You know, we've still been able to go soloing in and see souls saved.
You know what?
God never puts a complete end to his work.
His end continues.
You know, God's word is not bound.
It'll continue no matter what.
But you know what?
We may be in a reprobate generation.
You know, God may very well look down at our world and say,
Man, this generation of the current world is reprobate.
Okay.
Well, maybe this generation can't return back to the Lord.
And it may very well be that we're facing God's judgment
because God has his eyes on the next generation to come.
Don't forget that we're in captivity for 70 years.
Most of that generation would not last.
Most of that generation would perish under Babylonian captivity.
Okay.
And then it would be the subsequent generation.
It would be the younger children.
In fact, even the youngest of children that would be taken to captivity,
if they'd return back, they'd return as old men.
Okay.
God had his eyes upon a new generation,
a generation that would turn back to God as of the days of old.
And so, brethren, I don't know.
We may be in a reprobate generation as well.
Okay.
We're just looking at some parallels here.
It might be the people that we live in.
Maybe as a nation, as a world, God just sees it as reprobate.
But that doesn't mean we don't pass down the baton.
We still do.
Generation to generation.
No, there is a generation to come that will love the Lord.
You know, our children, you know,
God has given us our children that we would raise a godly seed.
God wants to see our children love the Lord and serve the Lord.
And we need to make sure that we think about the next generation to come.
It's not all about us.
Okay.
I thank God for the generations that have gone before,
that have taught us great things,
have given the faith, has passed it down.
We need to make sure that we do the same thing, brethren.
Think about the next generation to come.
Alright, let's pray.