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Jeremiah chapter number two the Bible reads beginning verse number one moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying thus saith the Lord I remember thee the kindness of thy youth The love of thine espousals when thou winnest after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown and the first thing I want to point out here is at the beginning of verse number two where it says go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem now when the Bible used the word cry it doesn't mean what we would think of as crying the Bible calls that weeping but when the Bible says cry it basically means to shout or to yell and All throughout the Bible God instructs preachers to lift up their voices and to preach loud to yell To shout to cry aloud, and he says here cry in the ears of Jerusalem But this type of preaching today is unpopular in many circles and people will ridicule Preaching that that yells and lifts up its voice and they'll say oh It's just too dramatic or too emotional and they prefer a more soft-spoken monotone style but yet the Bible says over and over again cry aloud spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and Show my people their transgressions in the house of Israel their sins God told Ezekiel to smite with his hand and stomp with his foot Jesus all throughout the Gospels is constantly raising his voice and screaming and I'm not gonna scream tonight because I have a really bad cold So I'm not gonna be able to practice what I preach here But honestly, you know, we need to stay with that style of preaching that has urgency and passion behind it Not just this kind of go down deep stay down long come up dry preaching with no passion. No excitement. No zeal No urgency if people are dying and going to hell then obviously We ought to yell and shout and warn them and if Christians are in danger of ruining their lives We need to yell and shout and warn them You see the nation of Israel at this time was in danger of being destroyed And in fact if we read to the end of the book of Jeremiah We know that they did not heed Jeremiah's warnings and they ended up being destroyed and carried away captive in the land of Babylon So because the country is hanging in the balance and Ruin is just around the corner Jeremiah's told to yell when he preaches and to cry out and to loudly proclaim the word of the Lord He says in verse 3 Israel was holiness unto the Lord now holiness means to be set apart or sanctified so he's talking about the fact that Israel had been set apart as a special nation a Chosen people a peculiar people and that they were supposed to be God's firstfruits It says Israel was holiness unto the Lord and the firstfruits of his increase all that devour him shall offend Evil shall come upon them sayeth the Lord referring to the fact that God would defend his people and that evil would come upon anyone Who attacked them? He says in verse 4 hear ye the word of the Lord O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel Thus sayeth the Lord what iniquity have your father's found in me That they are gone far from me and have walked after vanity and are become vain So he's saying that the children of Israel were supposed to be set apart unto the Lord They used to be holiness unto the Lord now they're going after vanity and the reference there is to the fact that they're going after false gods and Vanity means that which is worthless and has no meaning it has no value. It's a waste of time So he's referring to the fact that when they go after these false gods that are vain they cannot profit them he says that they are become vain and So we see that the children of Israel Only had value or worth as long as they were serving the Lord I mean the Lord was the whole reason why they were a great people I mean, why was the children of Israel great at any point in their history? It was because they're worshiping the Lord and that's the only reason because any time they turned from the Lord they became losers and They were devoured and they became a laughingstock and a reproach to the nations around them And then when they would serve the Lord Then they would be great in the eyes of those around them and they would also be lifted up and exalted So without the Lord, they're nothing If they're serving other gods, they're nothing and by the way The Bible clearly teaches that without the Lord all of our lives are pointless and meaningless Okay, the the atheist today who believes that there is no God his life is completely meaningless. He's living the life of an animal He lives he dies. He goes back to the dust and is forgotten and it doesn't matter what he did with his life Ecclesiastes goes on and on for 12 chapters about the vanity of life and all the different pleasures and Accomplishments that we can achieve in our life are all vain in the end and that serving the Lord and Keeping his commandments are the only thing that make this life worth living The Bible is clear on that and so just as the children of Israel were vain without the Lord So our lives are completely vain without the Word of God and serving the Lord once you've been saved and you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you and you're sealed unto the day of redemption and Then you've taken it a step further and gotten baptized and gotten in church and started serving the Lord if you go back To a life of sin if you get backslidden and go back to a worldly life You're gonna find that it's completely vain and worthless unto you Even if you had enjoyed it in the past Because once you've known what it is to have true meaning in your life and to do something of eternal value Then obviously the things of this world are going to lose their appeal unto you if you try to go back to that life of Sin, it truly is vain. It is meaningless It is worthless And by the way, the children of Israel today or the so-called nation of Israel in the Middle East today They don't have the Lord and so therefore they are vain They are complete vanity over there and you can get all excited about that nation over there But that nation is meaningless because it doesn't have the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior Except a very small remnant over there that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ And of course they have value in the eyes of God the Bible says in verse 6 neither said they where is the Lord? that brought us up out of the land of Egypt that Led us through the wilderness through a land of deserts and of pits through a land of drought and of the shadow of death through a land that no man passed through and where no man dwelt and I brought you unto a plentiful country to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof But when you entered you defiled my land and made mine heritage an Abomination so he's talking about the fact that they had forgotten The miracles that the Lord did when he brought them out of Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea And he talks about bringing them into a wonderful country and he says you defiled my land Referring to that promised land and he said you made my heritage an abomination now. What does the word heritage mean? Heritage is like our modern word Inheritance so when David said in Psalm 16 for example the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places Yeah I have a goodly heritage He's referring to the fact that he had a great inheritance and he wasn't just referring to money that was handed down to him But rather the fact that worshiping the Lord had been taught unto him from a child He had known the Holy Scriptures and been brought up with the Lord and so he said I have a goodly Heritage and heritage. Is that what you inherit like an inheritance? So here God says that they defiled his land and made his heritage an abomination Well think about this if you had someone That was in your ancestry pass away and they left you an inheritance Usually in today's world that would be money or maybe land or a house or something like that That you would inherit and you can imagine that if you were left an inheritance That would be something to be happy about something to be excited about, you know If you inherited some money that you'd be thinking great, you know I was able to you know receive some extra money that I wasn't expecting a while now I've got this piece of land or this house, you know because my my great great uncle You know kicked the bucket or whatever and I received the inheritance But I know that my mom has it has an inheritance that she got Some kind of an oil-producing land where she gets a check every once in a while And I'm sure that she doesn't mind getting that check every once in a while from that inheritance But he says you've made mine inheritance. You made my heritage an abomination meaning he's inheriting that which he hates because an abomination is something that is Hateful unto you. You don't even you don't even want it. You don't even like it You know, it'd be like if you were expecting to inherit a house or something like that and then the house was so bad that it was just an abomination unto you that which you inherited and God's saying you've defiled my land and made mine heritage an Abomination so the promised land again is only as good as the people who are living in it Because when you have people in the land that are defiling it then the land becomes an abomination So God here is talking about that land as his land his inheritance his heritage and he's saying you've made my heritage In context the land you've made that land an abomination. It's really not even a holy land today It's it's an abomination of the land because of the fact that it's been defiled by the people who live there They're not worshipping the Lord They're not serving Jesus Christ and they're not following Christian values in the nation of Israel today, either That's why Tel Aviv has the greatest gay pride parade in the Middle East That's why Tel Aviv Israel has been known as one of the top homosexual destinations in the world because of the fact that the people of that land have defiled that land with their Abominations and and they've made that land an abominable land verse 8 the priest said not Where is the Lord and they that handle the law knew me not the pastors also? Transgressed against me and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit Wherefore I will yet plead with you saith the Lord and with your children's children will I plead for pass over the aisles of kitim and see and send unto Kedar and Consider diligently and see if there be such a thing hath a nation changed their gods which are yet no gods But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit So what he's saying here is that even heathen nations will stick with the same God for hundreds of years Even if it's a phony false god, they'll still stay with that God for hundreds and hundreds of years He's saying you know none of the nations around you are changing gods and yet you've changed gods when you had the true God and You've changed your glory for that which does not profit now Repeatedly he used this term to do not profit at the end of verse 8 He said walked after things that do not profit at the end of verse 11. He says their glory They've changed it for that which does not profit. This is synonymous with that which is vanity that which is vain. It's Unprofitable it has no meaning it has no value again referring to their false gods and Referring to those who follow them as becoming meaningless in their lives. It says in verse 12 be astonished. Oh ye heavens At this and be horribly afraid Be very desolate saith the Lord for my people have committed to evils They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and Hewed them out cisterns Broken cisterns that can hold no water So they've turned away from the true God and they've turned unto false gods now notice that he says in verse 13 They forsaken me the fountain of living waters So God is saying I am the fountain of living waters Now if you would go to John chapter 7 This is something that the book of John talks about in several places. Of course in chapter 4 there's the woman at the well where Jesus says to the woman at the well woman give me to drink and Of course, he ends up saying or if thou newest the gift of God and who was that said of thee give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him and He would have given the living waters and he talks about the fact that whoever drank of those living waters Would never thirst again now look down if you would at John chapter 7 verse 37 in The last day that great day of the feast Jesus stood and what? Cried more of that annoying loud preaching, you know that yelling preaching. I guess he was just trying to be dramatic But if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink He that believeth on me as the scriptureth said out of his belly shall flow Rivers of Living water but this spake he of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified So God said in the Old Testament I'm the fountain of living waters and in the New Testament the fountain of living waters identified as the Holy Spirit that would indwell the believer he would spring up as a well of Living water. He said that if you drink of the water that I give you you will never thirst And by the way, that's another proof among all the thousands of others why a person cannot lose their salvation because the Bible says that out of the scripture Would it says out of his belly the scripture had said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water But this spake he of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified So that well of water springing up in us unto everlasting life That is the Holy Ghost and that is the Lord himself dwelling in us because the Bible teaches that the Holy Ghost is God Bible teaches that the Father and the Word and the Holy Ghost these three are one and so if you would go back to Jeremiah chapter 2 and We see that God is the fountain of living waters You can't lose your salvation because once you drink of the living water You'll never thirst the Bible says there's no need to come back to the well again and drink as They had to go daily to that well in John chapter 4 you go to this well one time You drink the water one time and it becomes within you a well of water that just springs up unto everlasting life the fountain of Living water the Bible says in Revelation 22 and the Spirit and the bride say come and let him the heareth say come and him That is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life Freely salvation is free. It's for whosoever wants it whosoever will and once you have it. It's everlasting It's a well of water that never runs dry and you'll never be thirsted if you thirst again after that Then God's a liar because he promised that whoever came to him would never thirst In John chapter 6 John chapter 4 these things are taught now the Bible says in verse 14 is Israel a servant Is he a home-born slave? Why is he spoiled? The Bible saying here is that Israel? Should have been free because the Bible said that Israel was God's son Remember in Exodus when he said Israel is my firstborn and out of Egypt have I called my son Referring to Israel as God's son But yet he is living his life as a servant or a home-born slave and being spoiled of the enemy When he should have been free he should have had freedom you see whether we have freedom or slavery is our choice In our personal lives and as a nation if we want the United States to have freedom We must serve the Lord we must be sons and daughters of God in this country we have to honor the Word of God and if we don't our Country will go into bondage and personally in our own lives if we disobey the commandments of the Lord We're gonna go into bondage because the Bible says whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin But then if we continue in God's Word Then will be his disciples indeed and we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free if you want America to be A free country if you stand for liberty in this country you have to stand for the principles of God's Word Because you'll never have freedom any other way those that are Atheists or agnostics and they're part of some kind of a libertarian movement some kind of a freedom movement in this country They think that they're on the right side. They're actually working for the enemy They're actually bringing enslavement. They think that they're doing something for freedom. No by standing against Jesus. You're destroying freedom By saying oh, I'm for so much freedom. I'm even pro-choice Well, you're just bringing God's wrath on this country through the murder. That is abortion. Oh, I'm for freedom I don't care what people do. I mean people want to be homosexuals. That's up to them Well, you're just bringing God's wrath upon our country now by forsaking the laws of the Lord forsaking God's Word No country could ever have freedom without the Lord because where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty and our country has been one of the freest countries in the past because of the fact that we honored the Lord and that's the only reason why and Everywhere else in this world. There's so much darkness and so much slavery It's as the French philosopher said, you know man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains. Why because of sin Whether that French philosopher knew that or not. That's the reason because of sin because of ungodliness because of wickedness and The reason why our country has had freedom is because of a god-fearing populace. That's why And to the degree that we lose that in this country and to the degree that we forsake those roots We're gonna lose our freedom to that exact degree. It's that simple and you can see it happening look around People today are excited about the election and they're you know following the blow-by-blow of the primary of the Republicans and the Democrats and you know really on pins and needles Just kind of hoping and praying that it's not so it's a that most people aren't really excited about anyway They're just really hoping it's not so-and-so or you know But they don't realize the whole thing's rigged anyway But here's the thing even if it weren't rigged God can't bless our country until we get right with God you know, so are you voting? You know what? I vote every Sunday morning. I vote every Sunday night. I vote every Wednesday night I vote every time I go out soul-winning I vote every time I pick up my Bible and read it because that's when I'm actually doing something to change our country And when you go out and preach the gospel and win someone to Christ You're doing way more for this country than casting a vote for the lesser of five evils or the lesser of two evils or whichever You know person you think is really telling the truth this time of these lying politicians I'm telling you the vote is when you go to church. The vote is when you love the Lord I mean we could turn this country around if the pulpits of America would get on fire and start preaching the truth It's not a political solution that's needed. It's a spiritual solution God is saying in this chapter and really in the whole book of Jeremiah. He's pleading with a nation that's not that different from our nation a nation that had been godly in the past and now they've turned on to vanity and He's pleading with that nation saying there's no reason for you to be a slave. There's no reason for you to be spoiled There's no reason for you to be a servant Why don't you just turn on to me and turn away from your false gods and worship me and I can protect you I can bless you. That's the message of the book of Jeremiah Verse 15 the young lions roared upon him and yelled and They made his land waste his cities are burned without inhabitant Also, the children of Knopf and Tapanese have broken the crown of thy head has to not procured this unto thyself And that thou for has forsaken the Lord thy God when he led thee by the way saying look you've done this to yourself you see we Control our own destiny in this world We decide what our life is going to be like and what our nation is going to be like and it's based on what we do God wants to bless But God can't bless us when we turn away from him and when we do wrong things and and here's the thing It's up to us whether we want to have freedom It's up to us whether we want to you know, God to bless us or to curse us. It depends on our actions and He's sitting there and saying to them look you've done this unto yourself You've procured this unto thyself and that thou has forsaken the Lord thy God when he led thee by the way Verse 18 and now what is that to do in the way of Egypt to drink the waters of Sihor? Or what is that to do in the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the river? Basically he's referring to the fact there that they they thought that Egypt is gonna help them against Babylon like hey if we team up with Egypt then we can defeat Babylon or wait maybe we can team up with the Assyrians and then the Babylonians won't come and get us and God's just home It's not gonna work and throughout Jeremiah. He keeps bringing this up that they can't help you You're gonna go down. It's it's a spiritual problem that you have it doesn't matter who you ally yourself with Verse 19 I know in wickedness shall correct thee and thy backsliding shall reprove thee Know therefore and see that is an evil thing and bitter That thou has forsaken the Lord thy God and that my fear is not in thee saith the Lord God of hosts for of old time I've broken thy yoke and Burst thy bands and thou saidst I will not transgress But upon every high hill and under every green tree that wanderers playing the harlot. He's referring to times in the past When he had broken their yoke and burst their bands other times when they were in bondage or when they were taken captive God was always able to make them free. Look at the book of Judges. They turned away from the Lord They'd be enslaved when they cried out to the Lord when they put away the false gods He was able to break their bands asunder he was able to give them freedom and he's saying look I've already done it in the past of old times. I've saved you and and whenever I did this what you said, I'll not transgress You know, I promise I'll be good this time and then you went and played the harlot He said under every green tree playing the whore God uses this metaphor with the children of Israel that when they're serving other gods They are like unto a wife that is cheating on her husband. That's the illustration that he uses It's like a spiritual adultery, you know the fact that they're not being faithful unto him and him alone They're just as dirty and wicked as a woman that would commit adultery on her husband That's the comparison playing the whore with with all these multiple partners under every green tree What a disgusting image that is and that's what God compares it to when the children of Israel would turn after other gods Verse 21 yet. I had planted the a noble vine holy a right seed How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For thou for though thou wash thee with nighter and take thee much soap Kind of an interesting spelling of the word soap there yet thine iniquity is marked before me sayeth the Lord God How canst thou say I'm not polluted. I've not gone after Balaam See thy way in the valley know what thou has done thou to swift dramedary traversing her ways What he's saying here in verse number 22 is that no matter how clean you make yourself and wash yourself with soap If you don't have the Lord you're wicked You know you can sit there and try to clean it up and try to make it look good But when you're not worshipping the Lord You know you're not clean. You're unclean in his sight. This would be like a person who basically Doesn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ But they're trying to live a good life You know what they define as a good life or what the world defines a good life And they think that that somehow is going to get them a pass into heaven when in reality The Bible says look no matter how much you scrub with that soap You know if you're not worshipping the Lord when you're going after other gods when you're going after Balaam, you know It's not going to help you your iniquity is marked before me See at the end of verse 22 it says for though thou wash thee with nighter and make them and take thee much soap Yet thine iniquity is marked before me say at the Lord God Now that reminds me of Psalm 130 where the Bible says if thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities Oh Lord who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared So what the Bible is saying is that if God were to actually mark our iniquities meaning that he would actually hold us accountable For our iniquities no one could stand before him Why because we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God so if thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities Oh Lord who shall stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared It says in Psalm 130 verses 3 & 4 so right here He says you can wash yourself with soap yet your iniquity is marked before me say at the Lord God You know I often preach about in Matthew chapter 7 the people who think that they're saved and they say Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name of cast out devils and then thy name done many wonderful works And then while I profess unto them I never knew you depart for me that work iniquity People that are unsaved are often so blind that they'll actually use that scripture to prove that you can lose your salvation That's how blind they are They're using a scripture that says I never knew you To say you can lose your salvation. How does that work? So I and I've said this to so many people when they bring that I say wait a minute if they lost their salvation Then how could he say I never knew you oh? Well, it's just like he never whoa so he's just lying I Mean could I really say to my wife? That I'm married to for 15 years now. I never knew you Mean that would be a ridiculous thing to say wouldn't it it's nonsense See the fact that he says I never knew you proves those people were never saved Now why were they never saved because they're relying on their works because what are they bring Lord Lord? Have we not prophesied in thy name and then thy name have cast out devils and thy name done when he wonderful works now people Have often said well that shows they believed on them because they did all that stuff. No it doesn't It shows that they're trusting in their works see believe on Jesus doesn't just mean believe Jesus existed It means put your faith on Jesus to get you to heaven Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now shopping safe. You have to rely on him. It's defined as trusting Ephesians chapter 1 ok when we believe on him is when we trust in him our faith is in him to get us heaven So if you say well, I believe in Jesus, but I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person That's not salvation You got to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart to get to heaven you got to put your faith and trust In him and so someone would say well no no no the reason that those people were damned. It's not because You know they were trusting in their works. It's because of the fact That they did iniquity Because you know at the end. He says I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity But here's the thing if the Lord marked iniquities, then who could stand no one I mean what nonsense to say oh these people believed in Jesus, but they're rejected because of their iniquity, okay? Well, I guess nobody's going to heaven You know and that's why the Bible even says Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and Whose sins are covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin Romans 4 7 & 8 so the Bible says? that You know iniquity is Marked in verse 22 meaning that their iniquities Will hold them accountable that they will be punished for them no matter how much they clean themselves up God is going to judge them for their sins why because they don't trust in the Lord because they're going after other gods They're not saved He says in verse 24 a wild ass used to the wilderness that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure in her occasion Who can turn her away all they that seek her will not weary themselves in her month. They shall find her What's this saying? Well? It's just more derogatory Comparisons that he's referring to the children of Israel as as being you know being a whore And he's basically now just kind of referring them to an animal. You know like an animal. That's in heat and basically it's just found of all kinds of Male animals verse 25 withhold thy foot from being unshod and thy throat from thirst But thou saidst there is no hope No, for I have loved strangers and after them will I go again referring to strangers meaning men other than her husband as The thief is ashamed when he is found so is the house of Israel ashamed They their kings their princes and their priests and their prophets Saying to a stock Thou art my father now. What's a stock a stock is a piece of wood They're saying to a piece of wood. You're my father to a stone Thou has brought me forth brought me forth means given birth unto me saying to a stone. You're my mother Saying to a piece of wood. You're my father He's talking about idolatry how foolish it is to carve a god out of an inanimate object and then tell it that it's your father and mother You know mother Mary Right, you're my mother it's made of stone or made of wood. It's a stock You know or father Abraham or God the Father or Jesus or Saints or whoever they make statues of these days Buddha or you know all the gods of Hinduism or whatever These are all vain He says thou has brought me forth for they've turned their back unto me verse 27 and not their face But in the time of their trouble, they'll say arise and save us But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee let them arise if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble For according to the number of thy cities or thy gods Oh Judah You know what that reminds me of India whenever I read that verse where the India they have like thousands and thousands of gods Where every city that you go to has a different God? Because that's what he's saying, you know according to the number of thy cities or thy gods Oh Judah. It's just paganism idolatry There's nothing new under the Sun, you know The Hindus brag about the fact that Their religion is the oldest religion in the world Yeah, that's because the devil goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden that's why your religion so old Yeah, because you're worshipping a serpent because you're worshipping Satan okay, and when you look at the gods of Hinduism He's not even trying to hide the fact that he's Satan most of the time. He's at half the time. He's holding a pitchfork Who knows what I'm talking about, have you seen these Hindu gods they hold a pitchfork literally they have flames around them They're wearing serpents and sometimes they're even holding a severed head and everything. I mean talk about a demonic religion and They have all these different gods why well because the Bible talks about the fact that in heaven There are 10,000 times 10,000 angels and thousands of thousands Which is over a hundred million angels that are serving and worshiping the Lord Well, remember the devil took a third part of the angels with him So that means that there are tens of millions of devils in this world So all of these gods the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 10 that the things that the Gentiles sacrifice unto idols They sacrifice unto devils and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils And by the way, where did the Hindus get their religion from? Well history tells us that the Hindus got their religion from what are known as the Aryans Okay and the Aryans were a lighter-skinned people who came from the north and came into India and they brought the Sanskrit language, which is a European related language They came with the Sanskrit language and they brought Hinduism and they taught the indigenous people of India Hinduism that's what most historians agree happened in the history of India and so these people were Gentile people they were the same type of Gentiles. In fact that you know Paul was talking about Worshipping idols in 1st Corinthians 10 in in Greece, you know, obviously they came to India long before that but it's the same Satanic pagan religion, it's the same mystery Babylon where you have the mother Worship the female goddess that they worship in India, which is very common throughout India The the the great mother that they worship and so forth same thing in Egypt same thing in Roman Catholicism Which is a pagan religion same thing throughout history. There's nothing new under the Sun So yeah The Hindus have a really old religion because it goes all the way back to the devil himself Who goes back all the way to the Garden of Eden and He's talking about the fact that the children of Judah had gotten caught up in this kind of pagan idol worship which has been going on for thousands of years and still goes on in India and other places today and This is still a relevant teaching Because of that reason now a lot of places in this world no longer worship idols For example, the Muslim world does not worship idols in the sense that the Muslims do not make graven images Neither do the Jews today make graven images. Okay, but Much of the world still does worship graven images, don't they? They Roman Catholicism I brought up Obviously worships graven images and then you know or the Orthodox Church worships 2d images two-dimensional images that they worship and light candles to and Then we have of course Buddhism that involves graven image worship Hinduism and all types of paganism whether it be Chinese folk religion or other Indigenous pagan satanic religions all around the world Wiccan or whatever else that involve these type of things But here's the thing if you form and fashion a God That you have invented that is not the God of the Bible just because you don't make a wooden image of it You know, you're still worshiping a false God, you know, the Muslims are still worshiping a false God Even though they don't carve an image just because they say oh, we're worshiping the invisible God Yeah, but if it's not Jesus If you don't have the son Then you don't have the father and neither the Muslims nor the Jews have the son today. Therefore they don't have the father But the Bible says in verse 29 wherefore will you plead with me? Y'all have transgressed against me sayeth the Lord In Vain, if I smitten your children, they receive no correction Your own sword hath devoured your prophets like a destroying lion So notice that your own sword have just devoured your prophets like a destroying line Who is known in the Bible as being like unto a lion seeking whom he may devour? The devil right and here we have those two words devouring and a lion Says your own sword have devoured your prophets like a destroying lion see the children of Judah had killed their own prophets Now go if you would to Matthew 23 and Acts chapter 7 both If you want to put a finger in both places, we're gonna read from both Otherwise if you can only go to one then just go to Acts chapter 7 But we're gonna look at Acts chapter 7 and we're gonna look at Matthew chapter number 23 Look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 23 verse 37 Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the prophets and Stonest them which are sent unto thee How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and you would not Behold your house is left unto you desolate for I say unto you He shall not see me henceforth till you shall say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord flip over to Acts chapter 7 And the Bible reads in verse 51 you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears You do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do ye which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the just one of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers Who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it when they heard these things They were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth so in both Matthew 23 and Acts chapter 7 God is talking about how the Jews had killed the prophets that were sent unto them now Jesus gave a parable about this He talked about planting a vineyard in Isaiah chapter 5 he planted a vineyard and when he went to receive the fruit of the vineyard it was wild grapes It was not what he planted He planted good seed and it was wildness that grew up. It was that which is Unusable that grew up. Okay, and he said the vineyard is the house of Israel. Okay, everybody got that Isaiah chapter 5 then in the New Testament in Matthew 21, he tells a parable about a vineyard and He talks about how the vineyard is there It's planted and he lets out the vineyard to husband men and then he goes away into a far country and he sends his servants To require the fruit of it and when his servants come they beat some and they kill others Then he last of all sends unto them his son and says they will reference my son But when they see the son coming afar off they say this is the air Let us kill him and let us seize on the inheritance and the vineyard shall be ours and of course the question is asked what so the Lord of the vineyard do when he cometh he'll destroy those murderers and He'll let out the vineyard unto other husband men that will bring forth the fruits in the dew season and of course he said The kingdom of God two verses later Therefore I say unto you the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof so that vineyard is the house of Israel and They were sent prophets Those are the servants that God kept sending rising up early and sending the prophets and they killed their own prophets Jesus also said in Matthew 23 woe unto you he said You your father's killed the prophets and you garnish their sepulchres and you say well if we'd been in the days of our fathers Well, you know we wouldn't have I'm paraphrasing but you know We wouldn't have killed the prophets and he says well You're just basically admitting that it was your father's that killed the prophets fill you up then the measure of your father's you serpents you generation of vipers and So on so he's referring to the fact that they had devoured their own prophets like a destroying line See they were doing the work of the devil when they did that, you know when they killed their own prophets in Judah Oh Generation verse 31 of Jeremiah chapter 2 Oh generation see ye the word of the Lord Have I been a wilderness unto Israel a land of darkness wherefore say my people we are Lords We will come no more unto thee I mean look at this is like the parable in the New Testament where again the king goes off into a far country and His citizens when he's gone. This is what they say. We will not have this man to reign over us and Then they conspire to you know, take everything for themselves Which is exactly what the Jews have done today. They want to have the promised land without Christ They want to have the kingdom of God without the Lord Jesus Christ as their king the true son of David as the rightful heir to the throne and So they say we are Lords This is like in Psalm chapter 2 when the Bible says why did the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us We will not have this man to rule over us as the attitude of the unsaved world today and the ungodly world They don't want Jesus Christ to rule. They don't want his rules. They don't want him to be the boss But he is the boss. It says in verse 32 can a maid Forget her ornaments made referring to a virgin or a bride her attire Yet my people have forgotten me days without number That's an important verse because When the Bible talks about the attire of a bride, this is something that God talks a lot about in the Bible He uses this symbol a lot about the bride and about the wedding gown and so forth Now of course in the New Testament the Bible talks about Jesus Christ coming back on a white horse and It talks about how the armies Which are in heaven followed him clothed in white linen and then the Bible talks about the fact that you know, the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife had made herself ready and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white For the fine linen is the righteousness of Saints So when we think of a wedding that we go to today the the the woman who's getting married She wears a white wedding dress, right? And What does that white wedding dress symbolize? Well, here's the thing it comes from the Bible That is a Christian tradition of having the wife wear a white wedding dress because if you went to other countries She would be wearing other colors than white. That is a Christian tradition and the reason why the bride wears white is Because of the fact that in Revelation 19 it talks about at the marriage supper of the Lamb His wife is arrayed in white fine linen clean and white and it says what that symbolizes the righteousness of Saints now many people have misunderstood this because The righteousness of Saints is not referring to all of the good deeds that we do all the good stuff We do see the but look what the Bible says here can a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire yet? My people have forgotten me Days without number now think about this What does the attire represent if the bride forgets the attire? Who are they forgetting? They're forgetting the Lord He is the attire. Does everybody understand? Because the Bible says here, you know, a bride is not gonna forget to put on the wedding dress I mean, can you imagine if it's the wedding day and everybody's excited and you know The the bride gets there and she's just about to walk down the aisle and it's like oh, whoops I forgot something, you know, I'm wearing street clothes. I Forgot to put on the wedding dress. There's thing that never happens. There are all kinds of things that go wrong at weddings That's not one of them because of the fact that brides pay a lot of attention to their wedding dress It's a big deal to them Spend a lot of time making sure that that dress is the right dress and that they look their best And so the Bible is saying there's no way that a bride's gonna forget her wedding dress But yeah, my people have forgotten me now look at this flip over in Jeremiah to chapter 23 verse 6 and look at this important phrase in Jeremiah 23 verse 6 in his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called watch this the Lord our Righteousness the Lord our righteousness now go to chapter 33 verse 16 chapter 33 verse 16 We're cross-referencing scripture with scripture right here in the book of Jeremiah itself chapter 33 verse 16 in those days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely and this is the name where which he shall be called the Lord our righteousness now the Apostle Paul said and Be found in him not having my own righteousness Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith The righteousness which is of God by faith not having my own righteousness why because there's none righteous No, not one why because our righteousnesses are as filthy rags I mean to sit there and say oh the final is the righteousness of Saints That's gonna be an ugly wedding dress because if you think it's your righteousness because your righteousness are as filthy rags When the Bible says that the the final is the righteousness of Saints, it's the Lord our righteousness We've washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb It's not that we you know worked hard and earned it That's why you know I take a stand on this any wedding that I perform though the the bride wears a white dress because there are some people who have other traditions where they say things such as well, you know if if she's had a child out of wedlock or if she's not a virgin or if You know she's you know been defiled in the past then she has lost the right to wear The white wedding dress this is where some people would stand, but I would say to that you know you're missing the whole point of the symbolism It's not about her righteousness it's about the righteousness of Jesus and that wedding is a picture where the husband represents Christ and She represents one who is redeemed by Christ and who's clothed in fine linen and white by the grace of God Not according to her works or her clean life, so when when women say to me that they you know well I'm gonna wear some other color because of my past you know I'm not gonna participate in a ceremony That doesn't do justice to the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know I only perform Christian type Ceremonies that follow the traditions of you know that we've gotten from the Word of God and again I'm not saying that I'm the only one who has a right to an opinion But I have the prerogative to perform whatever weddings I want And if someone wants to do something else then they can go somewhere else and and there are plenty of other pastors and preachers and Just to the peace to perform their ceremony, but when I perform a wedding ceremony. It's important to me that the bride wears a white dress Because of the fact that I love the grace of God You know and I feel it's such a wonderful picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ You know and and you say well it takes away from the the one who kept her virginity You know what the one who kept her virginity is glad that she kept her virginity And it's not just because she gets to wear a dress and say hey look at me everybody Because those who are not a virgin when they get married you know what they have to live with that for the rest of their life, and and you know obviously that is not that it has its own punishment built in and God demands us to be pure and he wants us to be pure on our wedding day And he wants both man and woman to be a virgin on the wedding day And you know what our society has completely lost that standard, but that is the biblical standard that is the right standard But let's not mix that with what the whiteness of the dress is the whiteness of the dress is something else all together Plus these people who have this weird idea of only the virgin can wear the white dress You know then it becomes a strange inquisition of you know Confronting people and you know figuring out whether they're worthy you know and honestly you know I don't want to know about your dirty laundry because honestly you know that's between you and the Lord and You know it you know forget those things which are behind and reach forth under those things are before and I don't want to have To sit here and quiz people about you know their past sins I'd you know I'd rather just forget about your past sins and move on and just move forward and be forgiven But The Bible says can a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire Yet my people have forgotten me days without number verse 33. Why tremest thou thy way to seek love? Therefore has thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways Also in thy skirts has found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these Yet thou sayest because I'm innocent surely his anger shall turn from me Behold I will plead with thee because thou sayest I've not sinned you know when we say I've not sinned God will deal with with us more harshly when we say I'm innocent think of the church of the laodiceans in Revelation chapter 3 Where he said because they are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I'll spew thee out of my mouth Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and know it's not that they are wretched and miserable And poor and blind and naked he's saying you don't know That you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and that is what makes me sick That's what makes me want to spew you out of my mouth You know such as Babylon in Revelation 17 that said I sit a queen and am no widow and shall see no sorrow Those who say I've not sinned. I'm innocent. They don't receive mercy because the Bible says That if you cover your sin, you'll not prosper, but it says who so confess at them forsake at them shall find mercy So if we want God To go easy on us. We need to confess our sins to God I'm talking about those of us that are Christians those of us that are already saved We should on a continual basis confess our sins not to the priest but under the Lord and if we confess our sins He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness We need to be constantly confessing our sins to the Lord and not get an attitude of well. I haven't done anything wrong That's what makes God upset, and he comes down harder on us Verse 36 why goddess thou about so much to change thy way thou also shall be ashamed of Egypt as Thou wast ashamed of Assyria Yea, thou shalt go forth from him and mine hands upon mine head for the Lord has rejected thy confidences And thou shalt not prosper them. He's saying look in the past you relied on Assyria to save you it didn't work out Well Egypt is gonna be the same way now that you think Egypt's gonna be the one that saves you he says you're gonna go Away with your hands on your head What's he talking about think about when you get arrested right hands on your head, right? POWs marching with their hands on their head. He's saying that's how you're gonna go away. You're going into captivity You're gonna be judged. So it's a very negative chapter here. It's a very negative book, Jeremiah But it's a warning book. I'd rather hear a negative sermon than to live a negative life You're like, oh man, don't tell me that negative preaching Yeah, but I'm preaching you negative preaching so you can live a positive life I Mean, wouldn't you rather just sit for an hour and listen to some really negative stuff then to live a whole life of? sorrow and shame and bondage and reproach Because you didn't listen because you want to listen the positive sermon and then go mess up your life Think about it. It's about rights and have a word of prayer father We thank you so much for the warnings that are in your word Lord because you love us and Lord There's so many times this chapter where you're just pleading with them and you even use that word in this chapter So many times you say I'm pleading with you. I'm pleading with your children. I'm pleading with your grandchildren Lord help us to listen when you plead with us to do right Lord Help us to realize that that we can live a life of blessing and righteousness But we have to obey you Lord and help us not to turn after All the things that this world would distract us with and help us to stay The course for you Lord and to keep serving you so that our lives can have meaning and value And so that we can be blessed in Jesus name we pray. Amen