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Jeremiah, chapter number nine, beginning verse number one, the Bible reads, O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. And remember, the whole book of Jeremiah is Jeremiah preaching and warning the nation of Judah that God's wrath is going to come upon them in the form of the Babylonian army coming and invading and taking the children of Judah captive, destroying the city, destroying the temple. And of course, that all happened with King Nebuchadnezzar, and we read about that at the very end of the book of Jeremiah and elsewhere in the Bible. But in the book of Jeremiah, leading up to that, God is constantly warning the people, and Jeremiah is weeping over and over again at the fact that people aren't listening to him, and they're going to be destroyed, they're going to be doomed. And Jeremiah, for that reason, is known as the weeping prophet, also because he is the author of the book of Lamentations. And so he says, oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. He's saying that he has so much emotion about the doom of his people that he literally can't cry enough tears to match the emotion that he feels. Now, this should be an example for us that we should actually care about the fact that our country is going down the toilet. We should actually care about the fact that so many people around us are doomed. And if we really loved people, we would shed a tear for this nation and shed a tear. Because when we study the book of Jeremiah, we find that the United States is in the exact same situation that the land of Judah was in, where they had been a nation that feared God in the past, they had loved the Lord, they had done great things for God, but now they had completely turned from God, and they were a nation that was filled with wickedness. That's the exact story of the United States in 2016. Now look what he says in verse 2. Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people and go from them, for they all be adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. Now at the beginning of some of the chapters in Jeremiah, God will show us the human side of Jeremiah a little bit. Like for example, a few chapters later in chapter 12, he doubts God at the beginning of the chapter, and he starts saying to God, you know, man, why are the wicked prospering and why am I suffering? And it gives us some insight into the fact that Jeremiah was human, just like the rest of us. Well here, we see that in verse 1, he really loves the people, he's weeping, he's sad for them, but then at the same time, there's a part of him in verse 2 that actually just wants to get away from these people because they're so sinful. And in his heart, there's a part of him that just wants to go out in the middle of nowhere and just get away from all the sin and all the junk and just live a peaceful life out in the wilderness somewhere. See Jeremiah was a man of strife and contention because he was said to preach a very unpopular message. He's preaching negative sermons to a nation that's about to be destroyed. People are calling him a traitor because he's saying, the enemy's going to defeat you, you're going to lose. And then they say, well you're strengthening the hand of the enemy, you're comforting and aiding and abetting the enemy. Why aren't you on our side? And he's saying, it's not that I'm not on your side, it's just that God has already revealed that you're going to be destroyed. And then they're putting him in prison and all that, all throughout the book. He's being persecuted, he's constantly fighting, and you know what? In his heart, there's a part of him that just wants to go out and get a cabin in the woods somewhere and just get away from it all and just live a godly, peaceful life. But you know what? That's not what God called him to do. And I'm finding a trend in 2016, and people always get offended when I say this, but honestly this is what I believe is right from studying the word of God. I do not believe that God wants us to forsake the cities of America and go out in the country and hunker down on some piece of property where we can go off grid and all this stuff. And look, there's a part of me that wants to do it. There's a part of me where that would sound great to just go live out in some cabin somewhere, some peaceful place, get away from it all and strategically relocate myself out to the middle of nowhere and get away from the sin and the garbage and the junk. But honestly, I don't believe it's right. I believe that God wants us here in the city preaching the gospel to the lost. Now if you would go to John chapter 17, and again there are a lot of people who disagree with that and they're offended by that because it's the people that need to hear it basically. The people who want to just let our country go to hell, let four million people in Maricopa County go to hell so that they can go out and live their little house on the prairie dream or whatever. But honestly, is that really what life's about? Is it really about having this wonderful homestead for yourself and your family and separating yourself from society? Look what Jesus said in John chapter 17. And Jesus was preaching to what he referred to as an evil and adulterous generation. And look what he says in verse number 14 as he prays unto the Father, I have given them thy word and the world hath hated them because they're not of the world. Even as I am not of the world, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They're not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. Now sanctify means set apart, make holy. So what God is saying here is that he wants us to be in the world, but not of the world. He says they're not of the world, the world has hated them. I've given them the word of God, and that sets them apart from everyone around them. And the world even hates them. But he said I'm not praying that they be taken out of the world, but that they would just be kept from the evil, that God would protect them as they're in the world. Why are they in the world in the first place? Because Jesus says in John 17 here, where he's praying to the Father, he says that he's not just praying for them, but he's praying for those who will believe through their word. So the whole purpose of us being in the world, but not of the world, is that we would reach people. And guess where the people are? In the city. And here we are in Phoenix, Arizona, where the fields are white unto harvest. We just walked in the door. The reason we're sweating and walked in the door with church invites is because we were just out soul winning. We were just out knocking doors in Phoenix, Arizona, and let me tell you something, there's a virtually unlimited number of doors to knock. I mean, it's just 3.8 million people just in our county. In the greater Phoenix area, what I consider our mission field, there are about 4 million people. And so, yeah, we could go out and honker down somewhere or move out to, you know, Podunk Haller. But I chose to move to this city for a reason. And I chose to move here because I wanted to go to a mission field where there would be millions of people to reach with the Gospel. And a lot of people will say, well, what do you mean? We can't win souls in a small town? Yeah, but here's the thing. When you go to some small town with 500 people in it, it's not going to take long until you've preached the Gospel to all 500 people. And listen, if you're really going to go to that small town and you're going to give the Gospel to every one of those people and you're going to make day trips to the surrounding areas and you're going to reach that county, great. And I'm not against living out in the country. But somebody's got to be in the city here doing the big job. And yeah, we need the small towns to be reached as well. But you know, most of these people who say, oh, well, are you saying the small towns don't need the Gospel? They go and honker down in their bunker and they're not doing the soul winning. Because here's what they'll say when they get there, oh, the houses are too far apart. You've heard it. I've heard it. Oh, the houses are too far apart. Oh, it's a different culture here. It's not like in Phoenix where you just go through the housing tracks and then come back to Phoenix then. You know what I mean? Because honestly, I don't know about you, but I believe that my life on this earth is to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And I want to live in a place where I can do that the most effectively. It's funny, my uncle, he used to play a guitar and write songs. And he would write Christian songs. And I remember the one song that stood out to me, because he'd play songs on his guitar. And he sang a song about how he lived out in the country, but he kept looking and seeing that city of souls. And he wanted to just enjoy the country with his family, but he said, I have to go to the city and win the lost. People try to say, well, but you can't raise your kids in the city because it's too wicked. There's too much sin. But here's the thing though. It was wicked in John 17, and he still didn't want to take them out of the world. He wanted them there being salt and light in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom we shine as lights in the world. That's what the Bible says. And if you disagree, fine, disagree, but that's what I believe. That's where my heart is to live in the city. And look, if it got to where it was just a complete Sodom and Gomorrah, yeah, then I'll leave too. But it's not even close to being to that level yet. So I'm still here in it for the long haul. I want to die here and preach the gospel to every creature, because that's what my life is about. I hope that's what your life is about, that you don't want to just take care of yourself, but that you care about reaching other people. Go back to Jeremiah chapter 9. So Jeremiah, he's human. He wants to go honker down. He wants to go live out in the woods somewhere. But he's going to stay in Jerusalem because that's where the people are that he's preaching to. That's where the soul winning is. That's where God has called him to be. So it's something to think about there, to understand that even though that's an urge that we have, Jeremiah stayed and God wanted him to stay and commanded him to stay. Now look at verse 3. He's talking about the wickedness of the people amongst whom he ministers. It says in verse 3 of Jeremiah 9, and they bend their tongues like their bow for lies. But they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth. And this is a common theme in the Bible where the tongue of the lying false accuser is likened unto a bow and arrow. Where it says, for example, in Psalm 11, in the Lord put I my trust, how say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain. That's kind of like what we're talking about here, fleeing off to the mountains, going to that cabin where Jeremiah wants to be. In the Lord put I my trust, how say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain, for lo, the wicked bend their bow. They make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. So it's amazing how Psalm 11 and Jeremiah 9 really fit together perfectly in their subject matter. So he's talking about the people around him, they're lying about him, they're deceiving, they're false accusers. He says they proceed, halfway through verse 3, from evil to evil. And they know not me, saith the Lord. Take ye heed, every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother, for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders, and they will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thy inhabitation is in the midst of deceit. Through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord. Now this reminds me of Matthew chapter 10, if you would turn there. We're going to go to Matthew 10 and then we're going to look at Luke 12, two very similar scriptures. But here in Jeremiah 9 he said, you know, don't even trust your brother, don't even trust your neighbor because there's so many deceivers out there, so many liars. Well Jesus talked about this same thing. In Matthew chapter 10 he talked about, especially in the last days, and we could cross reference this with Matthew 24, but especially in the last days it says, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, and it talks about how the brother would deliver the brother up to death, and the father the child, and the children would rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death in the last days because of the treachery of even people's own family. Look what it says in Matthew 10 verse 34, Jesus speaking, think not that I have come to send peace on earth, I came not to send peace but a sword, for I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. Flip over to Luke 21. Now when Jesus said he came to bring a sword, he's not talking about a literal sword. He did not preach violence or bring violence. He's talking about the sword of the word of God, and he's saying that that word of God that's preached that's sharper than any two-edged sword would even divide brother against brother, would even divide the parent against the child, and that's why he says if you love your father or mother or child more than you love Jesus, you're not worthy of Jesus. He's not saying you're not saved. All you have to do to be saved is just believe in Jesus, but what he's saying there is that in order to be found worthy of him, in order to be a true disciple, which is different than just being saved, you know, there are lots of people that are saved that are not following Christ with their life, that are not a disciple, because if you had to, you know, do all the works and everything, none of us would be saved. You know, we are all disobedient to varying degrees. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God, but we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and so if you truly want to be found a worthy servant of Christ, he has to be number one, and sometimes that means choosing him over family, choosing him over a brother, choosing him over a parent, choosing him over a child. That's what the Bible says, and, you know, that decision should be a no-brainer when the time comes of which side you're going to come down on. Are you going to forsake Christ in order to stay loyal to family, or vice versa? That's what the Bible is saying here. Look at Luke chapter 12, verse 51, suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house, divided, three against two and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And that was probably going to happen anyway, but at least now there's a tangible reason for it. But anyway, the point is that, you know, God's telling us you can't always just fully put your trust in people, even if they're your physical brother or sister, or even if they're a brother or sister in Christ. We could even expand it to that. The Bible is saying here that there are people that are going to deal treacherously, that are going to deceive you, that are going to lie to you. We need to be on our guard, and the Bible says it's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. So we need to beware. A lot of people have this attitude where they come to church and they think anyone at church is trustworthy. Because I met them at church, I mean, of course I can trust them with thousands of dollars, or of course I can send my kids over to their house for a sleepover. I mean, they're church people. But there are Judas Iscariots that creep in. There are wolves among the sheep, and the Bible tells us that they shall be among you. Not that they might be among you, but that there will be these spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. He talks about crept in unawares. These people bring in both damnable heresy and also they seek to corrupt unstable souls. They find the new believers and corrupt them. Or even worse, they'll find children and corrupt them. And this is why we need to be sober and vigilant, especially in 2016, with all the perversion and all the deviance and freaks and pedophiles that are out there. And let me tell you something, they come into churches. Because they look at a church as like a place where they can really thrive because everybody's so trusting. Not here. Because that's why we don't have children's ministries where we expect you to drop your kid off with strangers. Oh yeah, your little five year old goes to that building over there. Because we're living in perilous times. God warned us that perilous times would come. And we've all heard all the stories about all the weirdos and people that have crept into churches and it's very dangerous. That's why we need to watch our children and we need to keep our children safe. And just because somebody's from church, we don't just blindly trust that person. It's very foolish. I've had people try to talk me into dropping my kids off with strangers that I'd never even met. But they go to our church. They've gone here for years. No way. My children are more valuable to me than anything in this world. And so I'm not going to drop them off with people that I don't even know. I'm not even going to drop my little kids with people that I even do know. I would only put them with my closest family that I have total trust in. And I would not just leave them with anyone. Even close friends I wouldn't want to leave them with. When they're little, when they're young, especially the girls. But the boys, up until they hit puberty and get to where they can fend for themselves, we've got to guard them. We've got to protect them. We've got to keep them safe. And maybe you say, well, but when I grew up, we always had all these children's ministries and busmen and everything was fine. But here's the thing. We're living in different times than when you grew up. This is 2016. And you say, well, the older preachers don't agree with you. Well, you know what? They grew up in a whole different generation. And I'm telling you, and it probably wasn't even safe then either. But I'm telling you right now, these people are multiplying at insane rates in the United States. They have no natural predators. So they're like a bacteria that is just growing exponentially. And so we have all these homos, and look, these homos are pedophiles. I mean, that's a whole other sermon. It's a fact. And they're in churches. And as I demonstrated Sunday morning, churches are even inviting them in. So we need to be on our guard. We need to be careful. Jeremiah says, look, take heed everyone. If you look down at your Bible there in verse 4 of Jeremiah 9. Take heed every one of his neighbor and trust ye not in any brother. For every brother will utterly supplant and every neighbor will walk with slanders. But people today will tell you that you're unspiritual if you're untrusting. Oh, you don't trust the people at church? Well, you're unspiritual. Why don't you just trust the Lord and just drop your kid off with strangers? Well the same reason I wouldn't just trust the Lord and drop my kid off in the middle of the woods. Or trust the Lord and, you know, drop him off in the middle of a lake. Tell him to swim to the edge. You know. No, God has commanded us not to trust our neighbor and not to trust any brother. But to be sober and to be vigilant and to be watchful and to keep our children and our families safe. And not to just blindly trust. The Bible says trust God. Trust the Lord. But don't just blindly trust. I don't want people to trust me. I don't want somebody here to watch my kid, no. I don't want to watch your kid. And look, I know that I'm a perfectly safe person to leave your kids with. But you know what, I don't want anybody to leave their kids with me because then if they leave their kids with me, then they're going to want to leave them with somebody else who's not safe. Because they're just leaving them with this person or that, you know. So I want to teach people, no, you don't just turn your kids over to other people. Guard them. Protect them. Watch them like a hawk. It's not unspiritual to question your fellow man. It's unspiritual to question the Lord. You want to have total trust in the Lord. But that doesn't mean we trust all of, even of the brethren, quote unquote. Because they're a false brethren, the Bible tells us. Let's keep reading here in Jeremiah chapter 9. Therefore, verse 7, Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them and try them. For how shall I do for the daughter of my people? Their tongue is as an arrow shot out. It speaketh deceit. None speaketh peacefully to his neighbor with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his weight. So again, verses 3 through 8 there are just going on and on about how deceptive these people are and how you've got to watch out for these people. And even though they were known as God's people in Judah, they weren't trustworthy. Look at verse number 9. Shall I not visit them for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing. And for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up so that none can pass through them, neither can men hear the voice of the cattle. Both the fowl of the heavens and beasts are fled, they are gone. And I will make Jerusalem heaps and a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate without an inhabitant. Who is the wise man that may understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken that he may declare it? For what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness that none passeth through? And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walk therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them. So he's just, again, just talking about the utter destruction that's going to come to Jerusalem where the hills are going to be on fire. And it's going to be a habitation of dragons. What's he talking about there? Well, what he's referring to is wild animals. You know, when a lot of people leave an area, the animals move in. You know, you don't really think about this, but if you move into a house that hasn't been indwelled in maybe nine or ten months, there will be all kinds of bugs and animals that have just taken residency in that house. I even saw a news article about parts of Detroit that were just run down and vacant, and the animals had moved in, and they were starting to have just a problem with just wild animals walking down the street, because animals would come in. And the Bible talks about that, how they would come in and take over land, and he talks about how he would give them the land little by little so that they could kind of kick the animals out and everything, because when man doesn't dwell there, the animals take over. And he said, you know, the dragons there, you know, we're obviously not talking about something that's, you know, a fire-breathing, flying, you know, medieval villain. What we're talking about is various types of reptiles and lizards that are known as dragons that live in the desert. Basically we're talking about desert creatures of whatever the size that are referred to as dragons, okay. Now a dragon, possibly there could have been great reptiles, well we know that there were great reptiles in the past known as dinosaurs, and the word dinosaur was not invented until the 1800s. So when the Bible talks about dragons, you know, it's talking about various reptiles, and in fact a dragon could be a huge reptile in certain cases known as a dinosaur. I don't believe that's the case here, but in other places, because a dragon is just sort of a generic word for certain types of reptiles. Even today we have animals known as what? The Komodo dragon, is there another one? Bearded dragon, what else? That's it? All right. The bearded and the Komodo, all right, there we go. So you know, dragons. So the point that he's making is that this is going to become such a wasteland, so many people are going to be killed or taken into captivity, that there's going to be so much vacancy there that the animals are going to move in. It's going to be that empty. It's going to be that desolate. And of course we know 70 years later they're going to come back and rebuild, but it's going to be desolate there for a while. He said Jerusalem is going to be heaps and it's going to be a dwelling of dragons. Heaps are piles. It's going to be piles of rubble. And that's truly what happened. I mean the temple was destroyed, the walls were destroyed, they had to completely rebuild when they come back 70 years later, which was a miraculous thing. Let's keep reading. It talks about in verse 14, but they've walked after the imagination of their own heart and after Baalim. Now we all know what Baal is, B-A-A-L, and that is the false god that a lot of the people in Canaan would worship, and the children of Israel when they would turn away from God they would turn unto Baal. And Baal is also known as Baal-Zebub in the Old Testament. And then in the New Testament it's one word, Beelzebub. So there's Baal-Zebub and then there are other variations on that name, Baal. Also Bel, B-E-L. Also Belial, B-E-L-I-A-L. But this variation, Baalim, has to do with the fact that the I-M ending, the Hebrew ending I-M is a plural ending. That's why you have the cherub singular, but cherubims with the I-M there. Or the seraph, and these are English words of course, the English word seraph, English plural seraphims. So it adds the I-M and an S there. But when they go after Baalim, this would be basically putting that plural ending on the end of Baal's name, like it could be various Baals or different varieties of Baal. Multiple Baals would be Baalim. So that's who they're going after, false gods, as their fathers had taught them. Look at verse 15. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them till I have consumed them. So he's saying, they're going to be killed, and then they're going to go captive, and then among the captives, he'll send a sword after them to kill even more of them while they're in captivity. I mean, this is major judgment. And keep in mind, Jeremiah's preaching this before it happened. And as we go forward in the book of Jeremiah, there are all kinds of preachers who are saying, you're too negative. You're preaching lies. They get him thrown in prison. They get him in trouble with the king, because he's preaching all this doom and gloom and destruction before it comes to pass. You know, we look back at this, and we know that this all happened, but it's a little harder for Jeremiah to preach this, because he's having to preach it by faith. He's never seen any of this. And the people around him don't want to hear this message. Just like today, if you preach a sermon about the destruction of America, the doom of America, the sins of the USA, people would get really upset. They'd say you're not being patriotic enough or something like that. But it's the word of God. And our country is not more righteous than Judah. You know, we're going down that same road. There's nothing new under the sun. We're doing all the same things. Let's keep reading. It says in verse 17, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider ye and call for the mourning women that they may come and send for cunning women that they may come and let them make haste and take up a wailing for us that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters. He's saying, you know, we need to get some really skillful singers that can actually, you know, make us sad so that we can actually cry about what's happening. What he's trying to say is, you know, people had a hardened heart. He's trying to get through to people and it's like they don't care. He wants them to be sad. He wants them to weep. But they're just laughing and eating and drinking and being merry and hey, who cares that our country has turned away from the Lord? Who cares that we've gone after Balaam? Who cares about the murder and the abominations and the whoredoms? And Jeremiah is begging them to weep. The Bible says in James, the same type of thing, when it says, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. He says, be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. God calls us to weep over sin. But we're told to be happy all the time. No, there's a time to rejoice and there's a time to mourn. And we don't need to always be happy and rejoicing all the time. There's a time to be sorry and weep. But we're told that if we are sad, we need to take pills to fix that because we should just be happy all the time. You know, I remember the song we used to sing when we were kids. I'm in right out, right up, right down, right happy all the time. So I remember I won a guy to the Lord at my work and this guy was unchurched. And he heard that song at church, the in right, out right, up right, down right, happy all the time. And he said, he said, that sounds like somebody's on drugs or something, this is where they're just happy all the time. He said, that's not normal. You know, this was just an unchurched guy saying, hey, that's not normal. You're not going to be happy all the time. I'm like, yeah, you got a good point about that song. You know, we're not happy all the time. Now look, I'm happy most of the time. I believe that the joy of the Lord is our strength. And look, I believe that we should rejoice every day because the Bible says, this is the day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. I'm not trying to rain on your parade and tell you to be gloomy on a daily basis. I don't believe that. I'm happy. I'm on the winning side. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. But there is a time to get angry. And there's a time to be sad and weep and mourn. And we have lost that today in Christianity where we think it's just all happy, joy, positive, the Joel Osteen style Christianity and it's not biblical. And then a guy gets mad in the pulpit and screams about sin and they say, oh, he's not filled with the Spirit. That guy's walking in the flesh. Oh wait a minute, what about when Saul was filled with the Spirit and hacked up a couple of cows? What about that story? The Bible says the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he started hacking up the cows. Tell that to Peeta. Put that in your animal-loving pipe and smoke it. What about when Jesus was filled with the Spirit and drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip? But the Bible is so clear in Saul's case where the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he was filled with anger. Why? Because there is a righteous anger. Now, most of our anger is unrighteous because we get angry over dumb things, we get angry over selfish things, we get angry over petty things or we're quick to anger. The Bible tells us to be slow to anger. But there is a time to be angry with a righteous indignation against sin. And there is a time to be sorry and to mourn and weep. And listen, if you have a loved one that dies, there's a time to mourn there. I knew a lady who had one only son and he drowned. And after two and a half weeks they were trying to put her on antidepressants. You know, you need to get over it. I mean your only son died a couple of weeks ago, you're probably still going to be sad. That's normal. You go through a grieving process. But we don't mourn like those who have no hope. So we are supposed to pick up and move on, you know, at some point. But people go through things where they should be sad. And look, when we see our country going down the toilet, how can we just be happy about it or have no emotion? There should be tears. I've shed tears for our nation. We ought to shed tears for America. And we ought to get angry at the people who are destroying America. These are normal emotions. But today we're told that we have to suppress normal feelings and normal emotions. They're taking away part of our humanity and trying to turn us into some kind of an automaton or some kind of a drone that never feels any anger or sadness. I mean to the point, seriously, I'm not kidding. I mean to the point where, you know, they tell you, oh, hate is wrong. Everybody has hate. That's part of who we are. I mean, look, God has hatred as part of his character. God is love, but yet there's a lot of talk in the Bible about both people and things that the Lord hates. So we can't just ignore that aspect of God's character. We can't ignore that aspect of our own character. Now should we hate our brother without a cause? No. Should we hate our brother and sister in Christ? Should we? No. But look, there is a holy hatred. And there is a time to hate. The Bible says Ecclesiastes, a time to love and a time to hate. But we're just told, oh, that's hate speech. And I'm like, yeah, your point. Some of the things I say are hate speech. But they're, oh, but it's hate. And the sat, look, I would expect that from a bunch of Gaethius and Phagnostics. But the thing that, the thing that surprised me though is that now Christians are saying that. Like, and it'll be, it won't even be anything hateful. And sometimes I'm like, I want to say to people like, you know, there are times when I am hateful, but this isn't one of them. You know, like, what are you talking about? Like I'll get up and preach something that has nothing to do with hate at all. And it's just like, you're hateful or I'll preach like, hey, women should stay home with their kids. You know, that's hate speech like what? Like it doesn't even, you can't even figure out where these people are coming from. Now sometimes when I'm accused of hate speech, I'm just like, well, guilty as charged. But a lot of times it's like, whoa, nine times out of 10, it's not, I'm not even hating. I'm like, I'll tell you when I'm hating. You won't have to like pin me down, I'll admit it when I'm, when I'm hating on something or someone. But they want to strip parts of our natural, normal human emotions to where it's wrong to be angry, it's wrong to hate, it's wrong to be sad, and you know, these are normal parts of our character. And then they want to remove them from God, where God is just only love and he's only happy and he's only positive. No, God's angry with the wicked every day. But then elsewhere the Bible says he's slow to anger and of great mercy and long suffering. Get the balance in your own life and get the balance when you study the Word of God. Don't try to just simplify God to a positive only God. If you're one of these positive only people, do me a favor and just next time you're coming to church, when you're about to get in the car and you're like, alright kids, get in the car, let's go to church, just remove the negative battery cable and see if you make it to church. Because you have to have both. Hey, I'm running a positive only vehicle here. It's not even, you're not even going to get the thing started. But this is the mentality we have today. So we have a lot of churches today, they're not even starting up. You know, the lights are coming on but nothing's there, the lights aren't even on. I mean, you're trying to turn the thing and nothing's happening and they're like, whoa, why aren't we getting anywhere? Why aren't lives being changed? Why aren't we making a difference in our community? Because you're positive only. Let's get an alternating current going. Or at least if you're going to have DC, you know, you need to have both positive and negative terminal connected. Let's go down, if we would, in Jeremiah chapter 9 here. He's talking about the morning, verse 19, for a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion. How are we spoiled? We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land because our dwellings have cast us out. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth and teach your daughters wailing and everyone her neighbor lamentation. For death has come up into our windows and has entered into our palaces to cut off the children from without and the young men from the streets. Speak, thus saith the Lord, even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung upon the open field. And as the handful after the harvestmen and none shall gather them, thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me and that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Now there's a similar statement in the New Testament where he says, him that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Here he's a little more specific. Let him glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. You know, if you know the Lord and you know that he exercises not just loving kindness only but he exercises loving kindness, judgment. What's judgment? Is that good or bad? When God's judgment comes down on you, that's bad. Yeah, he executes loving kindness and judgment. That's something to be proud of if you actually are one of the people that understands that. See, glorying in something means to be proud of, right, or to boast in something. And he says, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. So if somebody's smart, they shouldn't go around being proud and puffed up and thinking that they're so wonderful because, hey, I'm so much smarter than everybody else. And there are people who are smart that are like that, right? They talked about the mighty man. And you know that men that are very strong because, you know, they spend time in the gym and they're all buffed and everything, a lot of times they glory in that, don't they? You know, they wear the muscle shirt and they kind of just have to stretch every once in a while. I'm just stretching, you know. And they, you know, want to show off their muscles and glorify their strength. And we know that the rich are like that too, right? He said, let not the rich man glory in his riches. There are people that are wealthy. It's not even that they like that car that much, it's just that they want to show off the car, show off that. It's called conspicuous consumption, when people buy things just to show them off, just to impress people, just to show everybody how much money I have. He's saying, you know what, life's not about being the smartest person, although wisdom is a great thing to have, it's very important. But we shouldn't be proud of that and be arrogant about that. Life's not just about getting stronger, although the Bible does say a wise man is strong, yea a man of understanding increases strength. You know, life's not about riches, the Bible says they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after they've earned from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. No, greater than having wisdom, greater than having riches, greater than having physical strength and might or even metaphorical power, greater than all that is to know the Lord, to know him and to understand his workings in this world, to understand the word of God. That is the greatest pursuit of our lives. He says in verse 25, and this is key, I wanted to spend a little time in the closing minutes of the sermon here on these last two verses. This is key doctrine here. It says in verse 25, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised, Egypt and Judah and Edom and the children of Ammon and Moab and all that are in the utmost corners that dwell in the wilderness for all these nations are uncircumcised and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. Now what's God saying here? God is saying here that just because you're circumcised or just because you're Jewish or just because you're of the people of Israel does not exempt you from the wrath of God. He's saying the day is going to come, I'm going to punish the uncircumcised with the circumcised. They're both going to be punished together. Why? Because all of these Gentile nations are uncircumcised, keep in mind this is the Old Testament. And he said the children of Israel are all uncircumcised in heart. Now today we could say the exact same thing. If we were to look over at the nation of Israel today over there in the Middle East, they are uncircumcised in heart. And it means nothing, if you would go to Romans chapter 2, it means nothing the fact that they've been physically circumcised. He says, I will destroy them both. Why? Because they're uncircumcised in heart. Now in the New Testament the Bible goes even further and says, look, circumcision does not profit anything. We don't practice circumcision in the New Testament. He says that I didn't compel Titus to be circumcised, Paul said, and he pointed a false brother and crept in unawares trying to get everybody circumcised. He said, in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything but a new creature, but faith which worketh by love. So it's faith in Christ, it's being a new creature. That is what makes us God's people in the New Testament. We don't practice circumcision in the New Testament. But even in the Old Testament amongst the children of Israel where circumcision was commanded, he said, if you're circumcised but you're not circumcised in your heart, your fate will be identical to that of the uncircumcised. Look if you would at Romans chapter 2 verse 28, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God. Now this scripture couldn't be any clearer, but yet probably 90 some percent of my independent fundamental Baptist brethren would disagree with what's being preached right now, even though I'm just reading it directly from the Bible here. But the Bible clearly says he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. But yet that phrase, as simple as it is, goes right over the head. And listen, I'll admit it, for many, many years this verse went over my head. And I literally memorized this entire chapter and it still went over my head. I had Romans 2 memorized before I understood this. And you say, how could you read this hundreds of times in order to memorize it? How could you memorize the whole chapter? Because the whole chapter is building up to that climax. That point is being made throughout chapter 2. Not to mention all the other verses that are like on 2 Romans 2, 28 and 29. The first New Testament chapter that I ever memorized was Philippians chapter 3. When I was a teenager on a church camp, I memorized Philippians chapter 3 to win a prize. And it said right in the chapter, for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. He's talking to a bunch of Philippians, he's talking to Gentiles and saying, we're the circumcision because we believe in Christ. We are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. And it's funny how I just heard these scriptures. But you're so brainwashed today because the media is Zionist. And the TV preachers are all Zionists. And the churches are pastored by people who come from Bible colleges that ingrain this. And it was ingrained in me. And it was six months after I started this church, it was about ten years ago. And you say, well, when did it finally click with you? I was preaching a sermon. And I started to say something along the lines of, well, you know, that land belongs to them, they're the chosen people and blah, blah, blah. And as it was coming out of my mouth, I literally just started to say it and I thought to myself, am I about to say this because it's true or because it's just something I've heard my whole life and I'm just repeating it? Because we tend to repeat things. I mean, the Bible says we cannot help but speak the things that we've seen and heard. And so when you hear something over, so I started to just say it because it was just I'd heard so many preachers say it. And just right then something just told me that isn't right, I don't think that's right. And I went home and I read the whole Bible two times cover to cover, not in one sitting now, but over the next six months I read the Bible two times cover to cover just trying to understand this subject and it was just so clear. It was so crystal clear. Once I opened my mind to, wait a minute, maybe that's not true. And I read it twice and then I preached after the six months because I don't want to just go off half cocked and start preaching something until I know I'm right. So I read through the Bible cover to cover twice just looking for this one thing and then I got up and preached the truth on this subject. And people, they can't see it but it's right there my friend, it's right in your lap in your Bible. It's right there. What does it say? He is not a Jew which is one outwardly. That means that when we get on the airplane and we see the guy with the yarmulke on the back of his head, that guy's not a Jew. And somebody can say, oh he's a Jew. No he's not. No he's not. Because the Bible says he, and you almost have to break it down word by word, he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. So I want to just like, I wish I just brought a big picture so like, not a Jew. Show the guy with the black hat and the fringes and the real thick glasses and everything, you know like, not a Jew, right? And then show a Bible-believing Christian and say, this is a Jew. Actually just hold up a mirror to you. The one who's a Jew inwardly, look, are we not the circumcision if we worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh? If you say that we're not the circumcision then you're making God a liar because God said we are circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. But John Hagee wants to come to us tonight and tell you, no you're not the circumcision. No you're not. Let me check your flesh. Get your hands off me. That's not relevant. The Bible says that I am circumcised in the spirit and that's the only one that matters in the New Testament. And not only that, but I'm a Jew because I'm one inwardly. But here we have crystal clear scripture that some people just don't want to. And here's the thing, I never rejected this teaching because nobody ever told me. Nobody ever explained it to me like I'm explaining it to you now. That David Lee Roth is not God's chosen people. Nobody ever told me that Captain Kirk and Spock were not Jews. No one ever told me that Larry Curley and Moe were actually not Jews. No one ever told me that Adam Sandler and Jeff Goldblum and Steven Spielberg were not Jews. I was told my whole life that they were Jews. I was told my whole life that they're God's chosen people. And that God would bless those who bless them and curse those who curse them. Nobody ever told me this. I actually had to figure it out on my own so it took me way too long to figure it out. But I can't understand how somebody can explain this to you right now and you can say, I still think they're God's chosen people. I still think that Richard Dreyfus is Jewish. You know, I still think that, you know, help me out, who are some other, yeah, I still think Jerry Seinfeld's a Jew. I just still think that. Well, you know what, you didn't get that from the Bible. That's not what the Bible says. And not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Bible's real clear on this. God will destroy the circumcised and the uncircumcised together. It's believing on Christ that gets the blessing of God on your life. That's what makes you elect. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifieth. See, it's being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus that makes you chosen. Otherwise, those people over there in the so-called nation of Israel that reject our Lord Jesus Christ and spit three times when they hear his name, those people might as well be Moab, according to Jeremiah 9. Even in the old covenant they'd be considered Moab if they're worshiping another God. And if you don't have the son, you don't have the father. So even under the old covenant they're considered like unto the heathen because they're uncircumcised. How much more in the new covenant when circumcision does not profit at all under the new covenant? And the New Testament. Oh, it's heresy. No, you're the heretic. Calling unsaved people God's people. What kind of a crazy doctrine is that? And look, we all believed in it in time past, or a lot of us, because we were brainwashed, but you know what? You don't have an excuse after somebody explains it to you, though. Well, God's blessing Israel. What? I thought God's wrath abides on you if you don't believe on the son. Well, except in this case. It's the land. Yeah, even a toddler is laughing about that. Anyway, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for this great chapter, Jeremiah chapter 9, Lord. And please help us to heed the warnings in the chapter, Lord. The warnings about how sometimes even family or friends or fellow church members can do us dirty, Lord. We need to be careful and not just blindly trust the people around us, Lord. We need to have all our confidence in you and to be sober and vigilant in these perilous times, Lord. Also, Lord, just the warning of how Judah was destroyed and how America is going down that same path, Lord. Help us to cry aloud and spare not and preach the truth in the midst of this crooked and perverse nation, Lord. Help us not to go honkering down like Jeremiah was tempted to do, Lord. Help us to stay right here where the battle is, on the front lines. And help us to do our best to reach as many people with the gospel of Jesus Christ we possibly can, Lord, including the non-believing, Christ-rejecting, so-called Jews, Lord. They need to be saved through your Son, Lord, so help us preach to them also and not to just think that they have a free pass. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.