(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you good amen all right thank you for the update there see where do I have him oh down at the bottom there yeah last one Braden Paris so so he's healed up so really thankful for that I know that's a that is not fun to deal with at all you know sometimes you have tooth pain man it's just could be debilitating so excellent anyone have any other new any other updates very good very good all right pray for spring crest Baptist Church that's Pastor Reyes who's here on Thursday last week at our at our fundamentals conference so pray for him and his church and the work that they're doing down in Houston as well as the other church plant of course is that the pure words Baptist Church not Church plant I guess they've been around for a while now but that's getting there I mean we're a church plant but now they're going fully independent so just pray that God does a great work in Houston you got two good churches there for people to attend and a lot of laborers or anything I'm sure they need more but two good solid churches to have in that area is definitely a blessing so pray for their ministries on the next page we got the results from the fundamentalist conference from the soul winning on Saturday great turnout 85 soul winners with 43 salvation so it was a really really good really great event appreciate everyone I put in all the work for that and came out and supported all that we're doing here September challenge is to attend church three times a week for the entire month and I just stated I think it was Sunday night normally I was I don't I don't give prizes for this one I think this is I think this should just be the standard the minimum not an actual challenge but I hadn't considered when I when I made this challenge that we will I will give prizes if you go four times a week so if you go to church four times a week and one of those could be in Greenville on Thursday night and that is a challenge so I like having something to say hey there's there's a little bit of a challenge here so if you want to take on that challenge then I encourage you to do so but the the main objective and the main goal of this is really to try to target people who don't already have a schedule of coming to church to all the church services and to try it out and to see you know the benefit I wholeheartedly believe in a benefit of coming to all the churches you know the church services I met all the church services you know I put forth work and effort into each one of these services so I do that for not just my benefit but for yours as well of course I do get a benefit from preparing sermons and things like that I love this job but I do also want to edify and help teach and help everybody here at church to grow so you know if you have an opportunity to be here then this is this is the month to push yourself if you're not normally coming three times a week all right enough about that men's preaching class is September 7 so it's one week from Saturday this this weekend is Labor Day weekend I don't know if people got plans or whatever but we're actually getting a little bit of a break from stuff going on here but then the following Saturday is that preaching class and that's gonna meet here at 10 is there gonna be any updates on that soul winning on Saturday are you all modifying that time are you starting from here are you okay yeah and that's totally your call on what you want to do it doesn't it to me it doesn't matter people will go to do whatever they want to do if you if you if I schedule something that's kind of a conflict unless it's like a soul winning marathon right I kind of want everyone coming together for the marathons on Saturdays as opposed to having separate meetup times but if it's like it's just another soul winning event but if it's other things that I have scheduled preaching class or we just do some other activity or something like that you just so anyone who knows who runs the soul winning time you're free to continue your soul winning time as scheduled but if you're not going to keep it as scheduled just let me know so I could let everybody know and we'll keep everybody informed on what the on what the plan is for that so here and yeah yeah yeah I mean that makes perfect sense that's great no problem but y'all are running it so whatever you determine for that you you just go ahead and make the decision and then just just let me know it's either way it's not a problem so very good let's see men's preaching class Bible memory passage there we're getting close to the halfway point but pretty much at the halfway point here for Hebrews chapter 12 and you'll get a prize if you could quote this passage word perfect we've got the upcoming birthdays and anniversaries there Keith has a birthday today yeah he ducked out yeah we'll see but happy birthday to Keith if you're listening and let's see I don't I don't think there's a whole lot else to to go over I've got a lot surprises so I'm gonna I'm gonna do my best to go over the stuff that we had previously if you if you don't want to raise your hand and say things publicly about the prizes that are owed but you you're pretty confident and what and what it is and here's what I have so far I've got the the digital detox challenge the visitor challenge the soul winning challenge all require prizes to give I have Hebrews chapter 11 a and B I'll call it okay and I what I decided to do is if you did if you did a and B I'm not gonna give three prizes for doing all of it but your your your B prize will be bigger than just if someone only did half of the chapter right but you did that half plus the other half and you and you did you quoted the whole chapter then I will give you I'll give you a bigger prize than you would normally have gotten for the so it's kind of like an extra prize okay I've got I'm all I've got the prizes all valued right there's there's different values of prizes so we'll do that and I think I think that is all I owe for so if you know that I you say passive versions no you missed a challenge or you missed maybe Hebrews 10 I think I think I gave our prize for that but I'm not 100% certain about that so either way if you know that let me know I want to be fair I want to make sure I get everything distributed appropriately so just just let me know if that's the case and we will give out all those prizes on Sunday all right very good I'm gonna turn the service back over to brother will can you please lead us our next song Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh all right again that is Jeremiah chapter 8 the Bible reads at that time said the Lord they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves and they shall spread them before the Sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven whom they have loved and whom they have served and after whom they have walked and whom they have sought and whom they have worshipped they shall not be gathered nor be buried they shall be foredone upon the face of the earth and death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family which are which remain in all the places whether I have driven them set the Lord of hosts moreover thou shalt say unto them thus saith the Lord shall they fall and not arise shall he turn away and not return why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding they hold fast deceit they refuse to return I hearkened and heard but they spake not a right no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done everyone turned to his course as the horse rush it into battle yay the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming but my people know not the judgment of the Lord how do you say we are wise and the law of the Lord is with us low certainly in vain made he it the pen of the scribes is in vain the wise men are ashamed they are dismayed and taken lo they ever they have rejected the word of the Lord and what wisdom is it and skin and what wisdom is in them therefore I will give their wives unto others and their fields to them that shall inherit them for everyone from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness from the Prophet even unto the priest every one deal falsely for they have healed the hurt the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly saying peace peace when there is no peace were they ashamed when they had committed abomination nay they were not not at all ashamed neither could they blush therefore shall they fall among them that fall in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down seth Lord I will surely consume them seth Lord there shall be no grapes no grapes on the vine nor figs on the fig tree and the leaf shall fade and the things that I that I have given them shall pass away from them why do you sit still assemble yourselves and let us enter into the defense cities and let us be silent there for the Lord our God hath put us to silence and given us water of gall to drink because we have sinned against the Lord we looked for peace but no good came and for a time of health and behold trouble the snorting of his horses was heard from Dan and the whole land trembled at the sound of the naying of his strong ones for they are come and have devoured the land and all that is in it the city and those that dwell therein for behold I will send serpents cockatrice is among you which will not be charmed and they shall bite you seth Lord when I would come for myself against sorrow my heart is faint in me behold the voice of the of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country is not the Lord in Zion is not her her king in her why have they provoked me to anchor with their graven images and with strange vanities the harvest is past the summer has ended and we are not saved for the hurt of the daughter of my people on my hurt I am black astonishment have taken hold on me is there no bomb in Gilead is there no position there why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered let's pray your heavenly father Lord thank you for your word and the power that is in it Lord I pray that you'll fill pastor burzins to your spirit they may preach your word with boldness and allow us to have open hearts to receive the truth that are in your word and that we may apply them to our lives so we can be better Christians or thank you for everything that you do in your good mercy allow us to go home safely first name Jesus pray amen amen all right so in Jeremiah chapter 8 before we even dig into the first verse there we're gonna have to just back up a little bit to get the context because of course 8 just starts off at that time said the Lord well at what time right let's let's go back and look at the end of chapter 7 in fact before we even just look at the end of chapter 7 the beginning of chapter 7 if you weren't here last week or even if you were just remember this is still kind of all the same word of the Lord that's that's coming to Jeremiah that he needs to preach to the children of Israel to Judah but at the beginning of chapter 7 it said stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word and say hear you the word of the Lord all ye of Judah that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord so this is the message that was really specific towards who are supposed to be his people people are coming in to to worship the Lord and serve the Lord this message even though it's very similar to much of the other messages that have been that that the Lord has given to Jeremiah it's still specifically being preached to the people who are coming in to worship Lord so this is still a continuation of of kind of that whole broader context so I just want to just just bring that up and make you aware of that and there's of course a lot of judgment brought in because of the evil and the wickedness of the children of Israel children of Judah and all the sins of Jerusalem are being warned about judgments to come excuse me so at the end of chapter 7 there were these references to Tophat in the valley of the son of Hinnom which is the place where child sacrifice was being done so this is where a lot of innocent blood is being shed people are letting their their their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Baal basically unto Satan and of course they thought that they were being really holy and righteous and religious and you know like like that that was somehow a good thing when in fact it was it is extremely wicked and horrible right so let's just let's just pick up now in verse number 32 I think that's probably a good verse to start reading in chapter 7 to bring us into the context of chapter 8 therefore behold the days comes at the Lord that it shall no more be called Tophat nor the valley of the son of Hinnom but the valley of slaughter for they shall bury in Tophat till there be no place and the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth and none shall fray them away then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride for the land shall be desolate chapter eight at that time said the Lord they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves and they shall spread them before the Sun and the moon and all the host of heaven whom they have loved and whom they have served and after whom they have walked and whom they have sought and whom they have worshipped they shall not be gathered nor buried they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth so this is the continuation of this judgment against Jerusalem against Judah for these sins that the the valley of the son of Hinnom and tophat here is is receiving this judgment from God and part of that judgment as we see in chapter 8 is that bodies and the bones are gonna be dug up of people who had already been buried these and you know it's these priests and the prophets and the inhabitants of Jerusalem now what it why does it even bring this up why is this why is this a thing well they're basically defiling the grave right there ought to be some level of sanctity of people who are buried and and grave site cemeteries should just be you know set aside and and ought to be have some type of reverence or respect towards people who have passed on but this is gonna defile their grave obviously if they're gone they're gone but this is making a point it's to prove a point it's to it's to cast shame and just and just kind of do everything possible to make them you know receive of the judgment of God's hands so not only are there gonna be so many people dying which was the end of chapter 7 we're like they're not even gonna be there's no place to bury them that may even be some of the reasons why these bodies were even dug up was so that they had room to bury more people I don't know I mean it's just conjecture it seems like it makes sense for for that even though this is a judgment of God that that they're just going man there's all these people dying what we're gonna do with them let's let's pull out bodies out of these other graves but in so doing of course it's still not a good thing to have to dig up all the all the bones and stuff like that but there's gonna be so bad you have people just so many dead bodies the the birds are gonna come down and be chewing on the dead bodies and stuff like this what it says and no one's gonna even be able to to shoo them away and it's just a really really serious judgment but notice here in chapter 8 and verse number 2 it says they shall be they shall spread them before the Sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven whom they have loved and whom they have served and after whom they have walked and whom they have sought and whom they have worshipped so basically they they worship the whole host of heaven and you see this reference in other places as well where they're worshipping the Sun and the moon and the stars and they're not worshipping the Lord and even if you're gonna say oh these are references to angels or whatever it doesn't matter I mean they're worshipping anything other than the Lord it doesn't matter what it is whether it's literally worshipping the the creation or they're worshipping something that's symbolic of the creation it doesn't matter it's it's clearly not worshipping the Lord so they're worshipping Devils right we know that when when they're they're sacrificing their children the Bible says that then that never entered into the heart of God but this is the judgment that's coming look at verse number three and death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family which remain in all the places whither I have driven them said the Lord of hosts and that's that's how serious God's judgment is going to be I mean it's just another way of describing it say people are gonna rather be dead they're just gonna kind of wish they were dead because of how bad things are going to be that they're gonna despair even of life that they're just like they'd rather just be dead than be alive and that's a pretty low place for anybody to be obviously some people have gone through that some of you have serious depression and kind of feel that way sometimes but this is gonna be the case for all of the people here and this is the this is the warning right this this sermon this preaching of Jeremiah is a warning and man would to God people could just take heat and listen especially God's people let's keep reading here verse number four moreover thou shalt say unto them thus saith the Lord shall they fall and not arise shall he turn away and not return why then is this people of Jerusalem slid in back by a perpetual backsliding they hold fast deceit they refuse to return and this is still kind of describing the reprobate nature of the children of Jerusalem the children of Judah that are that that have already been described in Jeremiah chapter 6 because it's still nothing good has really been said since since the chapter 6 really is the first few chapters that had the hope that had the little some silver linings and some positivity in it but then once you just keep getting further and further where we're at now the past few chapters have all been just really really negative and why because of their heart because they're impenitent heart because they are not willing to accept of anything that they've done wrong they're refusing to return it says they have a perpetual backsliding look we all may backslide from time to time make sure it's not a perpetual backsliding right you don't want it to be this continual thing you need to stop that backslide and start moving forward again and and hopefully you're not backsliding right now for your continuing move forward but but man a perpetual backsliding it's just like you don't even care and that's how they were they hold fast deceit that like the lies they're holding to the lies and they refuse to come back to the Lord verse 6 I hearkened and heard but they spake not a right no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done everyone turned to his course as the horse rush it into the battle yay the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times and the turtle in the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming but my people know not the judgment of the Lord and and this is this is kind of the theme to this whole chapter here is that the the people of God are ignorant to God's judgment that this is one of the reasons why you know they have this perpetual backsliding but they're but they're not changing they're not repenting they're not doing anything they're not going like you said what have I done oh no what have I done and they're hearing about the coming of the Lord's judgment and even when God starts to judge them they're still just kind of want to have nothing to do with it and this reminds me of the same heart that the people have in the book of Revelation but before we turn there I want you to turn to Haggai chapter 1 keep your place here in Jeremiah 8 and turn to Haggai chapter 1 this is important to understand just as you know as being described here the birds the stork the crane turtle one says turtle it's talking about the turtle dove the swallow these are all birds these are all types of birds that are saying you know they know their appointed times they know what they're supposed to be doing they could see the time that the seasons they can they can identify the changes and the weather and when it's time for them to move and all the things that they're supposed to do as a birds and when when they need to migrate and everything else they know what they're supposed to do but he's saying like but my people they don't know the judgment of God they can't look around them and be like oh man there's a lot of wickedness going on maybe we should do something about this oh man God's judgment is about to come because of how bad things are they don't see that at all they don't see the judgment of God they're just ignorant to what is going to happen and also the people have the same mindset that aren't seeing how wicked things are also have a hard time identifying when God does judge that it is God's judgment right because if you don't think there's much wrong like that you're not wrong with God then you're kind of gonna be blinded when God does chasing you and God does bring judgment if you're not already thinking that hey there's things going on that are wrong why are you gonna attribute bad things to possibly being the judgment of God you see what I'm saying so this this ignorance of who God is the ignorance of God's law or they're just a total rejection of it either way you know it's really bad we need to make sure that we're softened to the Word of the Lord to his laws that we that we understand and say hey look God we're trying we're not gonna be perpetual backsliders right we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna serve you and we're gonna sincerely look to your word so that we don't catch ourselves as someone who is ignorant to even the judgment of God coming down upon us and remember this was the continuation of the message to his people the people coming in to worship and serve in the house of the Lord my people and he calls them my people my people know not the judgment of the Lord and this reminded me of a couple places Haggai 1 is one of those a good verse number four the Bible says is it time for you oh ye to dwell in your sealed houses and this house lie waste now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts consider your ways and this is consider your ways isn't this what he was saying in Jeremiah chapter 8 when he says no one is saying what have I done he's expecting them to consider their ways and and think about what they're doing hey think about what's going on think about what you're doing consider your ways look at verse number six you have sown much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye clothe you but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes now and then verse 7 thus that the Lord of hosts consider your ways this is what people need to understand about the judgment of God especially among his people how God can chasten and chastise and discipline and punish his people because while we are very strong against a work salvation while we are very clear and wholeheartedly believe that our salvation is not of works and that there is you know no matter how much sin you do your salvation secure you will go to heaven when you die no matter what once you've received eternal life however as a child of God God disciplines however be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man so at that Shelley also reap however God is a God that judges however God is angry with his people when they backslide when they get away from him when they turn the back okay when they have stiff necks and hard hearts right just because you're saved doesn't mean God's not going to punish and what we see in Haggai is an example of how God's punishment may play out in your life of him trying to get hold of you saying look look at all the things that you're doing and in specifically in Haggai it's not putting the things of the Lord first right that's that was one of the big things that are doing here they're not they're not considering the house of the Lord and in the primacy the importance of the Lord first and they're going off and doing all their own thing they're like oh yeah you're in your sealed houses you're in your nice comfortable setting you're out sewing you're out you know eating and drinking and getting clothes and stuff but like but what's happening nothing you're not being blessed at all he says there and you know this is a great illustration you're earning wages to put it into a bag with holes so you're going out and you're working real hard but you're basically just spinning your wheels and this is what you do if you think that you could just say well I'm gonna as a child of God mind you not as a child of the world or a child of the devil as a child of God if you're gonna just set your face to just earn a bunch of money God can easily make it so that all that money and all that hard work are you doing is gonna come to nothing it's like you got a bet so you're making all this money it's all coming in it's all just going right back out and you're not getting anywhere because you're not doing what God would have you to do and if you don't kind of consider your ways it could end up in a situation where you just keep going through this cycle like a hamster on a hamster wheel you're not making any progress ever until you just stop and wake up and be like oh man what have I been doing I need to just stop this nonsense and the vanity of going after this money and start serving the Lord and put the things in order and put the things in its proper place and make sure that I put God first and yeah and then this other stuff and then you know what when when my heart is right and when I'm serving the Lord then he could bless me because here here's what happens you know people think that they're just gonna focus on the money you think God's not able to no matter how much money you make to have other needs come up in your life that require that money oh all of a sudden this breaks and that breaks now all of a sudden you need to go to doctor and all of a sudden you need to do this and this and this right all of these various things that could just be all the wealth that you're bringing in just right back out and you feel like you can't get ahead at all well maybe you're focused too hard I'm trying to get ahead financially instead of trying to get ahead spiritually there's a more you focused on the right things God takes care of your needs he's there to supply your need so we don't have to worry so much on those other things and look we're all susceptible to this and to some degree I'm sure we're all probably going too far in a direction but you know we the important part is with the heart but but what I want you to understand with all of this is looking at how God works and his judgment and that we all need to consider our own ways look at verse number eight and had guy one go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified saith the Lord ye looked for much and lo it came to little and when you brought it home I did blow upon it so he's saying he's scattering it he's he's getting rid of it God is the one getting rid of you brought it home and I went and then it's just all gone and it's just like what happened to it all why why why saith the Lord of hosts because of my house that is waste and ye run every man unto his own house therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew and the earth is stayed from her fruit God controls that and he says well yeah that's why you want to go run to the to the field and do you know do all the labor but you're not you're not taking care at all for my house and for the things of God well guess what I'm gonna make it that much harder on you and then what people do is they get the wrong idea and say well then we're just gonna work that much harder and then we're gonna have even less time dedicated for for the things of God and for the house and you know and God makes it even harder and then you go well now I'm gonna work even harder again instead of just going well hold on a second let's just reprioritize and get right with God and then just allow God then to bring the blessing on us so that we could we could acknowledge and say okay God I get it I'm sorry I get it I'm gonna do things in the right order but when people are hard-hearted and stiff-necked I mean sometimes they never really get it and and this is just like the people are being described in Jeremiah 8 hey my people don't know not the judgment of the Lord they don't know it verse 11 there in Haggai 1 says and I called for a drought upon the land and upon the mountains upon the corn upon the new wine and upon oil upon that which the ground bringeth forth and upon men and upon cattle and upon all the labor of the hands I mean that's the power of God he could hand he could he can lift up or bring down he can cause these things to be blessed or he could cause them to be cursed your livelihood and it doesn't matter if it's the fruit of the ground specifically for you I mean it could even be the whole company that you're working at if God wants to he could cause the whole place say you go to be to be kind of cursed where you're at if he wanted to if he wanted to get your attention and just make sure that that you're not you know that you're ultimately just spinning your wheels on the things that don't really matter attorney food to revelation chapter 9 this is a even more extreme example because this is this isn't revelation 9 is not talking about saved people so that's that's the only difference here where hey guy is referring to God's people but revelation 9 is is not revelation 9 though is probably closer to where the people end up that get judged in Jeremiah's day revelation 9 18 and this is how blind people can get to the judgment of God revelation 9 18 by these three and and you know all of chapter 9 is just all this destruction and stuff this doom verse 18 says by these three was the third part of men killed by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths for their power is in their mouth and in their tails for their tails were like unto serpents and at heads and with them they do hurt in my point for these two verses is the third part of men was killed that's a lot of people dying it's a lot of people dying verse 20 and the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands I mean a third of people are dying and the rest of the people are just like well I'm just gonna keep on here that they should not worship Devils yeah I'm gonna keep on going out my devil worship idols of gold and silver and brass and stone of wood which neither can see nor hear nor war nor walk neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornication nor of their thefts it's like a third of people are dying and you're still just living like the devil and just no shame no thought to even think like hey maybe we should do something different maybe God might be a little bit angry as he's pouring out his wrath and they're just going like oh no it's gonna keep on doing this stuff that's a reprobate mind which it which is exactly how Pharaoh was right I mean no matter how bad the plagues got because God hardened his heart he just nope not gonna do it you know like just it doesn't even matter nothing's getting through to him and and that's why Jeremiah 6 was talking about the children of Jerusalem the children of Judah being as reprobate silver they're rejected because they've got this mindset because they're not paying attention to themselves and and to what they ought to be doing and to God's judgment let's go back to Jeremiah chapter 8 and it really is interesting how people can be so wrong about about their own even just their own self view or understanding God and you know and what they should be doing and God's judgment and all of that you know people freak out and this is another weird thing too I don't know why people get so upset when when there's a big disaster that happens in the world and you say hey look that's probably the judgment of God it probably is a judgment of God I don't know why people get upset when you say that it is you know if it happens against some other country or here whatever you know massive fires or earthquakes or tsunamis or whatever you know God is the one who is able to control the weather and everything so he brings judgment a variety of ways but but using stuff like that is one of the ways that he brings judgment upon people and and I'll tell you what we may not we may not always be certain of every single time that there is a judgment of God coming forth but you know we ought to have is an attitude that says oh man something bad's happened we better make sure we're right with God as like the first thing right when some when bad things are happening in your life even though it may not be your fault what we ought to do and what I think everyone ought to do is treat it as if it's your fault and say oh man what am I doing what am I missing what am I doing wrong right some major things happening some things are going on you know what I need it's time to clean house I need to make sure I'm right with God because why would you want to just pretend like everything's okay if it's not and what's the worst-case scenario in that if you're wrong about it being about you or something you've done worst-case scenario is you're still just getting some sin and some stuff out of your life that you don't need anyways you know what I'm saying like like it's only a gonna be a good thing in the end and what we don't want to do is just automatically always assume it's someone else and just kind of shift the blame instead of being ready to accept blame ourselves and again this is just so and it's so fundamental that is how we ought to live our lives day in and day out anyways of being way more ready to just be the one who says I screwed up I did wrong I'm gonna try to get that right in in all aspects of our lives as opposed to being more self-righteous and saying I didn't do anything wrong it's you it's you it's you it's you it's you and kind of pointing the finger at everyone else instead of just pointing the finger back at yourself right generally speaking the you know we ought to be the first ones to be able to point to ourselves and say you know I did this wrong and I did this wrong and I did this wrong that is a humble heart and that is one that's going to stand and stand the test of time especially in the Christian faith because you're not going to be so full of yourself and lifted up the pride that you'll be able to receive correction you'll be able to see oh man I'm doing something wrong I better fix that and have that good attitude that will help you to improve over time and get the sins out of your life and start living more righteously for real but then never just having this attitude that just says no I'm just good no matter what like this it's got to be someone else got to be something else because here's the thing what what if it's not what if it's not so else right then you're not gonna fix it if you're not looking internally and and this is what you also ought never do while we're talking on this subject when someone else okay so when you are having problems you look to yourself in any area where you might be you know out of God's grace so to speak and obviously I'm not talking about your salvation but just where you might have a rift you might have a problem with God because of how you're living because of something that you're doing but when it comes to somebody else you always assume it's something else and not that person right you treat that person not as if it's oh well you must be doing something like like Job's friends right well you must be hiding some sin you've got all these bad things happening to you oh it must just be it must be you Job it must be your children it must be you it must be something wicked that you've done it's because you know you're hiding something from us don't have that attitude it's the exact opposite when it's us we go hey what did I do I'm trying to fight figure out what am I doing wrong right and it may not be you but still it's the first thing you do is look to yourself but when it's someone else you don't just be like so what are you doing wrong oh I bet I know what it is this is you know you don't have that attitude it's oh man I'm sorry this is happening to you you know you're probably just being attacked maybe saying you know whatever and you comfort people let's go back to Jeremiah chapter 8 but these people are so backwards in their understanding they don't know the judgment of the Lord verse 8 how do we say how do you know how do we how do ye ye say we are wise and the law of the Lord is with us they don't even know the judgment of God yet they're the ones saying oh we're so wise and the law of the Lord is with us the law of the Lord is gonna judge you buddy you don't even know what it is like God's judgment literally is coming and they're just saying oh the law of the Lord's with us like how blind can you know this is a position like I said we don't ever want to find ourselves in as being so blind as to just thinking that like nope God's with us when he's really not false sense of security lo certainly in vain made he it the pen of the scribes is in vain the wise men are ashamed they are dismayed and taken lo they have rejected the word of the Lord and what wisdom is in them these same people they're saying the law of the Lord is with us have rejected the word of the Lord which is why like chapter 6 says they're they're reprobate cuz God's rejected them because they rejected the word of the Lord yet these very same people are the ones saying nope God's with us crazy crazy verse 10 therefore will I get in so therefore because this because they've rejected the word of Lord because they're saying these things because they're just so ignorant they and they don't even know God's judgment God says you know what I'm gonna bring my judgment therefore will I give their wives unto others in their fields to them that shall inherit them for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness from the Prophet even unto the priest everyone dealeth falsely this is the condition of things when things get so out of control were excuse me when you read how God just judges so forcefully and massively it's not just on a whim okay because God has a lot of long suffering and mercy so when when you read about when we see like these the the judgment of you know the Babylon Empire coming in and just taking them all captive uprooting them killing Pete you know all this stuff destroying the temple doing everything they do and it's not because God wasn't long suffering and merciful it's because the people had just grown so wicked and just completely refused to listen that God's just like okay well I guess this is just what we have to do now you think I'm with you you think you're right you're not listening to what I say I send my prophets to you early and you reject them you reject the Word of the Lord you're rejecting all of it so okay not now nothing is getting through to you now it's stamping you out now it's the heavy fist coming down I mean everyone's dealing falsely verse 11 for they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly saying peace peace when there is no peace and we talked about that already I'm gonna just keep going here as long as verse number 12 were they ashamed when they had committed abomination nay they were not at all ashamed neither could they blush therefore shall they fall among them that fall in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down set the Lord so again I've covered this in the past this attitude just not being ashamed this kind of reprobate mind of committing abomination and not even caring about it like it's just not a thing and it's being brought up here again in chapter 8 just to remind you where they're at in their in their hearts and in their minds when all this judgment is being brought up that's gonna come down on them it's because of that attitude verse 13 I will surely consume them said the Lord there shall be no grapes on the vine nor figs on the fig tree and the leaf shall fade and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them so this is just utter destruction you said there's gonna be no fruit left there's gonna be nothing left for them I'm gonna completely consume them destroy them verse 14 why do we sit still assemble yourselves and let us enter into the defense cities and let us be silent there for the Lord our God hath put us to silence and given us water of gall to drink because we have sinned against the Lord and that that water of gall it's it's often gall and wormwood kind of go together it's like it's like poison it's like gall would be like bile be just just a really a really kind of nasty bad thing bitter you know water of gall to drink is just is even though they're they're really thirsty would be like just this really bad drink and that's what Jesus received was a vinegar and when he was up and then he didn't receive it right they tried to give it to him and he didn't receive it it's just this you know it's a really bad drink and why is that because we have sinned against the Lord so verse 15 we looked for peace but no good came and for a time of health and behold trouble yeah they're looking for peace they're looking for health but it's not there the snorting of his horses was heard from Dan and this is of the people who are coming to bring the judgment right in this case the Babylonians the snorting of his horses was heard from Dan the whole land trembled at the sound of the name of his strong ones for they are come and have devoured the land and all that is in it the city and those that dwell therein for behold I will send a serpents cockatrice is among you which will not be charmed and they shall bite you set the Lord so even even besides the the the armies that are coming to destroy even even the snakes I mean God's just just cursing them with these other things and think about how easy that could happen to think about how easy it is I mean think about how easy it's for God to do anything because nothing is too hard for the Lord but also I mean just just thinking about those you know those Joro spires spiders that got here a few years ago or whatever and I mean you just remember when they first got here was just like you just see them everywhere but just one of those things that just it just happens now those things are relatively harmless I mean I don't know I don't want to say that necessary for the ecosystem or everything else but just for us as human beings it's kind of annoying because they just I mean they make their webs everywhere and there's huge webs and everything there's big ol spiders whatever but but overall they don't really they don't really do anything to us right but but on a similar token say okay that's pretty benign that's pretty simple but what about if God wants to bring his judgment those could just as easy he could just as easily raise up these spiders that are gonna like be aggressive towards humans and be real poisonous and just cause this plague just in in not here today here tomorrow right and just springing up overnight God can easily just make sure that that happens and that's just one thing right I mean all of these things we got to understand how fragile we are and and and kind of our our state of being at any moment you know we think we're so safe and so protected and everything is so you know good around us and we have all the protection we got our house we got all this other stuff and we got all these tools and we got all this you know the power tools all those other bring bring it on whatever like no you know you don't you know you know no I mean I it doesn't matter if God's gonna bring a judgment in everyone's gonna be impacted by I may think about the frogs that came up like you think of frog like who cares how big of a plague is frogs it's a pretty big plague we had a lot of frogs in my yard the beginning of the season this year because we opened up the pool did put any chemicals in it and we just had this huge pond in my backyard and I was just thinking like oh man this is such a plague they didn't have time to deal with it and then all of a sudden it was just like I like the neighbors had to hate us because they were so loud it was like this like all right outside our house but that that wasn't a judgment of God that was just me not being smart with the with my property but but I say that because okay one little small example and it's a big nuisance and a big annoyance and and everything else but when God brings that stuff in I mean there's nothing you can do about it there's nothing they could do about all the frogs that came out and then they stank and died everywhere and it was just like nasty and yeah it's the judgment of God and people need to wake up to what God can do where did we leave off here in Jeremiah chapter 8 8 18 yeah yeah because we're just we're looking at the serpents right so I was bringing up the spiders it could just as easily be snakes right I mean whatever right like it is here he's just sending snakes and it could just be okay that's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna curse you this way and this is this is the type of thing that that I as believers as God's people we want to be you know in tune to we don't want to be just going like oh well that's a weird coincidence or oh you know this is kind of a weird thing when there's a judgment type of a thing happening you know what I'm saying because here's the here's the other thing is when God brought his plagues on Pharaoh who was kept safe his people right and they were plagues that should have if it was if it was not supernatural impacted everyone equally like when there was darkness oh but the children of Israel had light you know what I'm saying like like it so it's darkness everywhere so that you know the darkness that could be felt is how it was described and like you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face but like oh but there's light in Israel those types of things so if we are softened to understanding these things and getting our hearts right and being willing to repent and get right with God hey God's able to keep us from any of these judgments and we know obviously when he pours out his wrath on his earth he'll definitely keep us from that but even through great tribulation he's able to keep us through the the real difficult times verse 18 when I would comfort myself against sorrow my heart is faint in me behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country is not the Lord and Zion is not her king in her why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities so the cry of the daughter of my people because of what because of them that dwell in a far country the people who are coming to attack and take him over is not the Lord's I know he's not when God brings a judgment he's clearly not there because if he was there he'd be defending him he's not there he's he's he's letting all of this happen he's he's you know causing all of this stuff to happen and then he's like well you know hey they provoked me to anger with their graven images because that's the that's the reason he's bringing the judgment is because they turned on the Lord the harvest is past the summer has ended and we are not saved talk about a bad place to be it's over like hey before before before the summer ends you got a lot of time to still go out there and plow and work right before before it's time of harvest you still got some hope because you can you can try to right the wrongs you could still go out there and still do some work and still and still put in as much effort as you can to try to get something but hey once it's time for harvest once the summer's ended okay we're out of time that's it man and in this condition it's hey the harvest best summer then and we're not saved we got nothing then what do you do after that well it's not much you can do for the hurt of the daughter of my people my hurt I am black astonishment have taken hold on me is there no balm in Gilead is there no physician there why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered it is you know this ends in a question but look is there no balm in Gilead is there no physician there yeah there's a physician yeah that's well but it's not doing them any good because God's bringing the judgment against them you can have the things that you need you got the physician but then why is there not health of the daughter of my people like because God's bringing the judgment on them because nothing they have is going to help now turn if you would to one last place here is in Leviticus chapter 26 and I want to point this out this will come up later in the book of Jeremiah but I want to just go through it a little bit now because God promises to bring the curses in Leviticus 26 when his people his people aren't doing what they're supposed to do when they're not taking heed when they're not listening his commandments when they're just not caring about the word of the Lord he's already told them what's gonna happen and I want to cover this tonight because it's like this whole theme of Jeremiah 8 has to do with the his people just not knowing about his judgment they're just so ignorant to God's devices and to how God's bringing his judgment on them and they just don't seem to care and they do not repent it and everything else but God already warned them see God's not trying to trick people and cause be like well I don't even know what God wants me I don't even know what the will of the Lord is so how could he get angry with me he get angry because you already should know because he's already told you what he expects out of you and and as a people of God what what does he expect you to do well he's he's laid it all out and this is why even New Testament believers ought to be looking to the law of the Lord looking to the law to guide them just as well as the New Testament to guide them right there's a lot there Leviticus 26 verse number 14 is we're gonna start reading and we're gonna jump around just a little bit because there's a lot here and I don't want to just take too much time going over it all but there's there's a point we'll get to so just just follow along with me quickly here verse number 14 but because of the the first parts talk about God's blessings if you listen to what to what I command you to do verse 14 but if you will not hearken unto me and will not do all these commandments and if you shall despise my statutes or if your soul abhor my judgment so that you will not do all my commandments but that ye break my covenant I also will do this thing unto you to me do this unto you I will even appoint over you terror consumption and the burning ague that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart and you shall sow your seed in vain for your enemy shall eat it so he's saying okay if you're not gonna listen here's what's gonna happen you're gonna be terrorized you're gonna be living in fear and you're gonna have this consumption and burning ague and sorrow of heart and when you go out and sell your seed and you try to get the crops everything he says it's just gonna be in vain because other people gonna eat it because you're gonna be brought under bondage verse 17 and I will set my face against you and you shall be slain before your enemies they that hate you shall reign over you and ye shall flee when none pursue with you and if you will not yet for all this hearken unto me then I will punish you seven times more for your sins and and this is what I'm talking about I'm not gonna go through all of his punishments because they just keep on progressively getting worse and this is why it's important to take heed when the punishments are on a smaller scale to go hey maybe we ought to get right with God because if God's sending these plagues and these problems and you're not listening and you're not changing and you're not doing anything about it he's gonna keep sending more and more and more and more and look don't think that you're gonna be more stubborn and more set in your ways then God will be in his resilience and in his steadfastness and bringing forth that judgment it's it's like you know with in parenting oftentimes you need to make sure that you don't give in to your children like if they're being real bratty and stubborn on something like you need to outlast them you need to make sure that you are like this brick wall that like you will not you will not move me you have you have to set the boundaries and then just make sure because they're gonna test you and they're gonna try you and they're gonna try to annoy you and they're gonna try to do everything they can to get you to back down and when you set up those rules those boundaries you just need to make sure that that they get it through their head that be like man I'm not even gonna try that's the type of dad that I drive is like look you keep on going going going to guess what I am NOT budging here and it's gonna be really uncomfortable for you and you are gonna be the one that is not having a good time at all right you keep it up so so then but but it's important because when you got established authority like parents in the household hey the kids can't just think that they could do whatever they want there's rules there's boundaries you got you know you got to set the tone and they ought to just already have in their heads like man I'm not even gonna try this that's good and similarly spiritually right God has rules for us and we need to we need to have the attitude is like I'm not even gonna try to get away with this stuff I'm not even gonna try to to do anything contrary to his word contrary to his law and but here's the thing because God is not going to back up on his Commandments and his rules he's just like no this is the law no no this is my word no it's not gonna change no I'm not gonna change it for you this is what it is and in fact if you're not gonna listen to me and if you're just gonna keep on being stubborn disobedient here's how it's gonna get uncomfortable for you and then he goes oh and you're still not listening well that's what he says and if for all this after I've already started you know given out that meeting out the punishment if you're still aren't gonna listen well now I'm gonna punish you seven times more so the factor just goes up like like okay now we're jumping up to the next level seven times worse and notice this in Leviticus 26 so that was verse 18 and he says now I'm gonna punish you seven times more for your sins and he lists off some more things he gonna do verse 21 and if you walk contrary unto me and will not hearken unto me I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins jump down to verse 23 and if you will not be reformed by me by these things but will walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins I mean seven times seven times seven times that's a lot of times of exponentially just growing like a seven times more now seven times more now seven times more how far do you want to press it right is it this is God's mindset and this is what he's showing them in the law like you want to keep on breaking my laws and breaking my commandments and not listening to me this is how it's gonna go and here's the judgments and then they're gonna get worse and worse and worse and worse until you get to the point to where Judah got to where now you're just all being wiped out everything's being destroyed the temple is getting destroyed you're getting carried captive you're going to another land and you're gonna be in bondage I'm done working with you on this right it's like the kids okay now we're just locking you under the stairs no I'm kidding and we're gonna keep you there for 70 years but seriously though you know God's not playing with with his people and this isn't individually obviously is collectively he's talking about a nation he's talking about his people as a group and what's going to happen and the judgments are gonna come and we're start reading again in verse 27 and we'll close on this but we need to and we ought to and you could go ahead and read this chapter later and just see the judgments that God brings and be able to recognize them and say God said he's gonna do these things now you say yeah but Israel isn't around today and God's but you know this whole Levitical priesthood everything it doesn't matter because there's a nation that exists that has made God the Lord their God which are the people of God which in times past weren't the people but now are people and you know what God's just as easily to take in and replace any group of people any nation that has chosen to serve the Lord when they turn their back on him when they walk contrary to him for him to start bringing his judgment down hey you chose the Lord now now now you're gonna turn your back on him well here's what's gonna happen right so verse 27 and if you will not for all this hearken unto me but walk contrary unto me then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury furious is extreme anger and I even I will chastise you seven times for your sins and you shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters shall you eat that's pretty bad when things have gotten so bad and and you know what all of this happens and this is this happens in the book of Jeremiah actually this like these are all the warnings God says this is what's going to happen and guess what it does happen these aren't empty threats this isn't just like oh it's just gonna be really bad so I don't want you know don't even think about doing it you know sometimes parents we might do that but like no God follows through he says when he's telling them this is what's going to happen it really is what's going to happen and this happens when they get besieged right and they can't have any food going in or out and they have any supplies or anything like that and they get so hungry that they're literally starting to eat their children that's and you know what that is that's a curse of God it's not just because the other army is just so much more powerful it's because God brought that judgment on you because it didn't have to come if the people were serving the Lord as they ought to have been God would protect them is forever if a people just forever just just was being obedient to the work to the law of the Lord and the Word of God God would continue to defend them and protect them he promised it he'd bless them they'd be the most blessed nation and they would just keep keep getting blessed but you know what can handle it people can't do it and inevitably they end up turning from the Lord and then when they keep turning and turning and turning away this is the condition you get in verse number 30 and I will destroy your high places and cut down your images and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols and my soul shall abhor you and I will make your city's waste and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors and I will bring the land into desolation and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it and I will scatter you among the heathen and will draw out a sword after you and your land shall be desolate in your city's waste then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate and ye be in your enemies land even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate it shall rest because it did not rest in your Sabbaths when you dwelt upon it and upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword and they shall fall when none pursueth I'm gonna bring you down so bad that like you're like a leaf is gonna make you run in terror like you won't even have anyone chasing you but you're gonna be so terrified that you're just like like any little thing is just gonna cause you to freak out and they shall fall one upon another as it were before a sword when none pursueth and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies and you shall perish among the heathen and the land of your enemies shall eat you up this was delivered to Moses this was delivered before they ever even made it into the promised land and these are two gets us the law delivered unto them and then they finally get in there and get established and have all those hundreds of years of all this time and then Jeremiah's day at the end of the Kings reign when that when this all comes to pass and God and all of these things all of these curses actually literally happen all of them there's nothing left undone that didn't happen to the children of Israel and children of Judah because of them turning on the law of the Lord and not doing the things that they were supposed to be doing and we see this will continue to see this throughout this book but man let's be sensitive to the judgment of God whether it be on a micro scale just for you personally in your own house and your own life and you know looking at things that happen or whatever and and being able to gauge and say like I think it's the best attitude to have is to just say hey when something bad's happening I'm gonna look inwardly and see is it me and it may not be you right I'm not trying to make you feel horrible all the time or something but it ought to be the first place we look is ourself instead of the first thing being oh it's someone else it's always someone else no first look at yourself what can I do what have I been doing what can I change what what is it that I might need to do different if it's not you great right remain faithful but look for yourself first and when it's other people don't be the first one to be pointing a finger at them right be there to comfort them and to help them in their time of need let's let's bow our heads our word of prayer dear Heavenly Father thank you so much for all that we can learn from your word I pray to you please help us to have discernment with your judgment whether you're bringing judgment upon a whole nation or upon us individually as your children dear Lord bringing chastisement I pray that you would help us to maintain a soft heart and Lord we love you give us give us direction and instruction and we want to serve you better dear God and I pray that you would please just bring to light and bring to remembrance your word through the Holy Spirit in our heart so that way if we are heading down a bad path if we are sliding back dear Lord that we'd be able to stop ourselves and and and be stirred up in our spirit and in our heart and our mind to to get back into serving you more perfectly dear Lord we love you pray to please keep us all safe as we go in separate ways this evening it's Jesus name we pray amen all right we're saying one last song before we're dismissed brother will can you please lead us Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh