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Okay, look at chapter, sorry, chapter 14, verse number 15 there, Jeremiah 14-15, the Bible reads, Therefore, thus saith the Lord, concerning the prophets that prophesy in My name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land, by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. The title for the sermon this morning is Sword and famine. All right, sword and famine. You will notice as we keep as we read for this chapter, and you guys already know this as we go through Jeremiah, is that as the Lord's going to bring judgment on the southern kingdom here of Judah, you know, two ways or one great way, the main way that God is going to bring judgment is by the sword. As the Babylonians came in, they're not just taking people into captivity, there is going to be a great slaughter, there is going to be many deaths. And then those that remain those that survive for this great slaughter, those people will be taken into captivity. But not only the sword, we also notice that God will use famine as well to bring judgment on this land. In fact, it's already started. If you look at verse number one, Jeremiah 14, verse number one, it says the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. Now if you don't know the of the word dearth, this just basically means a famine due to drought. Okay, so that's, there's a great dearth, and you see the word of law that came into Jeremiah, so now we've got a new prophecy. Don't forget that every time the Bible begins by saying that the word of the Lord came upon Jeremiah or some other prophet, it means some time has passed and God has given the prophet a new prophecy to preach. Verse number two, Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they are black unto the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. So the black unto the ground refers to the sorrow, you know how people sometimes dress in black when they're mourning, and there's a cry of Jerusalem that's gone up. What is that? It's because of the dearth. Look at verse number three, and their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters, they came to the pits and found no water, they returned with their vessels empty, they were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads. And so normally see, you can see there in verse number three, the nobles, these are people that are, you know, someone in society, they're high up, they've got a high social class, listen, they don't, their own servants, okay, their own servants can't find water, okay, this is a great famine. And so what they have to do, they have to send their own children, the children of the nobles are trying to go out there, throughout the land, trying to find water, okay. And so there's a great thirst in the land, but it says here that the children have come back with their vessels emptied, all right. And so you can see how bad things are getting on the land, this great drought is causing the children to get out there to work and to labor, find water, then they cannot find any, okay. This is a judgment of God. And look, if you can please keep your finger there and go to the book of Deuteronomy, go to Deuteronomy chapter 28, we've gone to Deuteronomy 28 before as we've gone through Jeremiah, but one thing I wanted to show you is that, you know, when God promised Israel that if they were to obey God, He promised them great blessings, but He also promised them great cursings if they were to turn against the Lord, all right. So Deuteronomy chapter 28 please, and verse number 23, and I just want to show you God's consistency, because you might say, this seems extremely harsh God, reading about these little children going out looking for water, Lord they're thirsty these children, how is it that you allow them to to suffer such a great judgment, such great turmoil, you know, it would break my heart if my own children were thirsty and they could not find water. So if we go back to Deuteronomy chapter 28, look at verse number 23, this is part of the cursings of God. So look, many centuries ago, God's already warned them, God's warned them, okay. Not only did God warn them, He's recorded it in the scriptures, okay. So these people, they should know what's happening, they should know why there's a great drought, they should know why there's a great famine, they should know why the children are going thirsty. Verse number 23, part of the cursings, it says, and thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. This is referring to a lack of rain, right, instead of the rainfall it's going to be like, it's going to be hard, okay, it's not, it's going to hard, the heavens are going to harden, and so is the earth going to harden, because if there's no rain, the earth itself is going to get hardened like iron. Verse 24, and the Lord shall make the rain, so there will be rain, but look at the rain, the Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust, from heaven shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed. And so you see, God, yes, He promises rain, either, you know, God blesses you with rain of water, or He's going to curse you with the rain of dust and powder, right, and dirt, right. So obviously when there's lack of rain, the dirt starts to, you know, it's very dry, and if there's a harsh wind, it's going to cause some type of dust cloud. Well this is part of the curses of God. Look at verse 25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies. Thou shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them, and shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And so God, look all the way back to Moses, all the way back when this nation was a new nation, God warned them, if you turn against me, if you hate me, if you turn against my word, great curses are going to come upon you. And what do we see? We saw that there'll be a great drought, all right, and that's what we're reading about in Jeremiah. Not only will there be a great drought, they're going to be handed over to the enemies, okay, they're going to be destroyed, they're going to be removed into the kingdoms of the earth, and so that's what we see happening in the days of Judah. You know, God is not just all of a sudden doing something out of the ordinary. God is not all of a sudden, you know, not giving them any warnings. God's warned them from the very beginning, if you act this way, these are the judgments that are going to come. And when you understand this, then you can understand, well, God, you're righteous. You've warned us time and time again. You know, sometimes, you know, with our children, we try to help our children, and we give our children instruction, and we give them discipline to keep them from danger. But sometimes, you have to, you know, you've warned them time and time and time again. You know, sometimes you have to allow your little child, even though you've disciplined them, even though you've told them no, sometimes you just have to allow them to touch the heater sometimes and get burnt, all right. That's why my parents were warning me, okay. At some point, you just have to allow them to go for the experience, because that's the only way they're going to learn, okay. Now, you've got to be careful about what experience you allow them to suffer, right. But listen, you know, God has warned them. God is not being unrighteous. God is not being unfair. You know, God has made it so clear. You want the rain? Just come and worship me, come and follow me. Do things according to my way. You want to be blessed? You want to stay on the land? Just do it my way. And Brethren, if we want to be blessed by God, just do it God's way. That's it, all right. That's it. And if we were, you know, to be judged by God, it's because we turned against Him. You know, if our nation right now is under the judgment of God, it's because our nation has turned against the Lord, right. If this world is facing the judgment of God, it's because this world has turned against God. God has warned us in His word, okay. Going back thousands of years, nothing should surprise us. But I want you to notice that, you know, famine and sword is a way that God brings judgment, okay. And sword referring to, of course, warfare, okay. Things along this nature. Verse number four. Okay, sorry, back to Jeremiah 14, verse number four. Jeremiah 14 and verse number four. So we know there's this great drought and verse number four says, because the ground is chapped, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. And so it says when the ground is chapped, it's talking about cracks are starting to form in the ground. I remember some years ago, just even in my own backyard, there was a time, Christina, you might remember, that we started to see all these cracks form in our backyard. And like, they're really deep, and they start to open up, and I'm starting to be concerned, you know, is there going to be like a sinkhole that opens up in my backyard? Where are these cracks coming from? But of course, Sydney was facing a period of time where there wasn't any significant rain for many, many months. I can't remember what year this was. And then we started to see all these cracks form, right. But then once a shower did fall, all those cracks, because you know, obviously, the reason the ground cracks is because it's lacking moisture. And so it's, you know, and it's drying out. So it's opening up, right. But then when the rains fall, the ground swells up, and then it's able to close up once again. So the ground, and sometimes if you've seen, you know, pictures of, you know, a dry, not a sandy desert, but a dry ground, you often see like deserts where you just see all these cracks. It's because of the lack of moisture on the earth. Verse number five. Yea, the hind also carved in the field and forsook it because there was no grass. So obviously grass needs water to grow. And the hind here is, of course, a deer. And it's basically saying here that a deer is going to give birth to a calf. All right. And then it says and forsook it. It's just going to go, you know what, I can't even look after this child. Okay, it gives birth to this calf. I don't have enough food. I don't have enough water to give this child. I'm just going to let it die. And the deer goes and looks after itself as best as it can. Okay, so even the animals are suffering. Verse number six. And the wild asses did stand in the high places. They snuffed up the wind like dragons. Their eyes did fail because there was no grass. So the asses there, of course, are donkeys. They put themselves, they come into a high mountain looking for food, looking for water. It says they snuffed up the wind like dragons. So this is the idea. You know, dragons are not, sometimes dragons are just reptiles. So obviously you know that a snake, for example, and Brother Les, you know all about snakes, right? But they're always just sticking out their tongues, always tasting the air, right? The same thing where it says they snuffed up the wind like dragons. So, you know, snakes will often, you know, take out their tongues to get a sense of the environment. They'll taste the air, you know, to notice if, to see if there's any danger, to see if there's any predators or, you know, or, you know, food for itself, right? For it to, so it's kind of, you know, the ass of the donkeys are acting like dragons. They're acting like snakes. They're sticking out the tongues and looking at a high place and saying, where is the food? You know, they're trying to taste the wind, trying to figure out where they need to go because there's no grass, there's no food. All right, so Jeremiah, when we start reading verse number seven, it's because Jeremiah starts to plead to God. He sees how this nation is suffering such a great drought and then he starts to plead to God on behalf of the Jews. Now you may already remember, did God want Jeremiah to pray for the people of the land? He didn't, okay? So Jeremiah starts, verse number seven, starts to plead for the people. Now Jeremiah was in the wrong and I'll show you soon that Jeremiah was in the wrong here, okay? Because God's already told him, don't pray for these people, okay? But don't forget the heart of Jeremiah, okay? The heart of Jeremiah. And he still loves his people and he still wants to see God's blessing on the land. And we need to remind ourselves, if we believe, you know, and I do believe what we're facing at the moment as a nation is the judgment of God. And we'll talk about this in a moment, okay? But let's not forget and let's never take the attitude, it's like, well, God just destroyed all. You know, God, Australians are so wicked. Lord, just destroy this place. That's not Jeremiah's heart. You know, even though he knows that God is righteous and he knows that God's judgment is in effect, you still see that Jeremiah cares for the people. He still wants to try to win some of them to the Lord. He's still trying to hope that God's, you know, God be merciful and, you know, he will look the other way or that God will forgive. And so you see the heart of Jeremiah, you see the heart of man, of God, even though he knows that it's time for God's judgment, he doesn't really want to see that. He doesn't want to see his people destroyed. Verse number seven, Jeremiah speaks to God. He says, oh Lord, though thou iniquities testify against us, so he's saying, yeah, you know what? Our sins do testify against us, Lord. We deserve this judgment, right? But then it says this, but thou, but sorry, but thou it, do thou it for thy name's sake, for our backslidings are many, we have sinned against thee. Okay, so Jeremiah, you know, the rest of Judah is not saying this to God. Like, it's not all of Judah saying, God, we've sinned against you. I'm sure God would have loved it if that was the case, but this is just Jeremiah. This is just the man of God. Look at verse number eight, oh the hope of Israel, the savior thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? And so Jeremiah is petitioning God. He gives him two titles. He says, oh the hope of Israel. Hey, that's a great name for God. The hope of Israel. You know, is God your hope? It says, look, the savior thereof in time of trouble. Is God your savior in time of trouble? What is Jeremiah doing? He's praising God. He's lifting up God's name. I want you to notice, even though Jeremiah is in the wrong for praying this way, God will correct him. But I want to see, we see a great example here of a man of God praying. How did he start? He started by confessing the sins. He says, look, we've sinned against you, Lord. All right, we've sinned against you. And so once he's done confessing his sins, he starts praising God. He gives him these great titles. You know, God is his hope. God is his savior in the time of trouble. And this is what we need to do to, remind yourselves when you pray, before you just start asking God for all your requests and all your petitions, make sure you lift up God's name. Make sure you call him the savior in the time of trouble. He has saved you. Yes, from your sins. He has saved you from hell. He has saved you from the power of sin. But he's also saved us in times of trouble. Many times we face difficulties in our life. God has stepped in and saved us. And so Jeremiah is a great man of God. I love the example of praying that he does. He says, why shouldest thou be a stranger in the land? He's saying, God, you don't need to be a stranger. What's a stranger? A stranger is someone that doesn't belong to that land, right? He's a foreigner. He's passing by. Well, there was a time when God was not the stranger. God removed his presence from Israel. And Jeremiah said, God, don't be a stranger. Sometimes when I have people that I'm friends with or attend our church, either this church or New Life Baptist Church, but decide they can't attend for whatever reason, I'll often say to them, look, that's fine if you can't attend. I'm not upset with you. And I'll often say, hey, but don't be a stranger. Come, hey, let's continue to fellowship. Come and visit us from time to time. We'd love to see you from time to time. Because you want to keep that person's fellowship together. And basically, Jeremiah is asking, God, look, stay. Keep your presence here. Don't remove your presence from us. And so what else does Jeremiah pray for? Jeremiah is praying for God's presence. You know, something else you need to add to your style of prayer or how you pray is ask for God's presence. And we know that as saved people, we have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So, you know, God will never leave us. God will never forsake us. But as I've taught before, we can lose fellowship with God. We can be walking in darkness and be away from his fellowship in light. And so we don't want to be away from God's presence. Jeremiah's desire was to be in the presence of God. Okay, and that's how you ought to pray. That ought to be your heart to stay in the presence of God. Stay as close as you can with God. Look at verse number nine. Why shouldest thou be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name. Leave us not. All right, so Jeremiah's saying, look, you don't have to be like an astonished man, a man astonished. Like, you know, God, you're not really surprised, right? I mean, this nation has become so wicked, but Jeremiah's saying, God, but this shouldn't surprise you because you're God, right? You're not a God that can be surprised. He says, look, you're not a mighty man that cannot save. Meaning, God, you are mighty enough to save our nation, right? And then what's quite interesting about Jeremiah, he says, O Lord, art thou in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name. He says, God, you've called us, your people. Are you going to desert your people? What is Jeremiah pleading to? You know, he's pleading to God's nature. He's saying, God, you are a certain way, you know, you've taken us out of Egypt, you've formed us as a nation, you've given us the scriptures, you've blessed us, Lord. Are you going to desert us now, Lord? You know, Jeremiah started to plead to the nature of God, right? And, you know, quite often when I pray, especially if I'm lacking faith, because I'm not always the most faithful, okay? I'm not always faithful to God. You know, I'm a human being. I make mistakes. You make mistakes. You're not always going to be faithful to God. Quite often when I pray, I'll just pray something along the lines of, you know, Lord, I need you to do this or that. I need you to step in this way, because, Lord, your word says you're going to do that. Lord, because your promises are here, and Lord, I know you're true to your word. I know you're faithful to your word, Lord, even though I can be unfaithful sometimes, Lord. I know you're always faithful, Lord, and if your word says this, then I know you're going to step in and do that. I'm holding God accountable to his word, right? Jeremiah's trying to hold God accountable to his nature, and says, God, you're going to be merciful, and yes, God is merciful, and yes, God is mighty to save, and yes, God is able to deliver, but don't forget God's nature is also one of justice and judgments, all right? So with Jeremiah appealing to God's nature, you know, the mercy and the long suffering, at the same time, God is also judged, judgment, right? You know, he'll always bring judgment. He'll bring the curses. These are the promises of God, right? We saw in Deuteronomy chapter 28, God promised them, if you turn away from me, this is what's going to happen. So God is actually being true and faithful to his own word. That is always the best way. If you need God to answer a prayer, and you know there's a promise of God and his word, and you need that to come to pass, just say, God, I know you are true to your word. Please see us through this, because your word says you will. And when I've prayed those kinds of prayers, that's usually where I see God really step in, where, you know, I might be lacking in my faithfulness. I might be lacking in my walk with God, but it's almost like God sees that our faith is in his word and his ability to keep his promises and his word, and God comes through many times. I've noticed in my life, you know, when I've prayed like that. Now, as I told you, God already told Jeremiah in previous chapters, you know, don't pray for these people, and Jeremiah is doing it, okay? So God responds. In verse number 10, God starts to speak to Jeremiah. He responds, and God answers prayer, okay? God responds, and he says in verse number 10, Thus saith the Lord unto this people, they have loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet. Therefore the Lord doth not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins. Then said the Lord unto me, pray not for these people, for their good. This is the third time God has told Jeremiah, don't pray for them. Jeremiah said, say, look, yes, our sins testify against us. Lord, find mercy, help us, and God says, yes, I see their sins, and it's time for me to visit them for their sins. It's time for me to judge them for their sins, and God tells Jeremiah, Jeremiah, stop praying for them. Stop praying for them. That's hard. You know, Jeremiah loves the people. Jeremiah wants to see this nation do well, all right? And, you know, this reminds me where, you know, and I basically preached on this on Thursday. If you haven't listened to my sermon on Thursday called Burden Bearing, a lot of this chapter goes very well with what I preached on Thursday. So you have Jeremiah trying to step in, all right, and lift the burden of the nation. He's trying to step in in that place that isn't his. Like, he's trying to tell God, you know, and petition God for the entire nation, but God's telling him, look, you might be praying this way, Jeremiah, but the rest of the nation is not. This nation does not want me to deliver them. This nation does not want to see me deliver them from this, you know, famine and this coming captivity that's coming by the Babylonians. They don't even believe it's going to happen, all right? God says, look, stop praying for them, and, you know, sometimes we might pray things like this, and we have to be mindful with how we pray because we might have, let's say we have people that are unsaved that might be family and friends that we care about and we love, and sometimes we pray things like, and I've stopped praying this way. I used to pray this when I, especially when I was younger, I used to pray, God, please save so-and-so, all right? You know, please, this person is a non-believer. Please save them, Lord. It's actually a foolish prayer because God has done everything necessary to have that person saved. He's already given His only begotten Son to come into this world and be a perfect sacrifice for them. God has already caused, you know, churches and preachers to preach the gospel, and if that person just desires to know what they have to do to be saved, if that person just desires to know Christ and know the true way to heaven, then God has already done everything necessary. It comes down to that individual, and so you can't pray, God, please save this person when God's already done everything necessary, all right? Especially if you've already gone and given that person the gospel. It's in the hands, brethren. You know, every man shall bear his own burden. If that person rejects God, even though God's done everything, there's nothing more that you can do, all right? You can't pray for God to save them when He's already done it. He's already paid for their sins. It's just that they've rejected that method of salvation, right? So when we pray for somebody to be saved, you need to be tactful about how you pray. Instead of saying, God, please save them, you know, pray something like, God, can you cause this person to go through some turmoil or some suffering where they have no option but to call upon you, Lord, to find your way, Lord? Can you please help them remember the time that I've given the gospel, Lord? I help, Lord, the seed that I've planted or the seed of your word that's been planted in the hearts before, Lord, I pray that it would come to their remembrance so they would, you know, think about these things and that would help them to get to the point where they can call upon you for salvation. So you're praying for other things, you know, surrounding them that may provoke them to seek God and to maybe have a fear of death and to seek, you know, what comes after life. That's how we ought to pray. Look at verse number 12. God says, when they fast, I will not hear their cry. And when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them, but I will consume them by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence. And as I told you, the sermon title was sword and famine. You see that it is God. Just a reminder, God is saying, I will consume them by the sword, that's warfare, and by the famine, that's the drought, and by the pestilence, that's COVID-19, or whatever pestilence that we're dealing with in that point in time. You know, God can very well use these methods to bring his judgment. You know, we'll see this many times. You know, war can be the judgment of God. You know, famine can be the judgment of God. You know, pestilence, and I shouldn't be saying can be, it always is the judgment of God. But this is something that I need you to understand as we look at this, okay. You know, and I've said to you, you know, I've had to reassess my understanding of what we're facing today, you know, all the inconveniences that are happening. And look, don't misunderstand, I'm not ignorant. I know that, you know, the mystery of inequity, I know that those that love Satan, and those that are trying to bring in a one world government, and a one world currency, and all these things to bring us into a time where the Antichrist will rule the world, we use these opportunities to further their cause. I understand all of that, brethren, okay. We understand that. But at the same time, you need to, you know, realize that if this is where we're headed, we can't stop it. God's already prophesied, it's got to happen, okay. In fact, as Christians, as Bible-believing Christians, we should be the ones at most peace, because we know God's already told us. It's like the Jews of this time, God's already told them he's going to judge them with famine and sword if they turn against him. That shouldn't be a surprise, okay. It wasn't a surprise to Jeremiah, he knows his Bible, but it's a surprise to those that are far from God, okay. And when we see the forces of darkness using this time to further their agendas, it shouldn't surprise us. It should bring us comfort to know, hey, we're children of God, God's already told us that things are going to develop this way. Why should we be surprised? Why should we be upset? Why should we be frustrated? Why should we be losing sleep over this? It should be the non-believer, or it should be those that are far from God that are surprised at what's developing. Now, when you look at verse number 13, Jeremiah now responds back to God, okay. So God's telling Jeremiah, look, I'm going to destroy sword, famine, pestilence. That's what I'm going to use to judge these people. Verse number 13, Jeremiah says, then said I, ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say unto them, ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place. And so Jeremiah's telling God, God, you know, don't be upset with the people on this land. It's not their fault. It's the prophets, the prophets, the false prophets are telling the people, there's not going to be famine and sword. We're going to have peace. And so Jeremiah, and it's true. As we've been going through this, almost every chapter, God is angry at the prophets or at the pastors. Almost at every chapter you're going to notice this, okay. And Jeremiah's just reminding God, God, you can't really do this to the people. It's these false prophets. They're leading them the wrong way. They're teaching them false things. They're lying to them, Lord. I'm going around telling them there's going to be sword and famine. They're going around, you know, there's a lot more false prophets than there are prophets of God. They're going around telling, ah, don't worry about Jeremiah. That's all lies. We're going to have peace on the land. Okay. It's all going to be just fine, says the false prophets, right? Look at verse number 14, then the Lord said unto me, and so now the Lord's, can you see how this is back and forth between Jeremiah and God, right? Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them. They prophesy unto you a false vision and divination and a thing of naught and the deceit of their heart. And so God does acknowledge that there are false prophets. And brethren, when we look at this, especially those that get up to preach here, or one day your desire is to preach God's word, be it, pay attention. Almost every chapter, God is preaching or speaking against the prophets, speaking against the pastors. Okay, why? Because they're prophesying lies. They're teaching things that God has not commanded them. Brethren, if you come here on Fridays, I've been telling you, when you preach, make sure you're preaching what the Bible clearly says, what the Bible clearly has commanded. Don't just make up your own commandments. Don't just come up with your own ideas and your own convictions that the word of God does not say, otherwise you could turn out to be a prophet like this, where God's saying, look, I didn't speak that to them. They're going behind the pulpit saying those things. That's just their opinion. That's just their own personal convictions. That's not my word. Okay? And if you're doing that, you're going to mislead the people of God. We have to be careful as preachers. There ought to be a healthy fear of God when we come up to preach his word. Verse number 15. Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, I sent them not, yet they say, sword and famine shall not be in this land. Then this is what God says, by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. So the ones that are going to face the worst judgments, the ones that are going to face the worst slaughter and the most suffering from a lack of water and because of the drought are going to be the prophets. Okay? They're the ones that are going to face it the worst. But that does not excuse all the other people on the land that are listening to these prophets. All right? James chapter three, verse one says, my brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Brethren, who receives the greater condemnation? The preachers. Okay? The prophets, the pastors. Keep this in mind. If you desire to be a preacher, your desire is to hold an office in the church, whether it's to be a deacon or a pastor. Remind yourself that you're going to receive the greater condemnation if you do wrong, if you preach falsely. Okay? We have to be careful about this. Jeremiah, he's doing the best he can. His emotions get a little bit in the way. He's the weeping prophet. Okay? They get in the way a little bit. He's still a great man of God, don't get me wrong. Okay? I mean, he's 10,000 times better than any false prophet in the land. Okay? Jeremiah is. But even he struggles with teaching God's judgment. Okay? It's hard for him to do. You know, preaching is not easy. It can be contrary to your emotions. It can be contrary to your thoughts. It's especially contrary. You know, if I know that someone in a brethren in our church congregation, that I know they're going to disagree with what I'm about to preach, it can be hard to preach. But listen, we're just going to be like Jeremiah, and even though it can be hard, we just preach the truth. We're just going to preach what God commanded and what God says, rather than just our opinions and imaginations. I do want to talk to you briefly before we keep reading. Well actually, you know what, let's read verse number 16. Let's read that first. It says, and the people to whom they prophesy. So now God's speaking to the people who the false prophets prophesy to. Okay? They're not going to get away with it. Just because they were deceived by a false prophet. It says, and the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out into in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. And they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness upon them. So do these people that listen to false prophets, are these people that got deceived by false prophets, are they just going to get away with it? No, God's going to judge them as well. Okay? Now before I talk about that topic, I do just want to quickly speak to you about the judgment of God. You know, is COVID-19 or whatever, you know, is this a judgment of God? You know, I say yes. Okay? Are wars in our world the judgment of God? You know, I say yes. Are famines, you know, are droughts the judgment of God? Yes. Okay? But something that I've had to think about a lot, you know, over the last sort of year or so, there is the judgment of God and there's the judgment of God. Okay? There are two aspects of this. All right? Now, one day I'm going to preach on this topic, but let me just give you a bit of a sneak peek. All right? Just a little thing that I've been thinking about here. So obviously, when we read this story about, you know, Judah, is this the judgment of God? Absolutely. You can't deny it, right? And as we saw, God uses war, famine, pestilences, you know, to do this. Now, God is using a prophet. God is announcing this judgment. Okay? It is without a shadow of a doubt that God is stepping in directly to judge this nation because of their weakness. Okay? And so one thing that you need to be aware of, there is a direct judgment of God, where God will directly, you know, because of the weakness of this land, I'm going to cause X, Y, and Z to happen. And when that happens, God will send a prophet, you know? It even happened to the Gentile nations when God sent Jonah to Nineveh to proclaim that God's judgment's on its way. Okay? But then Nineveh got right with God, at least for that time period, right? And so we have a judgment of God where God warns people in advance. He sends his prophets to preach it, right? We have the word of God to show us or to be a witness of us. And we also know that there is a coming judgment of God, a great wrath of God to come, because we have the book of Revelation, we have this warning, we have the Apostle John that was used by God to tell us about this coming judgment on the entire world, where God will pour out his wrath on the day of the Lord, and it's going to be great destruction. It's going to be the greatest wrath that we've ever seen of God, the greatest judgment that we've ever seen from God. Okay? So these things are direct judgments of God. Okay? And God forewarns us through a preacher. Okay? And specifically, not just any preacher, but specifically written in the word of God. Okay? Then we have the indirect judgment of God. Indirect judgment of God. All right? So this is where we still have wars and famines and pestilences, where God has not stepped in directly, but because when Adam and Eve sinned, you may remember that God cursed the ground. Okay? There is constant, you know, there is a constant judgment of God which is more indirect. Let me give you an example of this. You know, if someone is just smoking cigarettes, you know, a pack a day or two packs a day, you know, some habitual smokers, and they end up with lung cancer, you can't really say, well God just stepped in, you know, directly and gave that person lung cancer. You know, that would be like an indirect consequence of their sin. Okay? It's part of the judgment of their sin that's caused them to come that way. All right? Or you may get sick, you might, you know, have some type of chronic illness, or you know, a baby might be born with some defects and some, you know, you can't just say, well, that's a direct judgment by God. God has judged that little child, you know, to be Down syndrome, you know, you know, what a wicked child, what did he get up to in the womb? Right? You know, no, but there's an indirect judgment of God, because we've sinned against God. And one thing that we've noticed here a few times, you know, as we're going through Jeremiah, and even when I'm preaching for Hosea with the New Life Baptist Church, that when man sins, all of creation suffers. All of creation, there's a direct consequence, we saw that the donkey, we saw the suffering of the deer, because of the people in the land. Man's sin has a direct influence on God's creation. All right? And so there is an indirect judgment of God, which is just a natural consequence. I mean, this is just our natural death, our natural suffering, things that just happen, the hatred that people have to one another, how wars are being, how wars take place, you know, how pestilences can spread, how we can have different sicknesses like cancer, you can't just turn around and say, well, God's judging you, you must be in sin, because you have cancer. It's just, hey, that's just, look, our bodies deteriorate because of sin. You know, we have a sin-cursed flesh. But don't forget, there is a direct judgment of God as well. You know, where these same things occur, but God has stepped in to accelerate this to happen. And he's also proclaimed this for a profit. There's been prior warning before this takes place. And so if you were to say to me, Pastor Kevin, is COVID-19 a judgment of God? I'd say yes. But the indirect judgment of God, you know, God did not tell us in his word that in 2020, we're going to face this worldwide epidemic. Okay? But is it still a judgment of God because of man's sin? Of course it is. Okay? But it's an indirect judgment of God. It's a consequence of man's sin and the curse that is upon this earth. I hope that makes sense. Okay? So yeah, all of this is a judgment of God. But you need to sometimes assess, is this direct because of the sins of the land at this point in time? Or is it a consequence, a natural progression of the curse that is upon this land because of, you know, how, because of Adam and Eve's sin and how we're all born in the sinful nature? All right. Now, in verse number 16, we saw that that God was going to judge the people because they listened to the prophets. Okay? Now, brethren, there's a few things we need to learn here. Okay? If you get deceived because you've listened to false preaching, okay? Or you've been deceived because of a false prophet. You can't, you can't just blame the false prophet. You've got to share part of that blame. All right? These people had to share part of that blame. And so what you need to learn from verse number 16, brethren, is that it's important for you to assess who you listen to. Okay? Who you learn from. You know, what preachers you listen to. You know, I hope you assess my preaching. I hope you don't just come to church and just say, well, everything Pastor Kevin's going to say must be true all the time. Because I'm just honest with you, there have been times that I've had to correct what I've preached. Okay? Nothing major, but just minor things where I've had to correct things from time to time because I'm a human being. And people are going to sometimes have to correct things that they preach because they're human beings. You just have to understand this. Okay? But you always need to come and listen to preaching and judge what you're hearing, not judge in accordance to your preference and your own conscience, but judge according to God's Word. Is this true? Right? This also comes through with the books that you read. You know, if you're trying to read a book to get a better understanding of the Bible or a better understanding of the nature of God, you need to do your due diligence to find out whether this author is even saved. Okay? And once you say, well, this person is saved, there must be something fruitful, profitable that I can get out of this person. Great. But at the same time, still judge everything that you're hearing, judge everything that you're reading. And look, if you're trying to get some spiritual understanding, and you conclude this person's not even saved, don't listen to it. Don't read it. How can they tell you about God? How can they tell you about the Bible if they're not even saved? They're just going to lead you the wrong paths. And God's going to hold you accountable for being deceived. One thing that I really despise when I was attending church, and not church, I love church, but sometimes the preachers would read something in the Bible, and they would say something along the lines of, well, the Jews, you know, they believe that this passage is referring to this thing. It's almost like the Jews, I'm talking about the Jews today, I'm not talking about the Jews of the Bible that were righteous saints of God. I'm talking about those Jews, right? And so they're looking at Judaism today. And in order for them to understand a portion of Scripture, they'll say, well, the Jews today are preparing this or doing this and doing that. Therefore, in light of how they're, what they're teaching, what they're saying, this is how we understand this portion of Scripture. What in the world? They're not even saved. They hate Jesus Christ. They hate to be called a Christian. They don't have anything to do with salvation. They have nothing to do with the God of the Bible. They have a false religion. How is it that you can turn to Jews today? Look, you might as well just turn to a Hindu today. Well, this Hindu told me today that this Bible passage is about this, and therefore I'm going to preach that. Well, people in the congregation are going to go, you're crazy, pastor, why are you saying that? Well, it's the same for a Jew that is lost, that believes the false religion of Judaism, that follows their practices, that rejects Jesus Christ. They do not have the Holy Spirit of God. How is it that they can bring enlightenment to God's Word? They cannot. Okay? And so you've got to be careful. You can't just absorb everything and just be, oh, well, just no. Okay? God's going to hold you accountable for being misled. All right? First John, if you can actually go there, please go to 1 John. Keep your finger there in Jeremiah. 1 John 4, please. 1 John 4 and verse number 1. 1 John 4 and verse number 1. 1 John 4 verse number 1 reads, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Do you hear that? Many, many false prophets are gone out into the world. Okay? You know what? That means there are many preachers on YouTube that you might think are okay right now. They're false prophets. There are many like that. Okay? Please go to chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2 verse 26. 1 John chapter 2 verse 26. 1 John chapter 2 verse 26. So we will command not to believe every spirit but to try or to test the spirit. How do we test them? We test them by comparing what they say with what the Bible says. You say, how can I do that? Well, first of all, you have to read the Bible yourself. How can you test or try every preacher and every spirit that speaks to you if you don't even know God's Word, if you don't pick it up in your own time and read it? All right? 1 John 2 verse 26. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you, but the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you. The anointing is referring to the Holy Spirit that abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. So look, God has not just left you alone with the Bible. Okay? God's also given you a teacher. He's given you his Holy Spirit to abide in you. So when you read God's Word, you can learn. Okay? You can gain knowledge yourself. You don't just, it's not just the only way I can learn is to listen to preaching. The only way I can learn is to go to church. That is not the only way. You have a greater teacher. One that will never lie. One that will always tell you the truth. It's the Holy Spirit of God. Okay? So you got to get in the habit of going to that teacher. Okay? You got to get in the habit of reading your Bible. You got to get in the habit of praying. God, can your Spirit please lead me in the reading of your Word today? And look, if you've not been saved too long, if you're someone that's not been reading their Bible much, then you're going to experience, as you open the Bible, you're going to experience challenges in understanding what you're hearing. Okay? That's normal. That's part of your growth. That's why you need a teacher. Okay? But the more you get taught, the more you're going to learn. Okay? So you don't take the attitude, well, the Bible's too hard. I just, I'll just wait for church that I can learn that way. No, Bible's hard. It is hard. You know, I mean, God expects us to study. God expects us to read. God expects us to use our intellect that he's given us. Right? And he wants us to grow. And brethren, if you get to a point in the Bible, you just go, look, I don't really understand what it's saying. And I've prayed to God, and I've asked him to show me, and I still don't get it. Well, just move on. Maybe the teacher's not ready to teach you what that says right now. Okay? When we go to school, the teacher doesn't just give us the end of year exam at the beginning of the year. Right? You know, no, that comes at the end. Right? Things get, you know, you start with foundational things, and then you build on those foundational things till you get to the point where you can absorb complex things. Okay? This is just the normal way of learning. All right? So don't freak out and say, am I really, am I saved? I don't understand the Bible. There just might be portions that you don't understand. But I guarantee you, if you are saved, there'll be a lot of the Bible that you do understand. Okay? Just listen to that and do what God tells you from the portions that you do understand. God will use this method in order to teach you and to help you grow. Back to Jeremiah, chapter 14, verse number 17. Jeremiah 14, verse number 17. God tells Jeremiah, therefore, thou shall say this word unto them. Let mine eyes run down with tears, night and day, and let them not cease. God is telling Jeremiah, just don't stop crying. Okay? Jeremiah's tearing up. All right? He's weeping. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. And so God, knowing that Jeremiah's preaching with And so God, knowing that Jeremiah's preaching with tears, you know, God is saying, look, just let them flow so they know you're serious. Okay? And again, I've taught the men, listen, men, it's okay to have emotion. You know, especially as a preacher. It helps you preach. People know you're serious when you show a bit of emotion. Okay? When you get angry at certain things or you get excited about certain things. Okay? Or you lift up your voice to expound certain things, then people know and they see that emotion, they see that passion. And it will help them understand that what they're hearing is true. God is telling Jeremiah, use your tears, try to convince them with your tears, because eventually these false prophets aren't acting that way. Okay? These false prophets are only interested in prosperity. They're not interested in hearing the judgment of God. Verse number 18. And so Jeremiah's trying to absorb what he's seen through this prophecy. He says, look, when I go out into the open field, when I get out of the city, all I see is dead bodies. Just people that have been slain by the sword. Okay? Slain because of warfare. And then it says, and if I enter into the city, if I go into Jerusalem, then behold, them that are sick with famine. He goes, look, there's death over here. God, I go into the city and there's famine. People are dying from famine over here, Lord. It's too much. It's too much for Jeremiah. Right? And then he says, both the prophet and priest go into a land that's the captivity that they know not. Verse number 19. Look what Jeremiah asked God. He says, has thou utterly rejected Judah? Have thy soul loathed Zion? Zion, he's referring to Jerusalem. Why hast thou smitten us? And there is no healing for us. We looked for peace and there is no good. And for the time of healing and behold, trouble. All right? So Jeremiah's asking God, God, are you really going to reject Judah? Lord, to loathe? What does it mean to loathe? It means to hate. He goes, do you hate Jerusalem, Lord? You know, it's hard for Jeremiah to ask these questions. And you know what? We believe in replacement theology. Okay? We believe that God is finished with a physical nation of Israel and is now working for a spiritual nation of God. Right? And sometimes when I talk to my brethren, right, who are dispensationalists or Zionists, kind of like Jeremiah here, a little bit of Zionism creeping in, you know, have thy soul loathed Zion? God, you're a Zionist, aren't you? Right? And they're saying, what? Are you telling me that God has rejected his people? That's what the terminology is. Are you going to tell me God's rejected Judah? Yes. Isn't that what it says? Has thou utterly rejected Judah? The answer is yes. Have thy soul loathe or hated Zion? God, do you hate Jerusalem of this earth? Yes. This is why God's bringing judgment. Okay? You know, believers today asking the same questions. Now, again, I don't fault them. I can't just turn around and say, listen, guys, you're idiots. Because they're being like Jeremiah. Understand. You know, their hearts are in the right place. They've misunderstood. All right? They've misunderstood. Or they've listened to false prophets. Okay? So listen, they're not innocent. They're not completely innocent. Okay? But I understand where they're coming from. You know, Jeremiah is going to start, you know, what's he going to start doing again? Even though God's told him a third time, don't pray for these people. Jeremiah starts to pray for the people again. Okay? Verse number 20. Jeremiah says, We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against thee. Notice Jeremiah, he's not saying for I have sinned against thee. He's not saying I acknowledge my wickedness. He says we, all of us, Lord, all of us. Okay, it's too much, you know, the idea of this bloodshed, this slaughter, this famine, this pest. It's too much for Jeremiah. God, we acknowledge our wickedness. He's trying to speak for everybody. Okay? He starts to intercede once again. He starts to pray for the people of the land. He says in verse number 21, Do not abhor us for thy name's sake. Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory. Remember, sorry, remember, break not thy covenant with us. Listen, God is not breaking. God's not the one that broke the covenant. It's the people that have broken the covenant. Okay? God's cursing has fallen upon them because they've broken the covenant with God. So Jeremiah, listen, Jeremiah's in the wrong. Understand. Okay? You know, make sure that when you read the Bible, you take everything into consideration. Verse number 22. Jeremiah says, Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are not thou he, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee for thou has made all these things. All right, so Jeremiah here speaks in verse number 22, and he says, Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? So don't forget that the people of this land were worshiping idols. Okay? And these idols had come from the Gentiles, that come from other nations, right? And he says the vanities of the Gentiles, so it's the emptiness. These idols can do nothing. So Jeremiah is correctly saying, Hey, you know, these idols, these vanities of the Gentiles, they cannot cause rain. And then he says, Or can the heavens give showers? Now you might say, Of course the heavens can give showers. That's where the rain comes from. But Jeremiah is saying, Look, can the heavens alone give showers? No, he's saying, Look, God, you're the one that must command and direct the heavens to open up to give showers. All right? It's not Mother Nature just taking care of us. Okay? It's God that has his control over his creation. And so Jeremiah says, Art not thou he, O Lord? Aren't you the one, Lord? Aren't you the one that can give us showers? Aren't you the ones that can help us in this time of difficulty? Then he says, Therefore, we will wait upon thee. Was Judah waiting upon the Lord? No, he's waiting upon the Lord. Jeremiah is hopeful. But again, you can see he's praying for his people. All right, he's trying to speak on behalf of his people. Now keep your finger then, go back to Jeremiah chapter seven and verse number 16. Because this is how the chapter ends. And so you might be left thinking, Oh, hold on, maybe Jeremiah got his way here. You know, the chapter ends Jeremiah's praying pleading for the people. Sounds like it all went well. Okay, let's go to Jeremiah seven, verse number 16. Jeremiah chapter seven and verse number 16. Just as a reminder, God says to Jeremiah, Therefore, pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them. Neither make intercession to me, for I will not hear thee. So Jeremiah's praying once again, trying to see for the people, what did God say? I'm not going to hear it, Jeremiah. Stop praying for them. Go to Jeremiah 11, please. Jeremiah 11, verse 14. Jeremiah 11, verse 14. God tells Jeremiah this time and another time, Therefore, pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. See, God's very consistent. And in Jeremiah chapter 14, we saw in verse number 11, God again, the third time tells Jeremiah, don't pray for this people. Is Jeremiah being disobedient? He is. Okay. Again, he's got a great love. Okay, he's got a great love. He's trying to step in. And you may even remember in the past where God was going to destroy the Israelites until Moses stepped in and interceded. You know, there is a time where you can actually step in and intercede. Okay. But what we see in the time of Jeremiah that it's just, it's gone too far. God has run out of his mercy. You know, God is slow to anger, but he's gone to a point where he is now angry. Okay, God is definitely angry. Now, just in case in Jeremiah 14, if you think for, you know, because it ends with a prayer of Jeremiah, just in case you think that, you know, Jeremiah was able to smooth it all over, you know, Jeremiah was in the right here, he should have done this. Well, let's just read one verse of Jeremiah 15. Jeremiah 15, let's just look at the very first verse there. Because then God responds to Jeremiah, right? In Jeremiah 15 and verse number one, let's see if Jeremiah was successful in turning God's heart in this situation. Jeremiah 15, verse number one. Then said the Lord unto me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight and let them go forth. So that's the conclusion of Jeremiah's prayer, right? Jeremiah, it might seem like it at 14 that Jeremiah was able to succeed somehow, but no, verse 15, chapter 15, verse one, God's like, cast them, I don't want them. I've rejected them. Okay, so Jeremiah's prayer did not work. Okay, it did not work. But again, it's there to teach us anyway, okay? Not to learn from Jeremiah's disobedience, but he teaches us how a man of God can pray, that he confesses his sins, that he has a love for the people, that he's willing to weep, right? That he's willing to acknowledge sin, that he's willing to lift up God and acknowledge God and say, God, you're the only one that can cause the rain to fall, right? And we need to remind ourselves of this because when we're blessed and we still are blessed, even though we're facing a judgment of God in our time, we're still blessed. We still have the rain, right? We still have food on the table. Your pantries are full. You know, our shopping centers are full. You have money in your pockets. We're still very blessed by God, okay? But don't get into this habit of thinking, well, that's just how things are. Hey, remember, like Jeremiah, well, God is because you send the rain. You have the power to do that. It's not just that the heavens open up and we just automatically are blessed. If we're blessed, it's because of God's hand, all right? Now, in conclusion, in conclusion, Jeremiah tried to intercede for the ungodly. It did not work, okay? It did not work. Remind yourself this as I preach about bearing one another's burdens on Thursday. Look, listen, if you're in a position to help somebody, you know, great, help them. But listen, there comes a point where people, they're accountable to God themselves, okay? And if they're not wanting your help, okay, or if they're just far from God, you know, they're just going to have to face the consequence. They're going to have to face the judgment of God. As much as it hurts me to think about loved ones that are unsaved today, you know, and I want to help them. I want to give them a gospel. I want to see them saved. As much as I love them, if they decide to reject God, there's nothing I can do, okay? And I can weep. I can shed tears like Jeremiah, and I can do these things. But you have to get to the point and understand that, you know, they've got their own personal decision to make. You know, Jeremiah's trying to intercede for the whole nation. The nation's not turning to God. Jeremiah's doing the best he can, but it's not going to do it, okay? And you just have to understand as sad as it is, some of your loved ones are going to die and go to hell, okay? And again, you do what you can. You do what you can to lift their burdens. You do what you can to shed some tears and give them the gospel, but if they reject God and they spend eternity in a lake of fire, you have to understand this is just God's righteous judgment, okay? God's done everything. He's given a free gift of salvation. All they have to do is take it, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, call upon His name, ask Him for it, and it's done. I mean, could God have made salvation any easier? I mean, how can we get mad at God for throwing our loved ones into hell when they reject Him? They are the ones that have rejected God first, okay? So remember that. And don't forget, when we go out to preach, when we give the gospel to this ungodly nation, make sure you have some emotion in you. Make sure that you go and you have a love for the people that you're speaking to, that this is a soul that is on his way to hell right now. Or I can give them the gospel, right? Or I can show them that I love them, right? We're not just robots. We're not just trying to go for the motion and just get through a spiel and we're just these salespeople and we just have all these tactics just to, you know, just to get through for the soul winning or whatever. Listen, that's a human being as a door. You're a human being as well, right? And you ought to be like Jeremiah where you have some emotion for this person. I love this person. I want them saved, right? And people behind the door can tell whether you love them or not. They can tell whether you're a real person or not. And you're going to be a lot more successful in getting the Word of God, you know, sold if they can see that you're a genuine person that loves their soul. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father,