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If you look at Jeremiah chapter 25 in verse number 4 it reads and the Lord have sent unto you all his servants the prophets this is these words rising early and sending them rising early the title for the sermon this morning is rising early now when we think about rising early don't you think about getting up early right waking up early and sometimes getting up early rising early is hard hard work you know I'm sure we've all experienced so we set our alarms we want to start the day early we want to get a lot done we set our alarms in the morning and then it ring you know the arm goes off and you kind of turn it off right and then you turn it off and then maybe you wake up late and you kind of have those regrets and so you know rising early does have that element of course of right why is it that we would rise up early in the morning it's usually because we want to get a lot done we want to start the day quickly and be productive in our day that's why we would rise early and well while that element is true and look at the rising early aspects of this chapter it's about acting quickly okay when the Prophet speaks about rising early he's saying look I'm acting quickly I'm not delaying okay and so basically if you as the title is rising early you can also title this sermon I guess acts quickly or don't delay okay it's the same kind of idea and I want to take these thoughts of acting quickly rising early and applying it to the whole chapter okay because there are certain things in our Christian life that we ought to act quickly upon okay not delay upon and I think if you act quickly upon these aspects that we look through in this chapter you're going to have a more fulfilled a more peaceful Christian life okay so let's start there in verse number one Jeremiah 25 in verse number one it says the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon the which Jeremiah the Prophet spake unto all the people and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying okay first thing I want you to notice as we begin this chapter is who he's preaching to if you hear for Jeremiah 24 we saw that he was preaching to the temple to the people of God right to the house of God because he saw those two baskets of figs before the temple of the Lord well now who is he preaching to he's preaching to in verse number two unto all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem so this our prophecy this this are these words that Jeremiah speaking is more general it's to everybody that makes up the land believers unbelievers it doesn't matter it's to all the people in Judah verse number three verse number three tells us how long Jeremiah has been in the ministry how long Jeremiah has been preaching this message of destruction this message of judgments it says from the 30th sorry from the 13th year of Josiah the son of Ammon king of Judah even unto this day okay so this is when he started on the 13th year of Josiah to this day as he's saying these words it says that is the three and 20th year so 23 years this has been Jeremiah's message he's preaching this think about this for 23 years I'm kind of getting tired preaching for Jeremiah every week okay imagine preaching these words for 23 years God's gonna judge you turn from your sins you know get back to God you know turn away from your so 23 years could you imagine and the people are still in their weakness the people are still not right let there be encouragement to you that go door to door soul winning okay I don't think you're gonna go 23 years without seeing the soul saved you're gonna see some fruits in your so daughter so invite you may go weeks of not seeing somebody say you may go months without seeing someone saved well if you start to get discouraged just remind yourself Jeremiah 23 years and the nation is still as far from God as they've ever been okay so let's keep going there the three and 20th year I've got some free it says the word of the Lord came unto me and this is this so as soon as the word of the Lord comes on to Jeremiah he says and I have spoken unto you rising early and speaking but you have not hearkened what did Jeremiah saying as soon as God's word came upon me I acted quickly I didn't delay I came immediately and told you what I was revealed to by God okay so as we saw you know this is 23 years of full-time ministry of Jeremiah I'm in my fourth year as a pastor I'm my fourth year I'm still a baby compared to Jeremiah I'm still in my early days compared to Jeremiah but I want to notice as soon as he heard the Word of God Jeremiah acted quickly he rose early he acted immediately we've got God wanted him to do with the words that he's heard now keep your finger there please and go to James chapter 1 in your New Testament keep your finger there in Jeremiah 25 and let's go to James chapter 1 because there is an important lesson that we can learn from we see that a good man like Jeremiah as soon as he hears God God's Word he rises early as soon as he hears it he acts quickly amen well we have something similar that we ought to act upon when we look at the Word of God in James chapter 1 in verse number 22 James chapter 1 verse 22 it reads but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves all right let's apply that today whatever you hear from God's Word today that's great okay but what does God want you to do with what you've heard he wants you to be a doer if you're not if you're not a doer of what you hear you'll be deceiving yourself look at verse number 23 for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass that's like a person look a glass is basically your mirror you know you behold yourself you look at yourself in a mirror and then he says in verse number 24 and he'd be a heart of himself and go off his way and straightway forget of what manner of man he was but who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty hey that's the Bible and continue if therein he be not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed what do we learn here we learn that as soon as we hear from God's Word we ought to act upon it quickly when we look at the perfect law of liberty when we look at this mirror this glass it's like looking at yourself it's looking at your reflection you know when you read the Bible you ought to see yourself in the Word of God hopefully you see some good examples of yourself but many times you're gonna see many of your sins you're gonna see many of your failures you're gonna see many of your weaknesses just when you look at a mirror you may see many of your blemishes you may see I've got a lot of freckles I see a lot of freckles right you know teenagers go you know I tend to have pimples you're gonna see those pimples you know as you age you get wrinkles you're gonna see that in the mirror but the idea here is if you come to church and or you know you hear from God's Word you read your Bible and you don't act upon it it's like looking in a mirror going away and forgetting what you look like in other words if you don't act on what you hear if you don't act upon it quickly you're gonna forget okay you might say to me oh brother pastor Kevin that was a great sermon this morning yeah but if you don't act upon it this week you're gonna forget it in a few days later I'm gonna ask you what was that sermon about so I don't know I forgot and that happens to all of us even I forget sometimes when I preach okay if it happens to me it's gonna happen to you all right and so we ought to the the first point that I have in regards to this chapter is we need to rise early and be a doer rise early and be a doer what does rise early mean again acts quickly don't delay you hear from God's Word you'd be like Jeremiah Jeremiah says I got God's Word and I rose early and I preach God's he acted immediately with what God wanted him to do that's how you need to be rise early and be a doer of God's Word go back to Jeremiah 25 for me please Jeremiah 25 in verse number 4 Jeremiah 25 in verse number 4 Jeremiah says and the Lord have sent unto you all his servants the prophets now what are all these prophets doing rising early there it is again and sending them but ye have not hearkened nor inclined your ear to hear hey who's rising early in this passage and sending them well if we saw that it's the Lord that sends his servants the prophets so the one that he's sending them is rising early you know who else acts quickly the Lord God okay as soon as he saw this nation falling apart turning their backs against him he rose early the Lord acted quickly he didn't delay and he started to send his prophets to get them right back with the Lord but I want you to notice who it is that sends the prophets it's the Lord okay why am I the pastor of this church God sent me okay whenever you have a preacher come behind the pulpit your mindset should be you know whether it's your pastor or some other man here that's getting up to preach God's Word you ought to have the mindset God has sent this man God has risen early God has not delayed he's acted quickly and he sent this man this preacher or this pastor to come and teach us God's Word but then it says here the verse number at the end of the verse number four but ye have not hearkened you're not listened nor inclined your ear to hear what does it mean to incline your ear it means to angle your ear to incline your ear means hey pay attention okay and sometimes we can come to church and we hear the preacher and it's and to you it's blah blah blah who knows what he said that's not how we ought to be when we come to the house of God remind yourself God has sent me this preacher there's something this preacher has to say something God has to say through this preacher and I'm required to incline my ear I'm required to pay attention I'm required to be focused and not be distracted with what am I going to do after church or be distracted what am I going to do this week no you ought to be in the house of God incline your ear listen to what God has to say now as I told you it's God that is sending the prophets here you know every time they travel from the Sunshine Coast God is sending me to to this house to this body to preach God's Word remind yourself this brethren it's not just my crazy idea to travel it's God that is sending me okay God has a message for you this is why church is so important okay otherwise you're going to miss the message that God has for you okay church is so important point number two is rise early and go to church rise early and go to church acts quickly don't delay and sometimes some of you do have to rise early you know I know our family we have to rise early because we've got so many people we have to get ready for right the 11 kids we've got to get up early and even then we're sometimes struggling to get to church on time but you know what this is an important part of your life you know when someone says hey it's Sunday we've got to be in church we've got to be in the house of God you have to say yeah you know what forget everything else God is sending a preacher God is sending someone God has risen early to send me someone hey we've got to act quickly we've got to make sure we don't delay we want to be in the house of the Lord please don't delay the house of the Lord it's not just a preaching you come to be part of and to listen to it it's the singing of God's praises don't miss the singing you know this is our chance to worship God collectively as one body what a great honor to be amongst the brethren you know nothing gives me greater joy than hearing the brethren you know belt it out and singing the praises unto the Lord it gives me joy how much joy does it give God though okay so we need to rise early and go to and look keep your finger there as well please go to 1st Corinthians chapter 12 please go to 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 18 because I'm not trying to talk myself up I'll pass the Kevin you're saying God sent you well God has sent me we see that in the Bible God sends his prophets God sends his preachers but it's not just a preacher you know every one of you in this body has been sent by God to be part of this body okay 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse number 18 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 18 look what it says here and the context of this is when it talks about the body it's about the church the local church it says but now have God set the members every one of them every one of them in the body as it have pleased him say why am I in blessed hope Baptist Church this morning because God has taken you and set you here for his purpose for his reason okay you didn't just randomly decide to come to church no God said you know what I need to set you in the house of God I just set you at blessed hope Baptist Church right it says at the end of verse number 18 as it have pleased him you know it pleases God that you're in church it pleases God that you are here acting as a member of this church so it's not just a pastor not just a preacher that got sent to God to be in this house to preach his word no each one of you are important each one of you God has said you know what I'm gonna take this person and put them here in blessed hope Baptist Church to hear the preaching of my word God has acted quickly God has not delayed okay and so we ought to react in the same way point number two was rise early and go to church back to Jeremiah 25 please back to Jeremiah 25 verse number five Jeremiah 25 verse number five so what is it the prophets that have been sent by God what are they preaching it says in verse number five they said turn ye again now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings and dwell in the land that the Lord have given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever brethren we learn something about pastors he or preachers okay if God is sending a prophet if God is sending a preacher this is what they're going to preach okay turn ye again now everyone from his evil way you know preachers are supposed to call out sin preachers are supposed to preach against the wickedness that's in this world and preachers are supposed to call on God's people to turn away from their wicked ways that's what I preach that he said by God that's what he does that's what he preaches you know the preacher that refuses to preach against sin that preaches that refuses to preach against the wickedness of this world you can choke it down they're not sent by God because the Bible tells us that all his servants all the prophets are preaching this same message to turn from your wickedness okay to live a life that is holy and pleasing unto the Lord let's keep going verse number six and go not after other gods to serve them and to worship them and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands and I will do you no hurt what is that God saying if you don't walk in my ways I'm gonna hurt you but if you you know if if sorry if you don't walk in my ways is that why I said I hope that's what I said if you don't walk in my ways I'm gonna hurt you that's what God says but if you do work walk in his ways he says I will do you no hurts verse number seven yet ye have not hearken unto me saith the Lord that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurts so God is saying yeah I'm gonna hurt you but really it's your own hurt you're doing it to yourself because you're not listening to the preaching of God's Word point number three that I have for you brethren is rise early and turn from your evil ways rise early act quickly don't delay whatever sin you have brethren and you know you've seen this week don't tell me I'm not a sinner you're a liar okay if you say that the Bible says that if you say you have no sin the truth is not in you okay you're deceiving yourself you're not deceiving anybody else you're only deceiving yourself okay listen we all have sin you need to act quickly when you sin don't delay what am I supposed to do when I sin pastor Kevin first thing you do is bow your head humbly before the Lord and say sorry go ask God for forgiveness of sins okay I'm not talking about salvation here okay salvation its own topic I'm talking about as a believer as a saved Christian you're gonna sin every day of your life as you will even the 40s or foolishness is seen the Bible says okay you think a foolish stupid wicked thoughts that's a sin hey rise early don't delay okay don't let God become angry and hurt you what's the point of that okay we don't want to be hurt by God you know we don't want to live a life where we're constantly contrary to God and we never humble ourselves and say God please forgive me and why would we do that because God is merciful he's long-suffering he loves us we're the children of God he's gonna forgive us and he's going to allow us to be in his fellowship to be in his presence you know we come to church to be in the presence of God okay but if you're full of unconfessed sin you know you're just full of pride and you just can't lower yourself and humble yourself or challenge yourself with the Word of God you're not going to enjoy the fellowship you're not going to enjoy the presence of God in his local church so point number three brethren is rise early and turn from your evil ways that is what God is commanding of you look at verse number eight therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts because you have not heard my words all right now we're about to read some really difficult verses some really challenging verses here okay we're gonna be reading about God's judgment so it's important to rise early okay and and turn from your evil ways and one aspect of doing this is well we'll have a look at this let's read verse number eight therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts because you have not heard my words behold I will send and take all the families of the north saith the Lord sorry let me just tell you who the families of the north is so you may remember that the Babylonian Kingdom is coming to judge Judah they're coming from the north when God refers to the families of the north he's talking about how Babylon is an empire and it has multiple nations many families right many nations many families under its power and so the Babylonians they're not coming that it's not just the Chaldeans that are coming but all the other nations that make up that Empire they're coming from the north saith the Lord let's keep going verse number eight nine and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon my servants Wow God's servants this wicked man you know what if God needs to take a wicked government and judge a nation that's what he's going to do that's still the servant of the Lord even a corrupt government official is still the servant of the Lord okay my servants and I will bring them against this land and against inhabitants thereof and against all these nations round about and will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment and a hissing and perpetual desolations moreover I will take from them the voice of myrrh and the voice of gladness and the voice of the bridegroom the voice of the bride and the sound of millstones and the light of the candle God is speaking about his judgment that it's going to calm perpetual desolations desolation basically means destruction or damnation and God say look it's going to be forever destroyed if you don't turn back to me and he's talking about all the people of the lands where all the nations round about against all these nations round about remember Jeremiah is a prophet to the nations this message that he's preaching to Judah he's also preaching the same message to all the nations round about yes including Australia we're going to apply this they yes including Australia we can see here that God's judgment will come you know if a nation is wicked if they turn against the Lord God's judgment will come and brethren when you I'm to make you as an individual when you live a life of sin unconfessed sin okay prideful against the Lord you know not caring about the things of God God will bring his judgment upon you okay so point number four in order for you one aspect of getting right with God point number four is to rise early and fear the Lord rise early and fear the Lord act quickly have a fear of God in your life I promise you this if you have a fear of God you're going to walk more righteously you know children that have a fear of the parents right you know that I know if I disobey I know if I don't do this or that my parents are going to come with a rod and smack me they're going to correct me you know that fear can drive people to do what he's right well that's the same thing you know we need to rise early act quickly have a fear of the Lord upon us hey don't think well you know what I've been sinning hey where's God's judgment God's judgment is coming okay sometimes God just is long-suffering he's merciful he gives you time to get right with him before his judgment comes down but listen if you go a long time we've been far from the Lord when his judgment comes it's going to be hard okay it's going to be severe perpetual desolations God will take you down God will take you down even as his child okay if you turn against him if you rebel against him if you just have a healthy fear of God understand that God gets angry okay that God hates your your wicked ways and and you know God is giving you time you have that fear it's going to help you to walk in a righteous path point number four brethren was rise early and fear the Lord act quickly if you don't have a fear of the Lord today get one today get the fear of the Lord today can you please keep your finger there and go to Psalm 34 for me Psalm 34 Psalm 34 verse 11 Psalm 34 verse 11 how do we get the fear of the Lord Psalm 34 verse 11 it says come ye children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord you know what parents we need to teach our children the fear of the Lord you know pastors are supposed to teach their church the fear of the Lord okay and you know I don't know what you think of the Jeremiah series I don't know if you think it's too negative it's you know why did pastor choose this book to go through this year well you know what I'm teaching you the fear of the Lord okay that's what we command us to do to teach our children the fear of the Lord drop down to verse number 16 in the same Psalm it basically keeps going it starts to explain some of that fear of the Lord but in verse number 16 it says the face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth okay so notice this if you do evil God's face will be against you okay we think about the wicked nation we live in or all the the abortions and the wickedness the the adultery the fornication that's going on in our land guess what the Lord's face is against them that do evil if you remind yourself this man if I do evil if I sin God's face is going to be against me that's going to help you understand the fear of God develop that fear of God in your life back to Jeremiah 25 verse 11 Jeremiah 25 verse 11 parents teach your children the fear of the Lord okay it's good to teach them the love of God it's good to teach them the gospel and salvation it's good to teach them all those things but you must teach them the fear of the Lord you must teach them the fear of Lord this is what's going to get your children to walk in the right paths okay we're up to verse number 11 Jeremiah 25 verse 11 it says and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years this is the first time that the 70 years is mentioned I love the Bible it's so amazing like just the prophecies like God you know this this you know whatever you think of Jeremiah this proves that Jeremiah is a prophet of God because that's exactly how long the nation was on the Babylonian captivity for 70 years all right now I'm going to quickly read to you from Daniel chapter 9 you don't need to turn there Daniel chapter 9 as you know in the book of Daniel that he and his three friends they were taken into captivity during this time by the king of Babylon and there's something that I like what Daniel says in Daniel 9 verse 1 it says in the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus and the seed sorry of the seed of the Medes which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans this is this in the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years where of the word the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophets that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem okay so Daniel as is in captivity by the Babylonians he goes oh you know what I found the books of Daniel I started to read it during the first year of King Darius and there I learnt that we're going to be here for 70 years I just I love those little things I love those little you know connective things that we see in the Bible and what if a good man like Daniel is reading Jeremiah then you'd better get your head into Jeremiah as well okay it's such an important book there's so many great prophecies again don't think of this book as just something in the past as we keep going into this chapter you're going to notice there's a lot of relevant things about our future okay or at least the last generation of Christians that will go through the end times all right verse number two I'm not saying that when necessarily that that generation by the way I'm not here making a prophecy that Christ is going to come back in 10 years or 20 years let's have a quick story back in my sort of mid 20s I was attending a church and I kind of had a desire already then to become a pastor and I was thinking oh man what do I have to do go to Bible College okay Bible College they'd say it's like three or four years all right and then I'll have to probably go and they call it deputation where you go around churches and you ask churches that they're gonna basically help support you you know one church will give you $50 a month not just give you $50 a month not just might give you $100 a month another church might give you $20 a month so you're trying to you're going around churches it's called deputation you're trying to build up in enough support so you can go out there and start a church or something like that right something okay four years Bible College two years six years before I get out there and start a church that's what I was kind of thinking about mid mid 20s and then my pastor you know gets up and he goes you know what this was so what's my mid 20s what year was would have this been in the early 20 mid mid 20 tens or something right and is that right anyway yeah you guys know but he goes oh you know what I'll be surprised if Jesus doesn't come back in five years like if Jesus doesn't come back within five years I'm gonna be surprised the pastor said now he didn't say Jesus will come back in five years he just said I will be surprised and I just thought well that's my pastor right here's a me is a wise man of God he knows God's Word five years but for me six years before I start church I guess it's not gonna happen well I thank God I didn't go about Bible College to be honest but anyway I'm just trying to show you I'm not trying to put words I'm not please don't walk away with misunderstanding I'm not saying that we're gonna be the last generation we could be I don't know okay but the end times might still be a hundred years away two hundred years away we don't know okay it doesn't matter we hear what God's Word says and we do what God Word says regardless of what situation what period of time we're in and we make sure we do what is right okay what verse am I up to Jeremiah 25 verse 12 all right 12 and it shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the king of Babylon hold on God that was like the servants yep okay so this is what's great because Nebuchadnezzar is wicked now I believe he gets saved at the end his life but he's weak he's a wicked man at this point in time right and his kingdom is wicked they've got false gods and all these kinds of things and you might say well God it doesn't seem fair that you would use such wicked people you know such wicked authorities to make our life difficult you know to judge this nation God may use that as his servants but I promise you this God would judge those same people okay God would judge those same people and it says there I will that I'll punish the king of Babylon and that nation say for Lord for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans and will make it a perpetual desolations God is saying when I judge Babylon they're going to be destroyed forever that Babylon Kingdom of this day does not exist anymore okay but to the Jews those of Judah it wasn't this perpetual desolation because they knew that would be in captivity for 70 years and then that would be brought back into the land all right so we see God's judgment there between the Jews but also his judgment on the Babylonians the same people he would use to judge the Jews all right verse number 13 and I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it even all that is written in this book which Jeremiah have prophesied against look at this all the nations that includes Australia don't forget I keep saying this because I don't want you to feel detached from Jeremiah I want you to understand and see the day we live in is the same as what we see in Jeremiah all right verse number 14 for many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands so what's the promise the promise is that our nation will be judged by God okay God is a judge of the nation's then you know the wickedness that goes on in our land will not go unnoticed okay verse number 15 and he won't go unpunished verse number 15 for thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me now look at this take the wine cup of this fury at my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it and they shall drink and be moved and be mad because of the saw that I will send among them then took I the cup at the Lord's hand and made all the nations to drink unto whom the Lord have sent me so this is quite an interesting thing God would use Jeremiah with this I guess this prop you know Jeremiah as he would go not just after preaching to Judah he would go throughout the nations and he would take with him this cup all right this cup that would represent you know alcoholic wine all right and and so you know he would go with this illustration and say hey this will be the cup that you drink of this is God's judgment this is God's destruction that will come upon you you know I'm reminded with brother Dave when he gets up to preach doesn't he often like to bring like a little illustration I remember when you did a net near my didn't you have some bricks or something I remember I remember seeing some bricks what else you brought something else the yo that's what I'm thinking about I thought I thought you were hanging people you know brother you know brother brother Dave reminds me of this kind of preacher right he's got his little illustrations going around preaching or Jeremiah had a cup is going around the nations right say this cup represents God's judgment God's destruction upon you and then so you know he's not going around making people literally drink the cup it's just it's it's an illustration right it's it's to represent God's judgment you know this is actually this is wine because it makes them mad it makes them drunken in a sense okay and you know this is sort of beyond the scope of the sermon but why would you drink this substance you know the same substance that represents destruction that represents God's anger and God's wrath upon a wicked nation why then would you drink alcohol you know if it's to destroy a nation what's it going to do to you okay it'll destroy you as well let's keep going verse number 18 to wit or to witness Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and the kings thereof and the princes thereof to make them a desolation and astonishment and hissing and a curse as it is this day now we're going to go through a list of nations that God will judge verse number 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt and his servants and his princes and all his people and all the mingled people and all the kings of the land of Oz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines and Ashkelon and Azar and Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon and all the kings of Tyrus and the kings of Zion and the kings of the Isles which are beyond the sea the Isles are the the nations that are in the sort of Mediterranean region okay that's that they're referred to as the are the Isles verse number 23 Dedan and Timah and buzz and all that are out in the utmost corners and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the deserts and all the kings of Zimrai and all the kings of Elam and all the kings of the Medes and all the kings of the North Pharaone one with another I say oh man Australia's not mentioned thank God and all the kingdoms of the world which are upon the face of the earth that's all of them that includes us that includes our nation okay and it says and the king of Shishak shall drink after them now I'm not sure what Shishak is exactly I'll give you an idea that this this this sort of nation is mentioned twice in the Bible and only in the book of Jeremiah so if you can keep your finger there and go to Jeremiah 51 and Jeremiah 51 Jeremiah 51 verse 41 I don't think it's complex I think this is the correct interpretation but just in case I'm wrong it could be something else but I think Jeremiah 51 gets it right here Jeremiah 51 verse 41 Jeremiah 51 verse 41 it says how is Shishak taken so there it is and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations so what we see here in Jeremiah 51 verse 41 all the nations will be surprised when Babylon gets judged okay and then we saw the beginning of verse 41 how is Shishak taken so I believe Shishak is just another name for Babylon okay which kind of makes sense because God is using the Babylonians to go and and wipe out these nations all right to take him into captivity to kill to you know to pillage and then it says and the king of Shishak in verse number 26 Jeremiah 25 the king of Shishak shall drink after them so God will judge as we saw God will also judge Babylon once he's finished using them for his purposes all right verse number 27 therefore thou shall say unto them thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel drink ye and be drunken so you can see it's alcohol and spew and fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you and it shall be if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink then shalt thou say unto them thus saith the Lord of hosts you shall certainly drink you know what after Jeremiah's going around with his cup preaching their judgment God's going to the destroy you and they're like the people of the land of the other nations we're not gonna drink of that cup God's not gonna judge us you know we're not part of this judgment what's Jeremiah saying right you shall certainly drink even if you don't want to God's judgments gonna fall you know sometimes I when we go door-to-door soul winning you ask people and and maybe you say something like you know are you concerned after you show them that the sinner goes to hell that does not believe on Christ and they'll say something like well I don't believe in hell you know they'll say well I'm not worried cuz I didn't believe in hell well whether you believe in God's judgment or not okay you shall certainly drink they're gonna face God's judgment whether they want it or not okay it regardless if they believe it or don't believe it you know and here's the truth everybody believes us you know within the heart of man everybody knows that one day they're gonna stand before God it's just that these people that say they don't believe it they just don't want to think about it you know they don't want to acknowledge God that they don't like he having to consider those things well that's our job right our job is to preach them God's Word because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God now verse number I lost my place again verse on 29 29 for lo I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name and should ye be utterly unpunished ye shall not be unpunished for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth saith the Lord of hosts God promises he's going to bring he's gonna call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth okay God's gonna judge this whole earth okay and we saw the direct context of this is what the Babylonians okay and then the Babylonians will be destroyed right now this is where we want to take what we've read and apply it to the coming judgment of God you know God right now you know is holding his wrath to some extent okay one day his wrath is gonna fall civilly upon this earth the day of the Lord the day of God's wrath is coming it's not going to be toward just one nation it's going to be to the entire world we read about this in the book of Revelation and again I'm teaching you this because I don't want to feel this attached I don't want you to think well that was the past pastor Kevin you know we're living in relatively peace right now how does Jeremiah apply to us today well there's still a future to come we may be that final generation we don't know okay so keep your finger there and please go to Revelation the last book in the Bible Revelation chapter 14 Revelation chapter 14 Revelation chapter 14 where we're looking forward to a time when God will destroy this earth with his wrath when we read the book of Revelation these are the seven the seven trumpets and the seven vials okay in Revelation 14 verse number 10 I want you to notice the kind of language God uses to describe this coming judgment in Revelation 14 verse 10 it says the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb so God's wrath to come in the future the end times is being caught in same way this cup this cup of wine okay this cup of God's anger indignation his hatred toward wickedness and the ultimate destination for those that face God's wrath will be in the lake of fire tormented with fire and brimstone forever and ever Reverend God's judgment is coming on this wicked world sometimes I you know you have this mixed feeling you know you pardon me I want to see God's judgment on the wicked you know God please take out your enemies take on take these people out they hate you and that make our lives difficult but then I consider what they're gonna burn for all eternity you're right and this is where the other part of us we go out so win we try to preach the gospel and I try to get people into the kingdom of God that they would be right with God and not face this wrath we've got that kind of mixed emotion right as a believer but I don't don't move away from revelation we'll come back to a revelation chapter 14 but the fifth point that I have for you brethren on this topic of rising early rise early and rest on God's impending judgments rest on God's impending judgment you know it may seem sometimes that how is it that the wicked just get away we've just doing crazy things you know Christians sometimes even just read this in the book of Psalms Christians sometimes may get discouraged Lord I'm trying to live righteously I'm trying to live godly I'm trying to keep myself pure Lord but when I look at the rest of the world and I look at you know even those that aren't necessarily so wicked Lord they're living lives that are unholy and they just seem to prosper they seem to be so happy they seem to just be getting away with it Lord and and that can get you unsettled that can get you maybe even frustrated when you know you're trying to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord but the whole world is contrary to you hey they may even mock you in the way you live your life well the Bible tells us to rise early and rest okay rest on God's impending judgment it's coming the wicked will be judged God will balance the books okay the people that have done you wrong though the wicked people this ungodly world they have done you wrong whatever that wrong may be brethren it's not your responsibility to take vengeance it's not your responsibility to take judgment past judgment leave that in God's hands I promise you you will be much happier when you can rise early you act quickly don't delay and just say well God you balance the books you settle things maybe some of you have been cheated out of money out of great wealth maybe you've lent money to people and they've not paid you back you know maybe they've gone on a holiday and you know boy what you know why didn't you just pay back your loan that you promise to pay back okay you know what's gonna give you peace God's gonna balance the books well whatever wrong someone has done to me God will balance those books and you move on with your life whatever it is brethren whatever wrong they've done to you you know act quickly rise early and rest on God's impending judgment it is coming God's judgment is coming and listen God's timing is better than your timing okay God knows when it's the right time to pass judgments I'm glad God is merciful I'm glad God waits because some of us would not be here in this church right now if God acted quickly on his judgment and destroyed you okay so we need to afford that to other people you know that we give them time for God to get them rights or you give them time for God's wrath to be built up you know for God's judgment to come it's going to give you great peace rise early and rest on God's impending judgment I hope you're still there in Revelation 14 keep your finger there go back to Jeremiah 25 because I want to show you just the parallels with God's judgment you know between the book of Jeremiah and the book of Revelation verse number 30 it says therefore prophesy thou against them all these words and say unto them the Lord shall roar on high and utter his voice from his holy habitation he shall mightily roar upon his habitation he shall give a shout as they that shred the grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth what other parallel that we see here the treading out of grapes that's how you make your wine whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic the first process is to to trample on the grapes now you're there in Revelation 14 as well go back there and go to verse number 19 Revelation 14 verse number 19 again speaking about the end times wrath to come verse number 19 it says and the angel thrust any sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God and the winepress was trodden without the city and the blood came out of the winepress even unto the sorry unto the horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs you see the parallel there with Jeremiah tramping out the grapes well God's wrath is coming again it's coming severely okay it'll be like just the blood the bloodshed that's coming in the judgment of God it's you know I mean the imagery that God wants us to think about is the grapes being crushed and the juices just flowing out okay it's severe judgment that's coming on the earth keep your finger there in Revelation still let's go back to Jeremiah 25 verse number 31 Jeremiah 25 verse 31 the Bible reads a noise shall come even to the ends of the earth for the Lord have a controversy with the nations he will plead with all flesh and he will give them that are wicked to the sword save the Lord so I want you to notice that about the Lord he doesn't just start with destruction and judgment he pleads with all flesh okay that's the job of the preacher go out there speak God's Word I'm not saying preach behind the pulpit I'm saying as you preach God's the gospel you are a preacher all right you are pleading with all flesh believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved okay that is pleading but then if they don't listen to it they don't hearken God says it will give them that are wicked to the sword safe Lord verse number 32 thus saith the Lord of hosts behold evil shall go forth from nation to nation and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth and the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth they shall not be lamented neither gathered nor buried they shall be dung upon the ground and so the Lord sent us here when his judgment comes through you know again by the hands of the Babylon we saw this already in other chapters of Jeremiah where we saw that you know in Judah there's going to be bodies just laying on the ground slain bodies they're not going to have time to bury the bodies and you have wild beasts that will just come and devour the flesh okay well God is saying the same thing is going to happen to other nations the other nations that have rejected God they're not going to be the bodies aren't going to be gathered there's not enough time to lament you're not going to be able to mourn okay because of the of the captivity that's coming it says they shall be done upon the ground the idea of course you know it's like it's going to fertilize the ground it's just going to sit there it's going to rot away and again that reminds us of the end times okay so go back to Jeremiah Revelation now but this time Revelation chapter 19 and verse number 19 I just I just think the parallels between these two books that are too too great to ignore okay revelation 19 verse number 19 so this is toward the end of the wrath of God revelation 19 is the great chapter on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to establish his kingdom in verse number 19 revelation 19 19 the Bible says and I saw the beast that's another name for the Antichrist and the kings of the earth so multiple kings of the earth multiple nations and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army and the context of course the one on the horse is Jesus Christ verse number 20 and the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone but look at verse 21 and the remnants were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which saw proceed of out of his mouth who is and all the fowls were filled with their flesh so as as Christ comes and destroys these armies that are against him again their bodies aren't going to be buried these bodies just going to lay on the earth and the birds the predatory birds they're going to come and feast on the flesh of these people who's doing this by the way in revelation Jesus low meek Jesus okay the lowly meek Jesus that people think that's different from the God of the Old Testament it's Jesus doing this in the book of Revelation it's Jesus doing this in New Testament times guess which God is passing judgment on Babylon and the surrounding nations in Jeremiah the same Jesus the same Lord God it's the same wrath it's the same judgments it's the same person carrying out this okay again don't get in your head Jesus was soft and lowly and all love and he was different to the God of the book that's the father no it got there is one God and God is made up of Father Son and Holy Ghost okay Jesus is the same Jesus is the same God in the Old Testament the one that's destroying the Jews in the Old Testament is the same Jesus is destroying these nations in the book of Revelation don't forget that okay have a fear of the Lord have a fear of Christ okay we are his people we ought to be living in his ways now we're going to verse number 34 in Jeremiah 25 sorry Jeremiah 25 and verse number 34 so this is the last segment of this chapter and I want to pay attention to this if you're a leader if you have authority so me as a pastor yep applies to the church because it begins by saying there how ye shepherds we know Shepherd is another way of saying pastors so yeah this can be about pastors I'm not trying to remove myself from this equation but we'll assume that this is about anybody in authority this is about governments this is about politicians people in power okay you know this could be you know the employer in the workplace if they have authority in the workplace could be to them this is definitely to fathers you've got authority in your house you're the head of your house mothers you also you also have authority okay over your children okay so if you have authority you say well I'm not over anybody pastor Kevin well you got authority of yourself you know the new man is supposed to bring in line the old man that you battle with in the flesh okay so apply this and don't forget this is written the chapter started by Jeremiah prophesied to all the people of Judah and then he's prophesying to all the nations okay so this is not just about one office this is about anybody in authority verse number 34 how ye shepherds because why shepherds because shepherds lead a sheep they've got authority over the sheep so if you're a leader this is about you and cry and wallow yourselves in the ashes then it says this ye principle of the flock so principle means you're the head it's like in a school you've got your school principle he's kind of like the head of the school the same idea right so this is about the leader ye principle of the flock for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel and the shepherds shall have no way to flee nor the principle to the flock to escape our voice of the cry of the shepherds and inhaling of the principle of the flock shall be heard for the Lord have spoiled their pasture you know what the Lord can spoil your pasture the Lord can spoil those that you have authority over God can spoil the institution that you're over okay God can do you harm okay let's keep going verse number 37 and the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord he have forsaken his coverts as the lion for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor and because of his fierce anger okay so it God has been referred to in verse number 38 as a lion he had forsaken his covet or covet okay he's forsaken the place that he was hiding the lions come out and has destroyed the pasture the lions come out as destroyed the sheep the lion has come and destroyed the institution that God has put you over leaders fathers okay pay attention why is this happening because they refuse to hearken to the words of God they refuse to walk in God's ways okay and God says well I'm going to destroy your pastures I'm going to destroy your sheep the people that you are leading over it's going to be destroyed if you don't walk in my ways God will be like a lion that comes and destroys what you owe what you own what you're over okay this is a lesson to leaders the sixth point that I have for you brethren is rise early and lead okay rise early and lead lead the people that you're over in the ways of the Lord lead your family to instruct them to walk in God's ways lead your children to love the Lord to love the church to walk in God's ways lead those that you're over hey if you're an employer and you've got an employee and you see that employees slacking off and doing a bad job hey rise early act quickly don't delay help that person get right and be productive in the workplace you know what if I see a great sin in this church I ought to rise early act quickly don't delay and get that sorted in our church okay if we don't do it brethren if we don't act quickly if we don't lead the people that God has put us over God may very well come out as a lion and destroy okay why is it that I see so many children when they grow up leave church not want to be in the house of the Lord why is it that I see pastors children okay they grow up they don't care about church it breaks my heart that's one reason I did not want to become a pastor because I look at other pastors and I see the kids and I'm like man I don't want that to happen to my kids say why does that happen why does it happen because the pastor okay was too busy with his church and did not raise his children to love the Lord he did not spend time with his children okay we ought to raise our children we ought to be kept mindful about the people that we're over I need to be mindful about this church lead us in God's ways okay but we need to act quickly don't delay we see something not right we need to fix it you know it can be uncomfortable to fix sometimes all right but if you don't rise early God promises you destruction is pre promises you failure if you don't act quickly okay rise early and lead okay if you're a if you're a leader if you've got authority over whatever institution that may be rise early and lead so brethren in conclusion let me just give you those six points once again as we look through this chapter number one rise early and be a doer be a doer of his word number two rise early and go to church number three rise early and turn from your evil ways number four rise early and fear the Lord number five rise early and rest on God's impending judgment and number six rise early and lead okay let's pray heavenly father