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As I said, we're starting a new book, The Book of Lamentations, which is basically Jeremiah part two. Now it is only, uh, wait I better not get that right yet, five chapters. It is only five chapters long, not fifty-two chapters like Jeremiah was. And when we finished The Book of Jeremiah, I did consider going straight into Lamentations. I just felt that The Book of Jeremiah was too negative, too heavy, too sad, and I wanted to change the pace a little bit. The Book of Lamentations, what does Lamentations mean? It comes from the word lament. What does lament mean? To cry, to have sorrow, to have great burdens, and so it doesn't get any better for Jeremiah. Lamentations basically picks up where the end of Jeremiah left off, which was once the Babylonians came in and took the people into captivity, they burnt down the city of Jerusalem, burnt down the house of God, the temple, and the whole city is a mess. It's utterly destroyed, no one's living there, it's desolate, and the people are taken into captivity into a foreign land. And so we're picking it up from here. Jeremiah's seen, this city destroyed, besieged, and Lamentations is not only a history book, but it's also very poetic. Now just to give you sort of an idea about the poetry, and I suppose if someone is lamenting and mourning and weeping, you are going to get those expressions, you're going to get hyperbole and personification, all the kinds of poetry styles that people use, and that comes through in a lot of this book. You don't want to be the kind of person to say, I just like the Bible literally. We all do. But listen, when it's clearly poetic, you just have to understand what's taking place here. What you're seeing, a large chunk of this chapter is Jerusalem being described as a woman, and this woman is pleading to God. And so this represents Jerusalem. Jerusalem is being pictured as this woman, quite a filthy woman. But also I want you to notice something quite interesting, and I'm not going to explain it this week, but I'll explain it next week. But if you have a look at how many verses are there in chapter 1? 22. How many verses in chapter 2? Can you guys see chapter 2? 22 again. What about chapter 3? What's that? 22 times 3. How many verses in chapter 4? 22 and chapter 5? 22. Do you notice that this is not by accident, it's actually on purpose, because it is a work of poetry. And I'll get into all of that next week, but I just wanted to show you that this book, yes, is history, but it's also very poetic as well. And you have Jeremiah, he's weeping, he's known as the weeping prophet, and he also expresses the weeping and the mourning and the sorrow for the people of Jerusalem. So let's start there in verse number 1, actually let's start there in verse number 8. Let me just give you the title for the sermon. Verse number 8. It begins by saying Jerusalem have grievously sinned. So the title for the sermon this morning is Jerusalem have grievously sinned. And we know, if you know the book of Jeremiah, they've definitely sinned. They've definitely turned against the Lord, they've definitely gone and worshipped false gods, they've gone and sacrificed their children unto Moloch, they've gone and they've sought allegiances with other nations instead of seeking the Lord's strength and comfort. Hey, when Babylon came and the judgment of God came from Babylon, they did not recognize it as the judgment of God, they tried to fight against Babylon and it was a disaster for them. So let's start there in verse number 1, Lamentations 1-1. How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people? How is she become as a widow? She that was great among the nations, and princes among the provinces, how is she become tributary? So Jeremiah's thinking about the city, he's looking at it, it's a smoldering mess. It's been destroyed, it's been destroyed by fire. The walls are taken down, the beautiful temple of Solomon, Solomon has been destroyed, all the riches, all the wealth have been taken into a foreign field and now it's empty. It was full of people, now it's completely empty. Don't forget, what was Jeremiah's message from the book of Jeremiah? Was when the Babylonians come, surrender. And if you surrender, it's going to be difficult, it's going to be challenging, it's the judgment of God, you've been wicked, but it's going to work out better for you if you surrender, but if you argue, if you fight, if you push back, if you don't accept the new powers, then it's going to end badly for you. And so I just assume that Jeremiah's looking at the city now, on fire, destroyed, and thinking, boy, what if they just listened to the word of God? What if they just surrendered to Babylon, we would still have the temple, we would still have the city, we would not have been in such a bad place as if we just obeyed King Nebuchadnezzar. If we had just surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar and these new powers, we would not have been in such a bad place. And so Jeremiah here is weeping, okay, verse number two, now he speaks about the city itself. She weepeth so in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks. Now, does Jerusalem really have cheeks and tears? No. This is personification, right? You're taking something that is not a human being and giving a human attribute. So I just want to show you this is clearly poetic. And again, when it's clearly poetic, don't start saying, well, I'll just take the Bible literally and start creating doctrines on things that are poetic or illustrative, okay? Because then you're going to end up in crazy doctrines, you're going to end up in crazy heresies, okay? Things that are poetic, things are stories, parables, illustrations, these are to help understand and illustrate the clear commandments of God, okay? Not to be created separate doctrines on the illustrations and poetry alone, okay? But it says her tears are on her cheeks. So the people of Jerusalem, they're weeping, right? They've been taken away into captivity. It says, among all her lovers, she have none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies. Now the reason why Jerusalem is described as a woman who has lovers, you know, is because she's been described as a prostitute, okay? As a harlot. That instead of being faithful to the Lord God, instead of worshipping God and putting him first, no, they had turned to false gods and they had committed spiritual adultery. Keep your finger there and go to Jeremiah chapter 2. Go to Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse number 20. Now as we go through the book of Lamentations, every now and again I'm going to bring you back to the book of Jeremiah just to remind you of what was mentioned before because it gives the context for Lamentations. But Jeremiah chapter 2 verse number 20, it says here, for of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy band. So God is saying, look, in the past I freed you. Again, I was being freed from Egypt, from the Egyptian, from Pharaoh, from the armies of Pharaoh. And then it says, and burst thy bands and thou saidst, I will not transgress, when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, plain the harlot. So notice in the book of Jeremiah, he refers to Jerusalem and to Judah as a harlot. And of course a harlot is a prostitute. Now she's gone to the high hills and every green tree. This is because this is where they would set up their idols. They would go to a high place and create idols. They would go to a tree and set up some object and give worship there. And so she was playing this spiritual adultery, the people of Jerusalem. And God looks down at that nation that has not got God as his God, but has other gods that they worship and sees that nation or sees that city as a prostitute or as a harlot. And so she's got all these lovers. She's got all these false gods that she worships. She's got all these other nations that she's built allegiances with. But what did it say there? She sought them, in verse number 2, that among all her lovers she have none to comfort her. When all the lovers, when all the false gods and the devils saw that God's judgment was coming, they did not try to comfort her. They realized, man, I've got to get out of the way. I'm not here to help Jerusalem. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies. So there was none to help her. There was none to comfort her. And you know, we can take a lesson out of this. We need to be careful about the kinds of friends that we make. There are friends that want you to be around. They want to use you. They want to take advantage of you. They'll be a negative influence on you. But when you're going through a hard time, they're going to turn their backs. They're going to become, as it were, your enemies. They're not going to be there to comfort you. Brethren, those are bad friends. Let me encourage you to make friends of God's children. Let me encourage you to make friends within this church. It doesn't matter how old we are, brethren. Sometimes people say, well, I go to this church, but there's no one my age. There's only older people here. There's only younger people here. There's no one in my age bracket. It's hard for me to make friends. We're all God's people. We're brothers and sisters in the Lord. Probably the best friendship that we're familiar with in the Bible, who would it be? Anyone want to take a guess? David and Jonathan. David and Jonathan. And they were one generation apart in difference. Like Jonathan was old enough to be David's father. And they were best friends. They were best friends. Age should not be an issue when it comes to making friends with God's people. Ideally, this is where our best friends should come from. Our family friends. Be careful with the kind of friends that you develop because when things get difficult for you, they can easily, just like Jerusalem, turn their backs upon you. Verse number three. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction and because of great servitude. So let's understand that. It's not saying she's going to captivity and will be afflicted and will be of great service. Now Jerusalem will be afflicted and of great service to Babylon, but that's not why it's going to captivity. It's saying the reason it's going to captivity is because Judah had caused affliction. Because Judah had caused great servitude. Now we'll soon see and understand that. It says she dwelleth among the heathen. So this is again in captivity. She findeth no rest. All her persecutors overtook her between the straits. So what verse number three is teaching us is that Judah is reaping what it sowed. Judah had caused afflictions. Judah had caused great servitude on others. And now it's time for Judah and Jerusalem to be afflicted and to suffer the same consequences. Now keep your finger there. Let me just remind you of what this is. Go to Jeremiah 34. Go to Jeremiah 34, please. Jeremiah 34, verse number 13. Jeremiah 34, verse number 13. Let me give you the context once again of what's taking place. He had become aware for the king of Jerusalem, the king of Judah at this point in time, that one of the reasons God was so angry at this nation is because the people had their servants and they were serving beyond the time that was required of them. They were not keeping the Sabbaths is what was going on, right? If you took on a worker, an employee, a servant, you could only have them work for a maximum of six years. And on the Sabbath year, you were to let them go free, okay? It's not slavery. People allowed themselves to be put on the servitude, to earn an income, to pay their bills, to pay off their debts, whatever it was, but they were not allowed to serve longer than six years unless they themselves, the servants, decided to do that. But that's a different topic, okay? But the masters were to let their servants go at the end of six years. Now that did not take place. And so the king was aware God is angry at us because we're not following the commandments that he gave us. We're holding these servants longer and we're afflicting them longer than we should. And so he commanded the rich people to let their servants go and they did. And they did that for a little while. God was happy and then they went back and took all the servants back to serve them once again, okay? And then, and we want, you know, if you want to go back to the story, you can go back and listen to the sermon there in Jeremiah 34. But look at verse number 13, Jeremiah 34, verse number 13. This is what God says. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondmen, saying, Look, I delivered you from the bondmen. I made you free. I gave you liberties, okay? Verse number 14. At the end of seven years, let ye go, every man his brother and Hebrew, which he hath, sorry, seven years, I said six years, at the end of seven years, let ye go, every man his brother and Hebrew, which he hath sold unto thee. Oh, it is. When he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. Okay? So God is telling them, I'm angry at you because I let you go free. I took you from the bondmen. I gave you freedoms. I gave you liberty. But now you're taking servants and you're not giving them liberty. Okay? Yeah, they fulfilled their time. They fulfilled their six years. Now you're meant to let them go free. And because of that, the whole nation was to be taken into servitude. They're reaping what they sold. Brethren, let that be a lesson for you. You will reap what you sow. Okay? Hey, you can reap for eternity. You can reap and have your eyes on heaven and do the works of God and you'll reap in heaven times a hundred, a hundredfold. There are great rewards to be having in heaven. Okay? You know, for the men that went soul winning today. Actually, I shouldn't say that online. You went soul winning today. You spent the hour. You know what? You're going to get rewarded in heaven. That hour of soul winning becomes 100 hours of rewards in heaven. Okay? Everything in heaven is 100 times, brethren. Okay? You can reap that way or you can reap to this earth. You can reap to the carnal things. You can reap to this flesh. And brethren, it just causes corruption, turmoil, heartbreak, sorrow. But God will make sure that you will reap what you sow. Okay? Make sure you reap to the new man. Don't reap to the old man. Okay? You reap to the old man. You give what the old man wants. It's going to be stronger at the time of temptation. You're going to give in to the sins. You're going to face the consequences of your sins and you will be punished. Okay? So, be aware of that. This happened to them. God was merciful. He gave them generation after generation to get right with God. But at some point, he says, no, now you're going to reap what you sow. Okay? So, let's be careful as well. Let's not make the same mistakes. Let's keep going. Verse number four. The ways of Zion do mourn because none come to the solemn feasts. Okay? So, the ways of Zion. Zion is just another way of saying Jerusalem in this book. Okay? Zion can also be heaven sometimes, but in the context here, it's about Jerusalem. Now, the ways of Zion is basically your streets that would lead to different gates of Jerusalem. Okay? Different ways. The in and out of the city. So, the ways of Zion do mourn because none come to the solemn feasts. Okay? So, of course, Jerusalem was a place where people would come and they would celebrate and do their feasts. The Passover, for example. You know, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. All the different feasts that were found in the Bible. You know, you'd have traffic coming in and out of the city. But right now, those ways, those streets are empty. It says all her gates are desolate. Her priests sigh. Her virgins are afflicted. And she is in bitterness. She is in bitterness. Now, she is the one that did wrong. She is the one that had turned against God. Okay? And now she's being afflicted. Okay? Now there's no parties. There's no feasts going on. There's no joy. She's become bitter. And, you know, I would say, I used to think pride is the worst sin you could have. And I still think it's really up there. It's highly up there. But I think bitterness is even worse. I think out of any sin that I could struggle with, the one that I hate struggling with the most is bitterness. Okay? What is bitterness? Well, kind of bitter. We think of being sour. You know, it's basically when someone has done you wrong, or you think they've done you wrong. Sometimes you think they've done you wrong and they haven't. And you just stew over that. And you just think negative thoughts about that person. And you're like, when is that person going to apologize? When is that person going to make things right? And then you start thinking, I hope something bad happens to them. And you start planning your revenge. And you think, what can I do? You know, I wish that person would be hurt. I wish that person would die. And you start to become bitter. You become negative. And your whole outlook to life becomes negative. And you feel like you're getting something off your chest because you're so bitter about this person. But you know that person that you're bitter against? They're just going about life as normal. They have no idea that you're bitter because it's within. It's this poison within. And the only person it's hurting is yourself. And it's hurting those that love you. Okay? Bitterness. And so, brethren, sometimes you can become bitter, yes, because someone has done you wrong. That could happen. Okay? But you can also become bitter because you've done wrong. And you're not willing to accept that God has judged me. God has brought his hand of chastisement upon me. And you just don't want to blame yourself. You don't want to take responsibility for your actions. And you start to become bitter because now you're not happy. You're not having the feasts anymore. You know, you become bitter because you know you're afflicted by the hand of God. You know, please, don't let bitterness grow in your heart. Ephesians 4.31 says, let all bitterness, all bitterness, brethren, all of it. You say, I'm only a bit of a little bit. All of it. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Bitterness is the worst thing. It doesn't help. It just destroys you, destroys those that you love. It doesn't afflict the person you're bitter against. Okay? So don't waste your time with bitterness. Leave it in God's hands. Verse number five. Her adversaries are the chief. Her enemies prosper. This ties in with bitterness again. Okay? For the Lord have afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. And, you know, sometimes that bitterness grows in you. You know, again, you might think this person, this brother, this sister, this manager in the workplace has done me wrong. Right? They've done me wrong. And then you look at it like in verse number five. Her enemies prosper. You look at these people and they just seem to be doing well. You're like, come on. I want them to fail. I want them to fall. Brethren, I've been there. I know what I'm talking about. Okay? I know you've been there too. You know, you just want someone to fall. You want someone to be ashamed. You want everybody to know how wicked they are because of what they did to you. All right? Because you look at them prospering. It just frustrates you. You know? Things aren't good for you. They're doing well. You become bitter about it. Brethren, that ought not to be the case. You know what? If they prosper, just forget about it. Okay? Leave it with God. You know, Romans 12 19 says, You know why that's important? Because as I said, sometimes you can become bitter at someone. You think they've done wrong to you, but they haven't. You think they have. Right? You've come up with your evil surmises in your brain. You think this person's out to get me. You start becoming, you know, what's the word? Paranoid. You know, everyone's out to get me. And no one cares about you. Like, you know, they're just going about their business. They're just hoping you're going about your business. But you think someone has said something. Someone thinks bad about me. You become bitter about that person and you want to see them fall. Brethren, that's not the case. You know, the reason I think I preach a lot about Romans 12 19, about, you know, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I repay saith the Lord. And that's because I remember I struggled with this. You know, as a young teenager, going into high school, you know, it's a big change, right? You go from primary school into high school. It's a big change. You know, in primary school, you think you're the top dog when you're in year six. Then you go to high school in year seven and you realise, man, I'm just this little, you know, I'm this little weasel, you know, compared to everyone else. You know, some of those people, those kids in year 11 and 12, they look like adults, you know, with their beards and, you know, you're just a little guy and, you know, you're just trying to make your way through the new system through high school. Some of those people pick on you and they laugh at you. And I'm just getting frustrated and bitter and angry, you know. And then I just remember reading this verse and going, oh, man, that's all I have to do. I just have to give it to God, you know, and if they've done me wrong, then God's going to take vengeance. And I just left it at that. It didn't bother me anymore. You know, people can do me a lot of wrong and it just won't bother me. It'll bother me a little bit. I'll go to God in prayer and say, God, can you sort this out? But then once I get taken to God, it's over. It's over with. I want to deal with that bitterness, that root of bitterness, because it doesn't help anyone. All right. Let's keep going. Verse number six. And from the daughter of Zion, all her beauty is departed. Her princes are become like hearts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. So there's no beauty in the city of Jerusalem. Her princes, that's the people in authority, become like hearts that find no pasture. Hearts is like a deer and they can't find any pasture, cannot find a place to rest. And they are gone without strength before the pursuer. So the authorities in the city of Jerusalem are being weakened, because they can't find a place to rest, and they've been taken by the hunter, as it were, right? So hunter going after the deer. This is what's happened to the princes, the people in authority in Jerusalem. They've been taken over by this new power, by this Babylon. Verse number seven. Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy and none did help her, the adversaries saw her and did mock at her sabbaths. I like verse number seven, okay? Because I think we can relate. You know, before church, you know, we've only had church for the past three weeks, roughly. Before that, we've not had church for four months. Think about that. No church for four months. You know, that's a big deal. I don't know if you felt that. I felt it, you know, as a pastor. I was sad not to have church. And what we notice here in verse number seven, you know, when Jeremiah is preaching about the coming judgment of Babylon, you know, when you look at the book of Jeremiah, they didn't believe him. In fact, they hated his message. In fact, there were false prophets that would rise up and preach the opposite to what Jeremiah was preaching, okay? But notice that once Jerusalem is taken into captivity, once Jerusalem is dealing with affliction and miseries, then she remembers the days, okay? Jerusalem remembers in the days, what? All her pleasant things that she had in the days of old. You know why I'm so happy that we've gone through lockdowns and restrictions and mandates? Why? I just rejoice at it. You know, people ring me up from America and they say, Oh, man, you know, I'm praying for you, brother. I can't wait for the lockdowns and the mandates to go away so life can go back to normal. And I say, don't pray for that. Pray that God will keep the mandates. Pray that God will keep the lockdowns until we learn to appreciate church, until we learn to appreciate soul winning, until we learn to appreciate God's house and the pleasant things that we have in Australia because we've taken it for granted, brethren. And I'm not just talking our church. I'm saying our nation has taken our freedoms, our liberties, our religious freedoms to be in church for granted. And the last four months of affliction, of not being able to be in the house of God, you know what, I remember the old days. I remember the days that we can enjoy the pleasant things and I realized I just took it for granted. I came to church thinking we're going to have church next week. You know, I thought I could skip this service because we're just going to have service midweek. I skipped that midweek service because I know we're going to have church on Sunday. And then one day there was no church on Sunday. One day there was no church in midweek. One day there was no church that week. One day there was no church that month and the next month and the next month and I don't even know when we could have church again. Praise God we're back in the house of God. But I hope you've learned during this process, brethren, to take the lessons, to thank God for the blessings that he's given us. You know, as wicked as Australia is, and it is wicked, we should still be thankful for the blessings, for the freedoms that we have in this country. It's still one of the better countries in the world. Come on. But it's still wicked. It's still wicked. God's judgment is falling on this nation and hopefully he's letting it free a little bit. Hopefully he's opening things up, allowing us to open up a little bit, but I don't know. Again, you know, when it was 2020, I had preached to you guys at the end of 2020, 2021 could be worse. And it was worse. And I'll just say it again, 2022 could be even worse. I don't know. I'm just throwing it out there. It could be bad for 70 years until the captivity is over. I don't know how long this captivity will last, brethren. But learn to be thankful for everything that God has given us and stop taking the things of God for granted. We're back in church now. We haven't been in church for four months. I hope you guys, not for my sake, I just hope you keep coming to church and realize I better be here as every service that I can because I don't know if I'm going to have it next week. I think that's a good way to look at church. I'm going to appreciate it now. I want to see my brothers and sisters now and enjoy their company now. Verse number eight. Jerusalem have grievously sinned. That's the title for the sermon. Therefore she is removed. All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness. Yea, she sigheth and turneth backwards. So seeing her nakedness, again, this city is referenced as a woman. Again, seeing the nakedness, like we learn in the book of Genesis, is seeing your shame. When you're naked, you're ashamed. So Jerusalem had become ashamed because he had grievously sinned against the Lord. She had gone whoring after worldly pleasures. She had gone whoring after false gods. And as it were, she was committed to spiritual adultery. Verse number nine. Her filthiness is in her skirts. She remembered not her last end. Therefore she came down wonderfully. She had no comforter. Now Jerusalem is speaking. Back to the Lord. O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy hath magnified himself. So this prostitute of a woman, this city, Jerusalem, it's saying that her filthiness is in her skirts. So the evidence of her unfaithfulness is there on her clothing, basically. You know, without getting too graphic. And so it's very clear that she's been against God. It's very clear that she should be ashamed. It's very clear that she's not been serving God the way she should. And that's why, you know, all the nations, all her lovers, all the false gods that she worshipped have turned against her. It says she had no comforter. Okay? But you start to see that Jerusalem, which was full of pride, that hated the preaching of God's word, that hated Jeremiah, that even locked up Jeremiah. Remember that? Even threw him into a dungeon. Jerusalem starts to wake up about herself once she's in affliction. Because she says at the end of verse 9, O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy hath magnified himself. Finally, the people of Jerusalem, once they're taken away, once they lose their freedoms, once they lose their rights, once they lose all their blessings, then they start to turn back to God. Say, God, I'm afflicted. O Lord, I'm afflicted. They turn back to the right God, no longer turning to the lovers of old. Keep your finger there and go to James chapter 4. Please go to James chapter 4, please. Turn to James chapter 4 and verse number 3. Because I want to show you that this is also a New Testament principle here that we're reading about. Okay? And while Lamentations is about a city, James chapter 4 is about each one of us individually. Okay? James chapter 4 and verse number 3. James chapter 4 and verse number 3 reads, Ye ask and receive the word of God, Ye ask and receive not. So sometimes you might go to prayer and you won't receive the answer to your prayer. Why? Because ye ask amiss. You're not asking for the right things, God says. Okay? That ye may consume it upon your lusts. You know what, if I go to prayer right now and say, God, please give me a Ferrari, I'm not going to get it. Unless Les sells his car and buys me one. I'm not going to get it, brethren. Okay? Now he's thinking I might do it. No, Les, no, it's all right. Look, sometimes if we ask things in accordance to our lusts, God says you're asking amiss, you're not going to have the answer to your prayers. Okay? We can either pray righteous prayers according to the will of God, or sometimes we accidentally pray for our own desires, our own lusts. Now let's keep going there in verse number 4. It says ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoso therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. What is that saying? That you as well as an individual can be an adulterer as well, against the Lord. When you have your lusts, when you have your earthly passions that you love, when you go before God and you're seeking worldly pleasures, God says you're an adulterer, just like the woman of Jerusalem, a harlot, a prostitute. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? You know what, this world, the pleasures of this world, the carnal riches that we can have here, that's not where we set our hearts. You set your heart upon this world, God calls you an adulterer. You know why? Because you love the world more than you love God. You know, you go to prayer and you pray for things that you're lusting over. You're showing God that you love the world, that you're an adulterer. You know, so we need to learn this, right? We see this stuff happen to Jerusalem. Hey, it can happen to us. I have no doubt that we've all once prayed, hopefully just once and learned the lesson, but I have no doubt we've prayed or maybe we even prayed today for things that we're lusting over, things that we could just desire, that has no eternal value, that's just for here and now, so we can be at peace or that we can enjoy the pleasures of this world. You know, if you love this world, brethren, you don't love the Father. You haven't got the love of the Father as we saw in 1 John, okay? I don't want to see you guys as spiritual adulterers in the eyes of God. You know, as spiritual harlots. You know, so we see this lesson in the New Testament. You know, this obviously comes from the lessons that we see in Jerusalem when they were taken into captivity. Back to Lamentations 1, verse number 10. Lamentations 1, verse number 10. It says the adversary has spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things, for she has seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation. So again, this is Jerusalem speaking to God, okay? It says the adversary has entered into the sanctuary that the heathen have. So what's the sanctuary referring to here? It's a temple, okay? Solomon's temple, the house of God as it was known in the Old Testament. The adversaries have come in and laid his hand on her pleasant things. You know, the gold, the silver, all the riches that belong to the temple, the Babylonians came in and took it for themselves, okay? And Jerusalem is reminding God that the heathen entered into the sanctuary whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation, okay? And again, you know, our situation, okay? What is the house of God in the New Testament? The local church, you know? And as I said, we went four months without church because of the heathen. Because the heathen, you know, put their nose in the business of the sanctuary of God, the house of God. Is it right for them to do that? No. They've got no business in the church of God. They've got no business in the congregation of God. But listen, when God's judgment falls upon a nation, that's what happens. These people that don't have a right in God's house, they enter and they tell you, you know, when you can meet, how often you can meet, how many people you can have, how you can sing, you know? And it's frustrating, brethren, but you need to understand that this is the judgment of God we're dealing with, okay? God is angry at Australia and God has allowed the heathen to flex their muscles even in the sanctuary of God. So we went four months without church because of the stupid emergency powers that these politicians have taken for themselves. And yes, they are stupid people, okay? But I still honour their authority. Do you understand? You know, do you think that growing up as a child, I always agreed with my mum and dad's instructions? Not always, but I still honour their authority. You know, if my mum said, go and clean up your room, my dad told me to do something, I might not like it, but I'll do it anyway because it's the authority, okay? We need to remember this. You may not always agree. When it comes to the running of the church, you may not always agree with me. But there's authority, okay? You've got to honour your authorities. You go to work, you may not agree with your manager, with your employer, okay? But guess what? You're their servants. You're under the yoke, the Bible says, okay? You obey what your employer requires from you, even if you don't agree. I'm not talking about sin here. Wickedness and sin is a different thing, okay? But the same thing happened, you know? Okay, we missed out for four months of church. We have church now ongoing, it doesn't stop. These guys had the temple burnt down. And not just the temple burnt down, the whole city destroyed, the walls destroyed. They could not have church, brethren, as it were, the house of God, in the temple of God for 70 years until they rebuilt that place. How would you go with that church for 70 years, you know? It's the same themes that we see again, Jeremiah and Lamentations as well. Let's keep going, verse number 11. All her people sigh, they seek bread, they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul. See, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile. Now, verse number 11 may not seem like much, but actually there's a lot here, okay? So, you may recall that when Babylon came, the final siege, that siege lasted for a year and a half, okay? And I kind of tried to parallel with saying it, you know, basically, since COVID lockdowns, restrictions started around March, April last year, whatever it was, and it's been about a year and a half, okay? But it was worse for them. Their entire city was under siege. You could not go in or out. So, what would happen if you can't go in and out? You can't bring in goods, you can't bring in fresh food, okay? All you're left with is to survive with whatever in the city, you know, for a year and a half, okay? So, what happened? People sigh, they seek bread, they run out of food. The people, right? They have given their pleasant things for meat. They started to sell all their precious things, right? I mean, you know, the cost of food was so expensive. You know, you'd sell your wedding rings, you know, you'd find your gold, you'd find your precious ornaments, and you tried to give that away for bread, but bread was more expensive than even the pleasant things, okay? For meat to relieve the soul, oh Lord, and consider for I am become vile. Jerusalem became vile. I'm not going to go into too much detail right now because we learn more about it, but this is just a warning for the parents that have children, because when we get to chapter 4, the people did some horrific things to feed themselves. You know, even cannibalism. You know, even cannibalism to feed themselves. So, you know, we don't get a lot of detail, thank God, about some of the graphic side of it, but things were really bad. You know, they were desperate for food, you know. They were hungry and, you know, you can't blame the Babylonians. Jeremiah said surrender, okay? They surrendered, they would still have their city. They wouldn't need to rebuild it. If they surrendered, they would still have the temple. They wouldn't have to remake it, okay? If they surrendered, they wouldn't go hungry. If they surrendered, they wouldn't become cannibals. And so the city had become vile. Definitely had become vile. Verse number 12. So Jerusalem is looking at all the surrounding nations. Egypt and the Philistines and whoever else is, you know, around and saying, Is it nothing to you? Like, we're under siege. We're being taken into captivity. This wicked power is destroying our city. Is it nothing to you? They're just saying, Aren't you going to come and help us? Yeah, the other nations are like, Hey, man, I'm not going to help you. You know, this is, haven't you been listening to Jeremiah? Jeremiah's not only preached to Judah, he's been preaching to all the nations and saying, God's judgment is coming, okay? Yeah, stay out of your business. When God starts judging someone, when God starts judging a nation, just step out of the way, brethren. Say, God, do your business if you have to, okay? But I want you to notice, not only has Jerusalem and the Jews now been taken, they start turning to the Lord, asking the Lord, Look upon my affliction. Just like in Egypt, they were praying to God and God would hear their affliction in Egypt. Do you notice that these afflictions, these hardships are causing these Jews to return back to God? The next generations to come back. Because what do they say here? It says in verse number four, at the end of verse number 14, The Lord hath delivered me, is that what I'm up to? 13. Sorry. Yeah, he have made me desolate and faint all the day. So the Jews are starting to realize this is God's judgment. Jeremiah was right. God is angry at us. God is judging us. They're starting to realize we are wicked. We are vile. We have been disgusting people. We do deserve this. And brethren, sometimes you may go through hardship. I'm not saying every hardship. I'm saying you may go through hardship and difficulties. And you know, you're just full of pride and you just want to accept that you're at fault. You don't want to accept that God is judging you. And yet God is bringing you low. God is bringing judgment. And the only thing that's going to alleviate, brethren, is when you turn around and say, boy, God, yes, I am wicked. Yes, I have sinned against you. Yes, I have been full of pride. Yes, Lord, you are angry at me. Please forgive me. You know, humble yourself before an almighty God. But they start to turn around. Their hearts are turning. Their minds are changing. They realize they've done wrong against the Lord. This is why lamentation is so important with the book of Jeremiah. Because you end Jeremiah thinking, man, these guys are just like the worst. And they were. It was a reprobate generation. Remember that. They were bad. They were horrible people. But the good thing about lamentation is you start to see their hearts, they're now starting to wake up to themselves. They wake up to their wickedness and they start turning back to God. Verse number 14. Oh, it was verse number 12 that I read. Well, look at the end of verse number 12. Wherewith the Lord have afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. They've recognized, yet God has afflicted me. God is angry at me. Verse number 13. From above he hath sent a fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them. He hath spread a net for my feet. He hath turned me back. He hath made me desolate and faint all the day. So they're explaining, yet God is the one that has set fire to my bones. It was Babylon. Babylon's the one that set fire to the city. Babylon's the one destroying the temple of God. But they recognize, no, it's actually God. God's allowed this nation to judge us, to set fire upon us, to spread a net, to capture us, to take us into captivity. So I just want you to notice once again, they are recognizing that this is the hand of God. Verse number 14. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand. They are reaved and come up upon my neck. He hath made my strength to fall. Look, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands. For whom am I not able to rise up? Say, Pastor Kevin, you know, we've not been at our church for four months. You're unvaccinated. You can't go to a restaurant. You can't go to Big W. You can't go to different places. You're not meant to visit anybody. How do you feel about that? I don't know. But look, verse number 14. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand. I just say, well, if God's allowed it, God's allowed it. It's by his hand. It's God's business. It's God's business. I'm not going to argue against the Lord. I personally believe I've tried to live as righteously as I can with this sinful flesh. You know, trying to lead this church as best as I know how. But I also recognize I live in a wicked country. You know, I recognize that we have wicked politicians. I recognize that our mothers are murdering their own babies in their womb every single day. You know, I recognize that our politicians are trying to bring in assisted suicide. You know, this is a nation of death. And if this nation wants death so much, then I guess God's going to give it to it. And these are the consequences of living in a wicked nation. But the Lord allows. The Lord allows captivity. The Lord allows the yoke to fall upon our hands or upon our necks. It says that it came upon my neck. So just keep your finger there. Just go back to Jeremiah 28, please. Jeremiah 28, verse number 14. Jeremiah 28, verse number 14. Jeremiah 28, verse number 14. It says, For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, and I have given him the beasts of the field also. So who put this yoke upon the necks of the Jews? The Lord did. Yeah, the Lord did. To serve Babylon. And I know, I know you guys. I know some of you guys, you know, the truth of the guys and the conspiracy guys. You don't want to bow your head to Babylon. But if God's doing it, if God's putting the yoke on your neck, brethren, what are you going to do? You don't have to honor Babylon. Just honor God. You know, give God honor, a due honor. It's up to him. He knows best. He knows best. As I said, I'm not praying that these restrictions just go away. I want them to stay as long as they are fruitful. I want them to stay as long as they're profitable. You know, if the yoke has to be heavy upon our necks, then there must be more lessons that God needs to teach me while this yoke is upon my neck. Okay? That's the right attitude, brethren. That's what actually gives you joy. Because then you know it's all in God's hands. And I'm a child of God. I'm a son of God. And know that everything's going to work for my profit as long as I honor and uphold the name of the Lord God, everything's going to work out best. The best that it can be. It doesn't matter what situation we find ourselves in, brethren. You know, we need to learn how to be content in whatever scenario we find ourselves in. And maybe, yeah, maybe our hearts are far from God. Maybe we need to turn our hearts to the Lord more than we ever have. You know? And be thankful that God has given us these opportunities. Now remember, that's the unpopular preaching from Jeremiah. But then we had the false prophet Hananiah who preached the opposite. I'm like, no, this yoke is not from the Lord. The Lord's going to deliver us from this yoke and we're not going to be, you know, we're going to be delivered from the hand of the Babylonians. They're going to flee from us, was Hananiah, the false prophet. Okay? And then he dropped dead after Jeremiah preached and his judgment against him. So just because something is nice to the ear doesn't mean it's coming from the Lord. Many times God's preaching is not going to be things you want to receive. Okay? It's going to make your pride uncomfortable. But, you know, I'm here to preach God's word. That's what we come to church for, to hear God's word. Let's keep going. Lamentations chapter 1, verse number 15. The Lord have trodden underfoot all my mighty men in the midst of me. So my strongest warriors destroyed by the hand of God. And under his foot. He have called an assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord have trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress. So the winepress, again, you guys are familiar with this, you know, often is used to illustrate the wrath of God. And that winepress is coming out once again in the near future. Maybe not in the near future, but who knows? Okay? There is a future time. We know the wrath of God is coming. When Christ comes back and raptures his saints, you know, it's going to be the day of God's wrath, the seven trumpets and seven vials, and the Bible tells us in Revelation 14, 19, and the angel thrust in his sequel into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Brethren, God's not done with his wrath on this earth, okay? He poured it out in the days of Babylon and Judah here, okay? He's poured it out several times over, but that winepress is coming out, brethren. You know, God's going to trample upon the wickedness of this earth once again, okay? And I think if we're paying attention to the world, we're starting to see more and more that these days are coming. Again, I don't know how far away it is. Hopefully it's not too close. Hopefully we have more time to prepare for future times. It may not even be in our generation. It may not even be in our children's generation. But whatever the case is, we need to prepare ourselves and understand this wickedness is going to be trampled under the foot of God. But thank God, if we are going to be that generation, we're going to be raptured, we're going to be delivered before God pours out his wrath on this world. Verse number 16. For these things I weep, mine eye. Mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me. My children are desolate because the enemy prevailed. Now when we think about this weeping and this sorrow, it's happening because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me. Now remember we started this chapter Jerusalem is looking for comfort from her lovers. It's not getting it. Now we're looking for a specific comforter, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me. You see, the Spirit of God had departed from Jerusalem. The presence of God was not there with the people and was not there in the temple of God anymore. But I thank God that we live in New Testament times, brethren, because in John chapter 14, verse number 26, the words of Jesus, he says, But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. When Christ returned back to the Father, he prayed that the Father would send the comforter, the Holy Ghost. One of the big differences with the New Testament is that when you're saved, you have the Holy Ghost indwell every believer. Every believer. In the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost would come upon believers and empower them for a period of time. Many times, the Holy Ghost, Samson, for example, every time he had his show of strength, the Holy Spirit would come upon Samson and empower him. He was still saved. He was always saved. Salvation is by being born of the Spirit. Anyone that was saved in the Old Testament and New Testament has been born of the Spirit. But the big change in the New Testament is that we have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Ghost within us. Meaning we constantly have the comforter right there inside of us anytime we weep, anytime we're sorrowing, anytime we're crying. But when we do turn against God, it does seem like that God is far away. It does seem like his presence is far. But don't forget, the comforter is there. You can always turn back to God, pray before the Lord, and ask him for his mercies, ask him for forgiveness of your sins, ask that the Holy Spirit will comfort you and guide you in his word, and he will do that. So truly, we have the comforter that indwells with us and is never truly far. He's never far. In the Old Testament days, he was far when they were a wicked nation. Verse 17. Alright, so the city is described as this woman, and this woman now, as it were, illustratively, purpose, she's going through a menstrual cycle. Now, why is that referenced there? It's basically because if you understand the Old Testament laws, that if a woman was on her period, she was considered unclean. And the women are like, God, that's so unfair. No, this isn't just for the ladies. This comes basically man and woman, any kinds of bodily fluid that might come out of a man or woman, and blood. And blood as well. That person must remain unclean for a period of time before they could enter into the assembly. And there are several reasons for this. Obviously, when we come and worship God, everything under the Old Testament would point us to Christ, would point us to his sacrifice. I mean, even the priests, before they could serve in the temple of God, they had to wash themselves, go for the ceremonies, and make sure that they were considered clean because they represented the body of Christ. And Christ's body is clean without sin. Perfect. So that's why when you came in and offered a sacrifice, you did not bring the worst of your sheep and of your lambs. You brought the best because that represented Christ as the best sacrifice that we can have. Several things in the Old Testament just basically points at us to truths of the New Testament. But not only that, also hygiene. It's well known in science today that blood can transmit viruses. And so just for hygiene purposes, God ensured that if your body did express any kind of bodily fluids, that you would be unclean for a period of time. Let's keep going. Verse 18. Because she's unclean, she's to be away from the congregation. And that's kind of being used as an illustration that Jerusalem, no one wants to come around Jerusalem because she's unclean at this period of time. Let's keep going. Verse 18. The Lord is righteous. Wow. What words from Jerusalem now? What words from the Jews now? They were not happy with God. They were not happy with Jeremiah. They did not love God's word. They did not obey Jeremiah. But now that they're going through a hard time, what are they saying? The Lord is righteous. The words of Jerusalem. Finally. They're waking up to themselves. What does this mean? The Lord, you are right. Lord, we were wrong. I'm suffering affliction, but it's right that I'm suffering affliction. Brethren, we're suffering lockdowns and restrictions and mandates, but the Lord is righteous. Remind yourself that. I don't understand, Pastor Kevin, it doesn't matter. You don't have to understand Australia. You don't have to understand our politicians. You don't have to understand COVID. Just understand that God is righteous. The Lord is righteous. And I promise you, God will be pleased with you. I promise you, things will go well with you if your heart is to say the Lord is righteous regardless of what happens on this earth. She wakes up to herself. The Lord is righteous. Look at this. For I have rebelled against his commandments. Here I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow, my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. Now Jerusalem wants the whole world to know. You know, we are suffering because we've done wrong. You know, the Lord is righteous. Hey, everyone else, wake up to yourselves. You know, before God judges you, you know, get right with God, keep his commandments, do that which is right so you can avoid the fate that we've been suffering. You know, the greatest judgment that God's going to pour upon man is to be thrown in hell, to be tormented day and night forever and ever in that lake of fire. You know, and it's hard for us to grasp because we have loved ones. We have family and friends that we don't want them to go to hell. In fact, I'm sure you have family and friends, it's hard to accept that they're burning in hell right now, being tormented in hell right now because they've died without Jesus Christ. And you might say, God, that's not right. No, the Lord is righteous. The Lord is righteous, okay? The flesh doesn't understand. The spirit understands. You know, someone once said to me, you know, when we go home to be in heaven, it won't feel like heaven though because to know that my whole family, they rejected Christ, they were Roman Catholics, whatever it is, you know, they did not believe the gospel, to think that they're suffering in hell for eternity, how can I enjoy heaven? Once you're in heaven, you will fully understand. You know, once you're in heaven, you will say, God, you throwing my loved one into hell, that was right. They rejected your son. You sent Jesus to die for their sins. Jesus was tortured. You know, he was crucified, he was whipped, he shed his blood, you know, he died for them, he made it free, he sent preachers, he gave us the Bible, he's given us churches, he's given us salvation, full and free, paid fully in the blood of Jesus Christ, and they rejected it, Lord. You are righteous. They rejected your son. And it would make sense to you then, okay? And as I said, sometimes in this earth, because we have a sinful flesh, and we don't understand the full picture all the time, we don't understand the big picture, sometimes you might think, well, God's judgment doesn't seem right, but just, brethren, the Lord is righteous. He's always right. He's always right. Okay? And you need to learn to accept that. You know? And the earlier you accept that, you know, the easier you're going to be able to get on with your life. Verse number 19. Jerusalem says, I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders gave up the ghost in the city while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. So the people of Jerusalem, they're looking for leadership. They go to the priests, the religious leaders, they go to the elders, the leaders of the city, okay? You know, the governors and all that, okay? But they say, when I went to the leaders, it says they gave up the ghost in the city. They died. They were dead. Why? While they sought their meat to relieve their souls. They died from hunger. We went for leadership, and they're all dead. We're no kings that are king. Yeah. Once it got too hard and he realized this is all over, he flees. Brethren, we need to listen to God's word. You know, we put our trust in our leaders, our politicians. We put our trust, sometimes even too much, in religious leaders. Yes, you can put your trust too much in this pastor. You can. Okay? I can fail you. I will fail you. I promise you this. I promise you this. I will fail you one day if I haven't already. I'm going to do something, and you're going to be like, why did the pastor do that to me? I'm going to offend you one day, and you're just going to be upset. Okay? That's if you hold me too highly. Okay? I'm just another man doing the best I can with this office that God has given me. Our eyes must be on Jesus Christ. He will never fail us. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. You want to be the Christian that runs the marathon to the day you die? Stop idolizing men and just worship Jesus Christ. And when your religious leader fails, you know, it's sad. Yes, you pray for them, but you say, God, at the end of the day, thank you for giving me that religious leader for the time that I needed, but my eyes must be upon you. You know? Help me find the pastor that I'm looking for. Help me find the church that I'm looking for. Look, I hope it never happens to that point where I just have to step down or something like that. Okay? I'm just saying it can happen. Okay? I hope it never happens, but it can happen because it's happened to me, to other pastors that I looked up to. You know? And, you know, no, these leaders, they were hopeless. They were dead. What advice could they give? King Zedekiah fled. He didn't care for his people. Okay? The only one that cared for the people was Jeremiah. You know, preaching the truth. When you find your pastor that preaches the truth, you know, back them up. Pray for that person. Okay? You know, appreciate the truth even if it's contrary to your biases. Verse number 20. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress. My bowels are troubled. My heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled abroad the sword Berea. At home there is as death. So Jerusalem is saying, look, I'm abroad. I'm in captivity and I'm dealing with the sword. I'm dealing with violence of the Babylonians. But even if I wanted to go home, he goes, at home there is death. You know? Doesn't matter where I go, Lord. There's affliction. I kind of think about this now, you know, if what our premiere is now saying because I'm unvaccinated, the unvaccinated can re-enter society on the 15th of December apparently. Okay? If that's the case, that's six months that I've been locked out of society. Okay? Now, here's what's... Let's say 15 if it happens. Vaccinated, you're free. All right. And I can enter Queensland. Well, from the 17th of December, two days later, Queensland is locking out the unvaccinated in their state. So I might go six months in Sydney, locked out, go to Queensland, six months locked out as an unvaccinated person again. One whole year, potentially. Right? You know, abroad, there's a sword. At home, there's death. Like, there's just no... You can't win. You know? But, you know, when we look at this judgment of God, the whole world has gone crazy. There's affliction upon the whole world. There are protests. There is complaining. There is whining in the whole world, brethren, about what's going on. You know, it is bad in Australia. And as I said, people contact me, and I just try to be positive. People are like, oh man, I'm so sorry for you, pastor. Don't worry about it, brother. I'm doing fine. You know, because I see it as God's judgment. That's why. The Lord is righteous. That's why. You know, He's doing that which is right. He's allowing it for His purposes. Verse number 21. They have heard that I sigh. There is none to comfort me. All mine enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that thou has done it. Thou will bring the day that thou has called, and they shall be like unto me. Remember that, brethren. Okay? We've already seen our premier, Gladys Berejiklian. She got taken down. She's now been afflicted. Okay? She has that negative spin in her life about corruption. Okay? They have been brought down like us. Okay? So what's happening? Yes, we did wrong. Yes, we deserve your judgment. And the same people that are judging me, the same that are people that are afflicting me will one day be afflicted as well. Okay? Verse number 22. Let all their wickedness come before thee and do unto them as thou has done unto me for all my transgressions, for my sighs are many and my heart is faint. And so the surrounding nations, even conquering Babylon, will soon be judged by God in the same way that Jerusalem and Judah was. Okay? So once again, we don't like what our wicked politicians are doing. We don't like what's going on in this COVID world. Just remind yourself of two things. Number one, God is allowed it, God is righteous. And number two, for those that are doing wickedness, they're going to be judged by God as well. They're going to face the consequences one day. Okay? It might not be the timing that you want, but don't worry. Vengeance is the Lord's. He will repay, the Lord says. Okay, let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.