I have a tendency to fall into a series of messages when I get to preaching. And I know there's something about it to keep digging, to keep looking at the area that I'm studying or reading or God has on my heart. And I'll end up putting a series of outlines together or one outline and then breaking that outline up into three different messages. And so it's been fun. I've been trying to break that rhythm and just kind of reach out and just kind of preach even more prayer on what would God have me to do. And I'm careful when I get into political or deal with our nation. I'm not afraid of it. But I don't think that a preacher should not not say what is on his heart or what God gives him. I think he should. There's a duty to that. And tonight I'm going to preach a message called A Nation That Will Not Listen to God. And in the back of my mind, as I put it together and read here, and I was thinking of our nation. It's the one that I know the best out of the other countries. in our world, but our nation is a nation that is not listening to God. And it's not listening to God, the fact of it is, is because of the moral decay of our country. And when the moral fabric of any country begins to go down the tube, you have a nation that is not listening or obeying God. And so, you know, the thought of it is our nation is leading people to believe in our youth and our young generations to believe that you don't have to believe what God says. Matter of fact, God is a fallacy. And when you look at what the news and just the world in general states, it likes to bring God up when there is utter chaos or there's a mass shooting or a mass killing or something. And why would God allow this to happen? And the funny thing about it is, is when you look at our nation in the early 60s, the late 50s and early 60s, we made the decision as a nation to kick God out of our schools. We went on to kick prayer out of our schools. Then we went on another step and kicked the Ten Commandments out of the school and out of our political field and those that deal in the government. And they think, well, that has no place in our nation or no place in our country. It should be kept in the churches. And I'm here to tell you, as a nation that begins to walk down that path, it begins to not heed what God has said. And so we're going to look at that tonight, a nation that will not listen to God. And so I will say this at the onset. I voted. I registered to vote. I believe that it's a duty. And whether you do or don't, that's between you. But if you have a duty, you vote. I vote for Donald Trump. I'm not afraid of saying that. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. You can vote for whoever. Hopefully, if you're a child of God and you love God, The first thing on my agenda is to say, well, it's his personality. His personality stinks. Well, it's his business stinks. I look at some of the moral, what he stands for. If he stands for life or close to life, I'm for keeping life. Some of the moral stuff. Well, he's an immoral person. Exactly. Both of them are. And you won't look at anything. My sufficiency is not in either one of the two people running for president. My sufficiency is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And between you and me, it doesn't matter who gets in. You say, oh, this country is going to go down. I'm telling you tonight, the country is down. The country is down. And it's a great country and the reason why it was and still can be if it is here and listen and attend to God's word. Jeremiah chapter 18, look at verse 1 with me, verse 1. And we have a setting here dealing with, if you please, the sign of the potter and the clay. And Christ is going to use this to get his man, Jeremiah, at this time prepared and geared up to what he needs to say to Judah. And so in verse one, he says, the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, arise and go down to the potter's house and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. Now what's going to take place here, and I'm going to get into the message quickly, is the clay that is on this wheel that this potter is working with, the clay is a nation or can be an individual. We are likened as clay pots. and you can be broken, God can mend you and pick you back up and put you together. God doesn't like a dirty vessel, and he won't use a dirty vessel, but he can clean a dirty vessel, amen? He has that ability, but he wants Jeremiah, his preacher, his prophet here, to get the message so he can relay it to his people. And so we see here as he begins to unfold this in verse four, the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord? Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. Now watch what happens, and at that instant, and at what instant, I should say, speak, I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom. This kind of changes. He's changed how he's addressing it. He addresses the house of Israel. Then in verse seven, he says, a nation, a kingdom. to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it. If that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant it. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go, he said, go to speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, thus saith the Lord, behold, I frame evil against you and devise a device against you returning now everyone from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we bow before you tonight. I thank you for the opportunity to open your word and to preach and to proclaim your word to your people. And father, I ask that you would be with my heart, that you would be with my words and be with my thoughts. And I pray that they would be a blessing to the hearers. that are here tonight, or maybe the hearers that are watching or listening to this service online. I pray that you would get the glory and get the honor. I pray if there be one here that has never accepted you as Lord and Savior, that tonight, this moment, Father, listening to the preaching, that the Holy Spirit would convict their heart of their sin, and Father, that you can give them, Father, life freely, and by accepting you. I pray that you would save them tonight if they'd call upon you. Be with our hearts as individuals and Christians to take heed to the warning and be willing to listen to what you have to say. from your word tonight. We ask this in Jesus Christ's name, we pray, amen. Jeremiah, often called the weeping prophet, spoke to a nation, Judah, that was increasingly rebellious and refused to heed God's warnings. And here in Jeremiah chapter 18, God uses the illustration of the potter and the clay to demonstrate his authority over nations and the individuals here. However, Despite his desire to shape and to save his people, they rejected him, choosing instead their own way. And this passage is powerful message to any nation or any people who refuse to listen to God. You say, well, I don't know if I'm quite there yet or not. Well, I'll just say this, as honesty is saying this, there's been many a times in my life where I have not heeded or listened to God's word or the spirit of God moving in my life. And I just kind of put it off or shoved it off. And so here, this is a warning to especially a nation that will not listen to God. And so in Psalms, the Bible speaks of this in Psalms 9. Psalms chapter 9 in verse 17, down through there, it says, the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. It says, Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Salah. There is three or four points I want to look at tonight. Look at verse 12. We're going to Look at verse 12 in four different ways here. And the first part of this verse is the response. It's the response of the nation or the individual that we're going to look at tonight. Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse 12. Number one, we're going to notice in this different type of person is they will be indifferent to the point of complacency. A person who will not hear or is not listening to God, they will be indifferent to the point of complacency. You're really not gonna find a person who is working all this and all that and being obedient, but then be complacent. You're either one or the other, and you'll find with people who are not listening to God, not listening to the word of God or the preaching or whatever, or God's man, they will be indifferent to the point of complacency. Look at the first part of verse 12. And it says, and they said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices. The first phrase is that there isn't any hope. You say, how can a person get there? How are they able to say that there is no hope when they have a God that they had served in the past They had a God that answered their prayer. They had a God that took care of them and protected them and blessed them. How can they say that there is no hope? Well, I'll tell you how you get there is the rebellion of their heart. The rebellion of their heart. A heart that rebels against God often believes it's too late or impossible to change. You get into a point of being complacent when you won't listen to God and you walk down this path away from God is you will definitely be indifferent to the point of being complacent on God. And so you say, what is it? Well, it's the heart. We're in the neighborhood. Turn back to the left with me to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter one. We'll go all the way back to the beginning of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter one, and there's kind of a similar setting here, but we're going to pull from a couple of verses. In chapter one of Isaiah, you're gonna find in verse two, he's laying out some things here and he's speaking of the apostasy of Judah. Kind of the same group of people over that Jeremiah's speaking to, amen? In verse two, he says, here, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken, and I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. It says, the ox knoweth his owner, asks his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. And he goes on in verse 4, he says, O sinful nation, O people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors, they have forsaken the Lord. "'They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. "'They are gone away backward. "'Why should you be stricken anymore? "'And who would revolt more and more? "'The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. "'From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is now soundness in, but wounds," he says in it, but wounds, and bruiseness, and he says putrefying sores. They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Then he goes on in verse 7, your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire, your land strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. Kind of sounds kind of familiar here just in this nation that we live in. I still believe it is one of the greatest nations on this earth because of their start, because of a God that they would stand for, because of a God that they chose to serve. And now in my generation and the generations after me, we have begun to walk in another path. We begin to take another path. And by the way, this path is we're not listening to anything God has to say. And God says, you better be listening because here's what's gonna take place. There's gonna be some things that take place. But back to a point, back to the question about how could somebody be so indifferent to a point of complacency? It is a rebellious heart. It's a rebellious heart. So a heart that rebels against God often believes it is too late or impossible to change. And so in verse 12 in our text, they make the statement by saying, there is no hope. Well, I got news for you tonight. And the message is there is hope in Jesus Christ. There is deliverance in Jesus Christ. So there is hope. There is hope for this nation. There's hope for individuals that turn to God and that will hear God in his call. So we see secondly, look at verse 12 again. So they say there is no hope, but it says, but we will walk after our own devices. I want to say secondly, and quickly, they will be indulged of the wrong things. They will be indulged of the wrong things. If you look at that, he said, but we, we will walk after our own devices. There's two things here. the choice to walk in their own ways. Judah chose to live by their own ideals and desires instead of submitting to God's truth. I don't want to submit to God's truth because I want to be in the driver's seat. I want to be the one to tell myself where to go and what to do and when to do it, not God. You see, if I go God's way, then I have to be submissive. When I go God's way, then I have to listen. And then my heart wants to turn to God. I don't want that. I don't want to go that way. I want to go in my own way, because I think my way is better. There's a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end of that are the ways of death. He says, hear the choice to walk in their own ways. This is what they were stating. In verse 12, we're saying that they will be indulgent of the wrong things. Tonight, as a child of God, you might be wrapped up in the wrong things. I'm not saying that they might be sinful things. I'm saying wrong things because they're not leading you closer to God. They're leading you further and farther away from God or the things of God. Judah chose to live by their own ideals and desires instead of submitting to God's truth. We see secondly, not only did they choose to walk in their own ways, they chose to walk in their own devices. Look at it carefully. He says, but we will walk after our own devices. This means prioritizing human wisdom over divine instruction and it leads to a path of self-destruction. How did I get there? How did that individual get there? They seem to have everything going for them. They seem to love God. They seem to have things on fire for God. Then all of a sudden you look at them two years down the road and they're not even in church. They're not even have a healthy relationship with God or the people of God and they're way over here and they're struggling with something that has a grip on their life. You say, what is it? What is it? Well, they're choosing to walk in their own devices. Let me say tonight, if you're making the choice or you have made the choice to walk in your own devices, guess what? You're not gonna be walking in God's wisdom. You're gonna be walking in your own wisdom, in the wisdom of the world and Satan's wisdom. And all three of them lead to destruction. All three of them lead to destruction. So they were choosing. to walk in their own devices. This leads to self destruction. There's something else when you look at this verse in verse 12. There's something else here, look at the latter part. So it says, but we will walk after our own devices and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. I want to say thirdly, they will be indecent in their conduct. They will be indecent in their conduct. This is a nation or an individual that will not listen to God. This is what the Lord is laying out for Jeremiah. He wanted the prophet or the preacher to realize and to see and grasp what he needed to preach on towards Judah and towards Jerusalem. And so God wanted him to see this and gives him this illustration. And I'm saying thirdly in verse 12, when you look at that, Not only did they choose to want to walk in their own way and walk in their own devices, and it says, and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. And so thirdly, we see they will be indecent in their conduct. Each person chose to follow or chooses to follow the desire of their own heart without restraint. This is what was going on. The Bible even records it time and time again, without a judge, without a king of nation, without a prophet. He says that the men or they chose to do that which was right in their own eyes. You say, well, that's a good, no, that's not a good thing. Look what's happening today with everybody having not equal rights, special rights. I need special rights and I want those rights to be enacted on everybody else. They don't care for those rights. You still have to uphold those. That's every man doing that which is right in their own eyes. What happens is that you have tyranny. Out of tyranny comes chaos, and you have a mess on your hands. You say, how did this all get started? By the nation simply not listening to God. You say, well, what about the nation? Well, it drops all the way down. It goes to the churches. Inside the churches, it goes to the families. Inside the families, it goes to the order of the home and the individuals. That's how it works. And so here we are, we're in church preaching to individuals, but tonight I'm capturing the nation that is not willing to listen to God. Tonight, I am going to ask you, are you willing to listen to God? Do you think you're listening to God? Have you listened to God? So here, the message that is needed to be preached to this nation, the nation of Israel, and by the way, we'll get into the nation. I kind of mentioned it and alluded to it in verse seven. But I want to say this under the third point, they will be indecent in their conduct. What I mean by that, two things. When a nation rejects God, they turn to their own sinful inclinations. That nation will be filled with self-centeredness, injustice, and a moral collapse. You're seeing that in our country. That's what's going on. I'm shocked at Christians saying, I just can't believe that. I just can't believe they believe that. And I'm thinking, what do you mean? We kicked him out of school. We kicked prayer out. We kicked the Ten Commandments out. We don't want nothing to do with church. We don't want nothing to do with God's Word, even as Christians. And then we have the audacity to ask, well, I just can't believe they believe that or think that. What do you think? There's not a third choice here. The choice is you listen to God, and if you don't listen to God, what happens is you're going to have to turn to your own sinful inclinations. You don't get a better God. You don't get a better ideal. Oh man, we'll try to put it out that way. Satan will try to put it out that way, and the world thinks they have a better curb on life and eternity and how we come about and where we're headed than God does. I'm telling you, the God creator, judgment is coming. And there's two ways to receive that, and we're going to talk about that here in a moment in our next point. But I'm saying when a nation rejects God, there's no alternative than to turn to their own sinful inclinations. They don't have another Bible. They don't have another God or another system. It's worldly, it's sensual, and it's selfish. And so we see they will be indecent in their conduct. I want to say here as we look at this, look at the verse again, and then Notice verse 18, or I'm sorry, from verse 12 to verse 7. Look at verse 12 again. And they said, there is no hope. This is what the people are stating. He says, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices, and we will, everyone, do the imagination of his evil heart. You see, how evil can they get? Drop down to verse 18. I know it's the next paragraph, but look at what happens, what they go after. So when Jeremiah begins to preach, the prophet begins to preach what God wants him to say. And by the way, tonight's fine, but there are times when as a preacher or as a child of God, you're going to be in a situation to where you're going to need to make a stand. You can do it. intelligently, you can do it without anger, but you still are going to need to make a stand for God. And even in making that stand, you know that you are going to face persecution. There is going to be a backlash. And so notice verse 18, it says, then said they, this is the people, this is Judah, then said they, come and let us devise devices against Jeremiah. For the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. That's what they were doing with the prophets of God. God even brought to their attention in the New Testament, and he says, look, he told them time and time again, he says, you stoned the prophets, you beat the prophets, you burned them, you killed them, you beheaded them. And so don't ever think that that is not gonna come back to bite you, and it certainly does. That was the nature of the people, and you'll find that that's common today. They don't want nothing to do with God or the things of God, especially the preaching against maybe some sin or a nation that is not right with God. Our nation is not right with God. There's this riff about, well, God can bring revival. God can do about anything. God is great, God is mighty. God can do about anything, but here's the factor. It's the heart of the people, and if the heart of the people will not turn to God, there isn't any revival coming. You can see a revival in an individual. Hey man, I've experienced revival in my life. You probably have too, and that's great. God can send revival, but the heart has to be right with God. You're going from a single individual all the way to a nation. I'm not doubting God, God's side. I'm saying that God's not gonna let sin unchecked. Just because we're America thinks that we get a pass on sin and propping up sin and thinking it's okay and we're not gonna face the judgment of God, you've got another thing, we've got another thing coming, another thought coming. So here, I wanna say, fourthly, they will be recipients of God's judgment and response. God has a response, and I wanna get into this. There's a lot of, well, I think God's gonna judge me. Well, let's let the Bible do some explaining here for us. Look at verse seven, and as it's laid out and worded, it says that what, I mean, back in our text, I'm in Jeremiah chapter 18 in verse seven, and it says, at what instant I shall speak concerning, say it with me, a nation, not the nation of Israel, but any nation. All right, a nation and concerning, say with me, a kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it. Don't think for a moment that they will not, these people who will not listen to the words of God, they will be recipients of God's judgment and response to sin. Because yeah, God is patient, amen? God is patient, but he's also just. And he's just as much just as he is patient. We like the patient side. I do, I like the patience of God. I like the kindness of God. I love the long-suffering of God. I enjoy that every day of my life. I am not worthy of it, and by the way, you're not either. And I know you enjoy the forgiveness, and I know you enjoy the long-suffering and the blessings of God. But here's the flip side. There's also a just side to God. and that patient only runs so far until it has to be just. And if a nation or an individual continues to not listen to the words of God, there is going to be a response given from God. So a nation that rejects God's ways continually will eventually face his discipline intended either to bring repentance or to fulfill justice. Now, nobody likes that justice part. They like to bring to repentance, and we'll preach that. I think I even use a fancy word that was taught to me by Pastor Tom, remedial, all right? Remedial, but here it's either repentance to or to fulfill justice because judgment has come upon them. You know, people trip up over the Old Testament about, well, God, didn't he kill and slaughter all those Canaanites? Anybody heard that? That question, what a mean, hateful God. Kill all those people in the Old Testament, wipe them all out. You're like, yeah, man, you get to look at it like that. He said, wait a minute, that's one-sided looking at something. Well, if God is right, Let's establish some things here, get some parameters going. God is right, God doesn't do anything wrong. There must be something awfully bad that has went on for and went on and went on and has abused the long-suffering of God and has wore out the patience of God and they have continually to sin against God. There has to be judgment at some point. And then we say, where in have we robbed thee? I just can't believe this is happening to this great nation. It's like, you don't understand. Look at the sins that our nation is okay with and propping up, and they're mad at anybody that stands against them. Listen to me. It's not okay. Just because the world is saying it's okay doesn't mean it's okay. So be mindful, as a child of God, my sufficiency is in the Lord Jesus Christ, in what thus saith the Lord. Tonight, God is patient, but he is just, and a nation that rejects his ways will eventually face his discipline. It's either gonna be to bring you to repentance, to move, to change, this is in our text. We have a gracious God, now look at verse nine. Verse eight, and I'm gonna finish. It says, if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their, say it with me, evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. He said, oh God, he changed his mind. Absolutely, that's what that means. He says, if you'll repent and you won't do no more evil, then I won't send any destruction or judgment to you. Now that is just. Imagine that, a God saying, hey, I have the power to just wipe you off because of your sinfulness and your debauchery and what you're caught up into. But if you'll change, I won't send any judgment your way. You think, well, that's more than fair. So you think they took it? No. That's why we have verse 12, and that's why we're preaching out of verse 12. Their response to that type of a God was, and they said, verse 12, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices, and we will, everyone, do the imagination of his evil heart. They weren't bashful about saying that at all. You know, our country is very prideful and unapologetically for wicked things. And I'm not going to go through the list. I certainly can. But listen, you know what I'm talking about here. The Bible is not silent on any of it. Don't let nobody tell you that the Bible won't say nothing about any of that stuff. It certainly does. You just have to listen to what God has said very plainly. God is a loving God, but I'm telling you, he's a patient God, he's a long-suffering God, but there is a just side to God. And so we see in verse eight, now watch verse nine. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant it. God is involved in a nation's building and planning of it. Oh, I don't think, oh, I know so. You got nations that are alive and well right now in other parts of the world that are mentioned in this Bible. And there are people that, there's a whole host of people that don't believe in this Bible. This was written how many years ago? Yeah, they didn't believe it when Jesus Christ come of a virgin birth. They didn't believe it then of the Old Testament and all the scores of verses that said and prophesied that he would come. And they certainly aren't going to believe it today. You say, why? It's because they're rebellious. They have a heart of rebellion. Listen, as Christians, we should not have that heart. But we oftentimes, we're more like the world and that than the things of God and God's people. God was dealing with God's people. He just happened to include a nation, a kingdom, and he says that he plucks them up and plants them down. You know, it's kind of like if you look at an illustration of a garden. A garden's intentions is to be beautiful and to be used, but it'd be like having a garden and not really taking care of that garden, and you let weeds, and you let the animals come in, and they eat, and the garden goes to seed. Pretty soon, in a couple years, it won't even look like a garden. And God says, it's like a nation I plant and I put in and I want it dressed and I want it kept a certain way. But the man, the caretaker says, no, I don't want it like that. I want it to do whatever, however, wherever and whenever. And it becomes utter chaos. It's like a ship with a captain. that gives the orders because he knows the course and he knows the waters and he knows where he needs to be and how he needs to get there. But the crew decide to do what is right in their eyes and not listen to the captain, not listen to anybody else, but they begin to do the things they think is right. And that ship will go into utter destruction because it's not listening to a captain who knows or has the information. A nation does the same thing when they begin to forget to listen to God. Our nation is there. The problem is what draws a nation back to God is God putting pressure on it from within or from without. Now, that's not the reason why I might vote for Kamala Harris or however you say her name, but I remember my dad years ago. Said he was, people asked him, who you voting for? Who you voting for when Hillary Clinton was running? And I believe it was Trump. He said, I'm voting for Hillary. And they're like, look at him, like, what are you? He says, hey. He said, let's get this thing going. Let's get this thing. It's going to happen real quick. You get the wrong person in there. I've got news for you. It doesn't matter who's in there, because God's in charge. And I don't care. I've got news. There's too many other players involved that just have a presidency run something. Now I'm for a certain man, I'll vote that way, but here's my thing, they're not perfect, amen? And if your sufficiency is in one of the two or whatever you're looking at that you've got, your sufficiency needs to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because one day, that person is not gonna get in. What are you gonna do then? You're still gonna serve God, you're still gonna love God, you're still gonna try to win people to the Lord. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Here this nation, the most important was that they listen and not forget God. This is a warning to a nation or an individual who turns away from God. Listen tonight, God's desire, his desire is to shape us, to make us vessels of honor, but he allows us the freedom to choose our path. A nation that will not listen to God will ultimately face the consequences of that choice. I don't care who they are. I don't even care if it's America, the United States of America. It does not matter. God is bigger than the United States of America. Let me ask you tonight in a personal sense, are there areas in your life where you are resisting God's will? We can see the nation, we can see the illustrations, and we can understand the text that we've read tonight. But on a personal level, where are you at with resisting or receiving the will of God in your life? You're at Hope Baptist Church preaching and teaching. You're hearing the gospel go out. Hopefully the Holy Spirit's working in your life and in your heart. But what are the areas that you have been resistant and you haven't listened to God? Not me, to God. I have no idea what's going on. Look, everybody's doing great. but I know the Holy Spirit works in my heart and in my life, and there's areas that he puts his finger on and says, that needs to be changed. There's resistance there. There's some resistance over here, and yeah, I know you wanna go that way, and I know you might have some things that you think, well, this is the direction, but I want you over here. So tonight, the question is, are there areas in your life where you are resisting God's will? I'm saying here tonight, here's the message. Listen to God. Don't choose to not listen to God. Amen. Let's all stand tonight. Brother Jeff, let's have a invitation if you would, as he comes and gets ready. You know, as they prepare here, I could think of, we could begin to plant the seed for the parents here. the parents to the parents that have kids and have children, be careful what you do and what you don't do. Because by default, you'll teach those children to rebel against God because you won't obey God. You'll think you're the only one getting away with it. The whole time you're instructing and teaching, that young person that looks up to you and watches you, that it's okay to do that. So there is a responsibility. The nation of Judah was to be an example to the other nations in their area, to be obedient to the one true God. And they said, no, we're not going to go that. There's no hope in that God. We're going to go our own way by our own devices. And we're going to choose to do that which is right in our evil hearts. They weren't bashful about saying their evil hearts. But what they failed to realize is while their relationship with God was shattered and they needed to repent, but what took place on the outside is that nation and those kingdoms were divided and God began to send judgment. They went into captivity because they choose not to listen to God. You want victory tonight? You want the blessing of God? You want answered prayer? There's a number of things that God can send, but he said, because you won't listen to me. We gotta take care of this first. Saying it's best wise to listen to God. Do business with God. Brother Jeff, sing that first verse.