Good morning, everybody. I think we can go ahead and begin. A little bit of a smaller group. People are still recovering from copious amounts of turkey, I imagine, causing them to want to sleep in a little bit. And that's OK. I'm glad y'all are here. Let's pray and we'll begin our time. Father, we are thankful for your goodness to us, and we are truly thankful. Father, as we just got through reflecting on so many blessings, Father, that we have and we enjoy in life, family and friends and good food and a relatively free nation, Father, we are thankful for all these things. And we're thankful this morning for the church and thankful for your word. Pray that you bless our time as we study it. In Christ's name, amen. All right, well, good morning, everybody. Welcome back. We are working through part two of the book of Jeremiah. So if you missed last week, I would encourage you to go back and listen. I will warn you, it's a lot of doom and gloom. So get yourself into the right frame of mind, and then you can listen to that, and then very quickly be reminded of today's lesson, which I think will be hopefully a lot more encouraging for us to study through. Handout, if you were here last week, we are using the same handout as we had last week. If you were not here last week, there's some extra copies up here for you to grab. So last week, what we really looked at was God's response to the people's breach of the covenant. That was really what we mostly spent our time looking at. We saw that God has been patient with his people, but due to their hardness of heart, and that's a really important idea, their hardness of heart, and their repeated widespread sin, time for judgment had come. We also saw the depravity of the people as a heart problem that they were really unable to do anything about. Finally, we heard about the judgment and exile that God was going to bring upon his people due to their covenant disloyalty and their persistent sin against him. So just to set up, to remind you of the context, Jeremiah is prophesying in the southern kingdom, also known as Judah, okay? And what's important about Judah is that the Lord sustained it for a longer period of time than he did the northern kingdom. Okay, you remember the Northern Kingdom pretty quickly fell into exile through the Assyrians. And in Jeremiah, we actually do see the Southern Kingdom fall. And really, it's among some of the darkest days in Israel's history. So if you remember from Kings, we talked about, we cataloged that, that Israel would divide to the northern and southern kingdoms. So Jeremiah is prophesying to the southern kingdom, the house of David. So recall also that the theme of this book, this is on the front of your handout, and I gave you two. One of them's longer, one's a little bit shorter. I'll just read both of them. So here's the theme. The old covenant has failed, not because itself was defunct, but because the people were not able to keep it due to their sinful hearts. Therefore, a new covenant is needed, which will involve new hearts for the people of God." So just focus on that idea of heart, of new hearts that are needed. To maybe put it in fewer words, Israel's lack of covenant loyalty and the eschatological promise of covenant loyalty. Okay, so contrasting a lack of covenant loyalty with what's promised, and as we'll see in Jeremiah today, a promise of covenant loyalty. So before we look at the content, I do want to, we didn't talk about this very much last week, but I do want us to actually look at Jeremiah the prophet before we proceed much further. Let's look at Jeremiah the man. Okay, if you ever use the word, I'm sure all of you use it all the time, gerrymade. Have you all heard of the word gerrymade? I think that's how you pronounce it. Okay, what does that mean? It essentially means a long, mournful complaint. That's what, if someone's a gerrymade, that's what that means. It's a long, mournful complaint. And usually it kind of has a negative connotation. You would accuse someone of being a gerrymade if they were just a negative nilly, down all the time, you know, one of these types of personalities. Has a negative connotation. Pessimist, maybe a prophet of doom and gloom. These are some of the words that are associated with that. And I guess the question is, is that, do I, oh yeah, is that Jeremiah? Okay, is Jeremiah appropriately a Jeremade? I mean, that's probably where this word came from, was from this book. I think the answer to that is no. He's a man of God who is in love with the word of God. Here's what he says in chapter 20, verse 9. He says this, if I say, I will not mention him or speak any more of his name. There is in my heart, as it were, a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." Okay, so he describes the Word of God as this burning fire within him that he cannot hold back. He has to say what the Lord is leading him to say. So that's really what marks Jeremiah, is this man who wants to share and proclaim and prophesy the word of the Lord. So sometimes we might think of inspiration as some kind of a gentle breeze carrying messengers forward, but that's really not the case. Jeremiah really experiences it more as a driving hurricane, maybe. consuming fire and irresistible force. The Word of God truly did compel him. Now chapters 26 through 45, so this is a good portion of the book, it consists largely of narrative accounts and various episodes in Jeremiah's life. So Jeremiah is pretty unique in how much this book is does focus on the life of the prophet. Really, the only other prophet that does that is the book of Jonah. That's a unique aspect of the book of Jeremiah. There's so many things that focus on different episodes in Jeremiah's life. And all these episodes essentially further bolster God's case against Israel as a people who is unable to receive and to hear his word. So in this section, we're gonna see Jeremiah endure the following. So here's some things that he's going to endure in these chapters. In 26, seven through 11, the people and the leaders call for Jeremiah's death. Okay, just remember some of the things he prophesied last week when we studied this. The response after delivering a temple sermon and then those verses is that the people and the leaders call for Jeremiah to be killed. Jeremiah records a plot against his life by the priests and the false prophets in chapter 26, and he was arrested for treason in chapters 37, because he prophesied that the Babylonians would ultimately win. So he prophesied that the Babylonians would take Israel over, or Judah over, and for that he was arrested for treason. The king, recognizing that Jeremiah was a true prophet, privately pulled him out of prison to ask if there is a word from the Lord. Jeremiah's response was this, yes, there is a word from the Lord. You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. So the king did him a favor, pulled him out of prison, said, come on, Jeremiah, give me a... just a little bit of positivity, you know, and then Jeremiah pretty much says, I'm positive that you will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. So Jeremiah is arrested, he's beaten, and he's on trial for his life. And he refused to compromise this message. Then Jeremiah challenged the king This is what he said, what wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying the king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land? Okay, so just seeing that Jeremiah demonstrated a tremendous amount of courage. In chapter 28, Hananiah, who's also a prophet, opposed Jeremiah's message and promised that the Babylonian exile would actually be short. Okay, that's the promise that Hananiah was giving to the people. In 29, Shemiah, this is 24 through 28, the priest, wrote from Babylon calling for Jeremiah's censure and arrest. 36 19 through 26. I'm just listing out all these events about Jeremiah's life chapter 36 19 through 26 Jehoiakim destroyed Jeremiah scroll and sought to punish the Prophet and chapters 32 33 37 and 38 Jeremiah is imprisoned at various places and at various times during the reign of Zedekiah and Interestingly enough, Jeremiah is thrown into a cistern and left to die. And last, in chapter 43, he's kidnapped and he's taken away to Egypt. So in all of this, we see that Jeremiah did not falter in declaring the Word of God against Israel, against Judah. No matter how hard the word would be or how poorly this word would be received, Jeremiah did not falter. He continued to bring God's word, very hard word, against God's covenant people. Jeremiah was driven to speak of the judgment of God not only not out of a kind of a melancholy disposition or maybe some kind of clinical depression or anything like that, but because he loved the Word of God and he was surrounded by sin. He saw it everywhere, okay, and he felt compelled to share. He truly was a man of very strong conviction. Jeremiah, as I was studying this and looking at this, it reminded me a lot of the Apostle Paul and all that he endured whenever he preached the gospel. All the different sufferings and ways that he was treated because of the word that he brought. That just kind of came to mind again and again. And there's of course all kinds of examples with the other apostles, but in church history of people who suffered for their courage to declare rightly the Word of God. Okay, so Jeremiah does in this sense He is a kind of an example to us in this way. It should be an encouragement to us and also just a wake-up call on how much you might suffer if you truly do bear the Word of God to a group of people who don't want to hear it. So let's turn back to what Jeremiah wrote, and we'll see how long we spend on this, but this is the good news. And if you remember, whenever we talked last time, we really said that the centerpiece of the book of Jeremiah is Jeremiah chapter 31. That is the high point, that's the peak of the mountain, if you will, and most of the book is this hard, arduous climb up to when you get to the top and you see the horizon, and it's glorious, it's beautiful, it's a thing that is really unmatched in much of what Scripture reveals to us. That's the peak. That's the part that we're about to study. And then the rest of the book is this descent, this slow, painful descent back down. That's kind of how the book of Jeremiah is laid out. with chapter 31, verses 31 through 37 in particular, being the centerpiece of the whole book. And before we turn there, you can go ahead and turn there now, but I did want to just remind you as we've been looking at this Old Testament survey, there are a number of texts that we've talked about, that we've spent time on as we've worked through the Old Testament, where we really paid a lot of attention, saying this here represents a really large step forward in redemptive history. Just to remind you what some of those are, okay, the first one that came to mind for me was Genesis 3.15. This promise that God, that there would be enmity between the seed of the serpent and seed of the woman. Okay, this is one of these texts that is there that really does inform how we understand everything that follows it. Okay, that's one. Okay, Genesis chapter 9. What happens in Genesis chapter 9? Don't know? We didn't actually spend a lot of time on this, but we did mention it. Genesis 9, Noahic Covenant, God made with Noah. But then the big ones, Genesis 12 and Genesis 15, what do these two represent? God's covenant with Abraham. His people would be like the sand that's on the seashore, all these glorious promises. The next one we looked at was Exodus 10, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Covenant. And then 2 Samuel chapter 7. Okay, what's this? This represents the Davidic covenant, when God established a covenant with the house of David that he would not cease to have a king on the throne. Okay, and we talked about what all those things are driving us to and pointing us to. And today, if we were to add one to the list, you can add Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 31 through 37. So happily, Jeremiah is not just about sin and judgment. In this harshest of prophecy, we see a clear promise of God's continuing plan of redemption. And it's not just a glimmer. It's one of the most spectacular passages of promise in really all of the prophets. So here we're gonna read the theological climax of the book of Jeremiah, and this is found in chapter 31, verses 31 through 34. Who would like to read that for us? Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34. Got it? says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took it by the hand to lead them out of the home of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all learn from the least of them to the greatest of them, saying, Know the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. Okay, there it is. So Jeremiah chapter 31, 31 through 34. Beautiful text speaking about the reality of the new covenant. So 31, God is promising a new covenant here, that's important to note. And remember that the promise with the first covenant, I'm sorry, the problem of the first covenant was not God, or was not a problem with the covenant. It was the people, right? And their sinful hearts. So recall all the terrain that we've studied in this whole class, thinking about the hardness of the people's hearts, the complaining, the turning away. Again and again, the people would transgress God's covenant. even when they finally demanded a king who would essentially represent them, as Jake pointed out, as a kind of a covenant mediator between the people and God. They finally got the king that they wanted, who would represent them to God, and we saw that the king's heart was what? It was just as corrupt as the people's, and as the king's heart went, so also went the nation. Okay, we saw this again and again and again as well. And really what we're studying today is the effects of that. So the covenant representative, the king, would lead them into sin and judgment. Now the difference in the New Covenant is what? What problem is the New Covenant seeking to address? The hearts, yeah, that's right. So the solution provided under the new covenant is really quite simple. Give them new hearts. Give the people new hearts. That's it. That's what's promised in the new covenant, to give them new hearts. And what makes the new covenant so superior to the old is now the law is within the people of God. It's not inscribed on tablets of stone, external to them, but it's inscribed, as it were, on the tablets of their heart. It becomes an internal reality. It shapes their desires, their wills, their wants, their loves. Indeed, they would truly come to love it, come to love God's law as it was designed to be. So here's a quote from our textbook that we're using to help prepare for this class. It says this, Indeed, the problem with the old covenant was the sustained stubbornness and rebelliousness of the people and the fact that the covenant's nationalistic nature meant that the covenant community was made up of a small remnant who truly know Yahweh, and a large majority who did not." That's a really interesting point. The nationalistic nature of the covenant people of God was made up of a small remnant, and you see this idea of remnant show up again and again throughout the Old Testament, a small remnant who truly knew the Lord, and a large majority who did not. The new covenant would resolve this problem by providing spiritual transformation for all who belonged to the covenant. They shall know me, it says, from the least of them to the greatest, for I will forgive their iniquity. So do y'all see that distinction that's made there? It's really a big one. Under the Old Covenant, we do see a remnant. We see elect Israelites who truly do from the heart love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. But largely, the nation didn't. So you saw this remnant embedded within the larger group. The New Covenant's gonna resolve this problem by providing spiritual transformation for all who would belong to this covenant. Okay, Jonathan Edwards made this comment, which I think highlights pretty much the same idea. Back in the 1700s, he said this, I think the difference here, speaking about the new covenant, I think the difference here pointed out between these two covenants lies plainly here. That in the old covenant, God promised to be their God upon condition of hearty obedience. Okay? Under the Old Covenant, God promised to be their God upon a condition of hardy obedience. Obedience was stipulated as a condition, but not promised. But in the New Covenant, this hardy obedience is promised. Okay, do y'all see that? So this promise of the New Covenant really signals a major step forward in redemptive history. In the New Covenant, every participant will have God's law inscribed upon their hearts. Their hearts and their ears, to borrow a metaphor from elsewhere, will be circumcised, and they will be able to hear and will be able to receive God's word. These new covenant people will be his people. Their iniquity will be remembered no more, as it says in Jeremiah 31. And though the New Covenant is promised to Israel and Judah, think about how it opens up, it says, addressing Israel and Judah, it's surprising that when you get into the pages of the New Testament that Gentiles are included as beneficiaries of this covenant. Okay, just think about Gospels, Jesus' Great Commission, and then think about the Book of Acts, and the surprising turn of event that happens that was somewhat unexpected, where you have the Gentiles responding to the Gospel with faith, and the Jewish people continuing to have a hard heart towards it. So that's the big surprise. That's, as Paul says in other places, that's the mystery, okay, that's been revealed in the Gospel. So when you get to the page of the New Testament, Gentiles are included as beneficiaries of this covenant. The offer of this covenant is, as Paul says in Romans 1.16, to the Jew first, right? But then also to the Greek. So hopefully this is helping you to tie together really all of your Bible around this really big idea. So let's speak briefly, and I have some questions for you as we work through this, so get ready to share what you're thinking. But let's briefly speak about the nature of this new covenant. And I think it's helpful to think about it in terms of this idea of remnant. So first, the concept of remnant. So we've already defined what that is, the smaller group of faithful among the larger group of unfaithful. Okay, this phrase is used again and again and again in the Old Testament, right? That phrase is not applied to the New Covenant throughout all the pages of your New Testament. Okay? I'm going to say that again. The idea of remnant is never applied to the participants of the New Covenant throughout all of the pages of your New Testament. So you're like, okay, why does that matter? Well, it matters because every member of the New Covenant is a full participant in that covenant. There is no smaller group of faithful among a larger group of unfaithful within the church, within the New Covenant believers, within the New Covenant reality. Okay, that's what's offered to us in this text in Jeremiah. So, first question for you. How should this mindset affect our attitudes to Christians from other traditions, from other Christian traditions? What do y'all think? Yeah. Yeah, they're not of us, right? Yeah, that's a really, I didn't even think about that text, but that's a really good example. That's good. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, that's true too. I asked this question just to highlight a challenge and attention, because y'all are exactly right. There are examples of trying to adjudicate this that are, it's hard to tease out, right? But I think the doctrinal point that we should keep in mind is that every single Christian who is a born-again participant of the New Covenant, they are Christian indeed, right? And that should influence how we interact with them, the respect that we show them. I mean, they are brothers and sisters in Christ, right? And we should, you know, assume the best of them, you know, course point them if they're in error, lovingly try to redirect them to, you know, to what Scripture says. But I think that's kind of the point that I'm trying to make here. Any other thoughts about that? How does it affect our attitude towards Christians throughout history? I guess the point is that the text in Jeremiah says, Every participant of the new covenant knows the Lord. Every one of them. And it happens by virtue of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. So what does that mean? Does that mean that what I'm doing right here teaching you, does that make it illegitimate? No, because think about under the old covenant you had this faithful remnant who constantly were trying to teach this larger group of unfaithful how to honor the Lord. That's what they were doing. The remnant was speaking and trying to model and try to teach the larger group how to walk faithfully, and it was largely not happening, right? Well, in our situation, we don't have a smaller group of faithful who exist to teach to the large unfaithful body in the same way that Israel had. That's not the reality that we're in. Each one will know me, as it says in Jeremiah. So how does this affect our mindset towards Christians throughout church history? That includes Christians who are writing under the Enlightenment, Jacob. What do y'all think? They didn't say again? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, they were ugly. They were extremely ugly to each other if you think about that. That's exactly right. That's good. Think about, I mean, C.S. Lewis talks about chronological snobbery, this idea that the newest thing is better than the old. Is that an appropriate mindset for a Christian to have? No, because Christians 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago, if they were new covenant believers, they knew the Lord, and therefore we have things we can learn from them, right? That's the point. But on the flip side, we also have this tendency, maybe it's more my tendency than y'all's, but to look at the older stuff and assume they know more than we do, and to discount modern teachers, right? So these areas can go in different directions. But I think the point is that where we see the spirit of Christ dwelling, we see a genuine Christian, and from that we have things that we can learn from these believers throughout time. today. So I was in a home church, this is a personal example, many years ago I was in a home church and we frequently actually spoke of ourselves as the remnant. We really believed that we were the remnant. We actually used that term to describe what we were doing at this church. And what do y'all think the result of that was? Say again. Yeah, isolation. That's exactly right. It was a home church, right? Yeah. What else? Isolation. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Yep. So you're picking up on some tensions and some different categories that are important for us to wrestle with. Go ahead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep, so a distinction that's helpful as we think about the visible and the invisible church. This is a helpful distinction. Okay, the visible church is the church that we can see, that we can all step into, and you know, you're interacting with all kinds of people in the visible church. Okay, the invisible church is the new covenant. the participants of the new covenant. That's the church that only the Lord can see. That's truly His people. Now we have a hard time, this side of heaven, distinguishing all the time one way or the other. But that distinction can be helpful to get at some of the things you're saying. But I think the point that I'm trying to make with the idea of remnant is remnant seems to indicate a smaller category among a larger You know, there's a few left that have not bowed the knee to Baal, right, this idea of a remnant. But under the New Covenant, there's really no remnant. The whole thing is the remnant, in that sense. So it's just an interesting thing to kind of try to wrestle out. And the New Testament does not apply that term to the Church, ever. Let me press on a little bit, but thinking about the home church days, isolation, a lot of arrogance came from that, a tremendous amount of self-righteousness came from that, and I think you're exactly right that, as you said, isolation was a really big deal, because no other Christians knew as much or worked as hard as we did. That was very much our mindset. Now eventually this became clear that this was a problem, and most people amended their ways, which was good. So the one place in the New Testament where the language of remnant is used, it's not applied to the New Testament church, But it shows up in Romans 9 and Romans 11. This is where Paul uses the terminology to speak about a remnant of Jews who will surely be brought into the church or into the new covenant in God's timing. That's the one time in the New Testament that you see this idea of a remnant. being used, being applied to, you know, New Testament times. Speaking about a remnant of elect Jews who are surely going to be brought into the church in God's timing. That's the one time. Okay, so I'll just, y'all chew on that, think about that, but that's one of the unique things about the New Covenant is that there is no remnant within the New Covenant, whereas under the Old, there was, okay? Let's work that out a little bit because I do want us to see, do we have any questions at this point? I know this has been a very unique study because we're kind of getting into some New Testament theology in our Old Testament survey, but it does feel appropriate with this particular text. Any questions? That's right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. There's still a promise. Any other questions? All right, so let's think about the implications of this with the rest of our time. We have a little bit more to return to Jeremiah, but I do want to think about the implications for this relating to the organization of the church. So this is a very unique way to apply these texts, but I think it actually is helpful. So let's think about implications for how we organize the church. Here's the question. Should our ecclesiology follow in the logic of new covenant promises? Yes or no? Should our ecclesiology follow in the logic of new covenant promises? Yes or no? Yes, I see a head nod. What do y'all think? Maybe? Caitlin's like, eh, maybe. That's okay. Should our ecclesiology follow in the logic of the new covenant promises? Okay, ecclesiology. So the doctrine of the church, how the church is organized, how the church is ordered. Ecclesiology, yep. Yeah, don't know how you can separate them? So the answer is yes. Yes. This reality. Yeah, so the question is how? So if it should follow the logic of what's presented to us in Jeremiah 31, how? In what ways? How does it show up in how we order the church? Does every Christian tradition that you can think of, do they all follow in this example, or do they diverge at different points? They do diverge, I'll just answer that to you. So how should it follow? What do y'all think? This is a time of critical thinking, so. Okay, only baptized believers. What? Right? How does that show up here? Right? We'll get there in just a second, but that's a great example. Only baptized believers. Not babies. That's right. Yeah? Okay, say that again, Linda. It's individual. Yes. Yeah. So there's this, I think what you're getting at is this, the idea of new birth, new birth being a personal individual experience that people under the new covenant will have. That's right. Okay. That's good. It's a heart, it's a heart reality. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so I think that the thing about being taught, and that is a little bit of a confusing verse, but the point of that is that they all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest. So every member who's within this new covenant will know the Lord. mean that there's no longer a need for teachers, because there is. There's still a need. I mean, the New Testament's full of examples of people preaching and teaching. That's still something that's required. But it's being done to people who genuinely know the Lord. Whereas under the old example, you have a group of people, priests, the remnant, who are teaching, and their teaching is falling on deaf ears of people who do not know the Lord. Much of Israel did not know him, right? So there was a kind of futility in their teaching. Yeah, yeah, right. I know it, but I want to know more about it. That's right. That's good. So have you all heard of the idea of the priesthood of the believer? Priesthood of the believer. This is one of these ways that we apply this. This is the doctrine that every believer, no matter how mature in the faith, is a priest by virtue of the Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts, and by virtue that they have been made clean for full and acceptable service to God. Okay? We do not recognize a special category of priests within the Church. Who does that? Okay? Roman Church does, the Anglican Church, they do as well. Okay? We do not recognize a special category of priests because we think it's confusing to what's being taught in Jeremiah chapter 31, and what shows up later in, you know, in 1 Peter as well. We do not recognize a special category of priests within the Church Every member of Christ's church is a priest. So this text has implications for how we recognize leadership within the church, right? Okay, how do we choose leaders in our church? So just enforced, you know, some Yeah. Well, in our church, it's going to be different, but what I'm saying is, should our ecclesiology follow the logic of the New Covenant, and if so, how? Well, here's an example. Should the way that we identify leaders follow the logic of what's presented in Jeremiah 31? Okay. The answer is yes. So in our church, how do we select leaders? Congregation. Okay. Yeah, there's biblical requirements for that, but then the congregation gets involved and they exercise their priestly duty, right, of confirming and voting, and their voice matters on how leaders are chosen. Okay, it's not some priesthood that's enforced or just assigned to this congregation. That would not be following, you know, the logic of what we saw in Jeremiah 31. So it has implications for how we recognize leadership within the church. Second one, the members of the church, and Jake was alluding to this already, membership of the church should be made up of only participants in the new covenant, okay? For the church is a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, as it says in 1 Peter 2, verse 9. So with these references, Peter is quoting Old Testament texts and categories and applying them to the church. This is only possible by virtue of the promises found under the New Covenant. So this text has implications for who we baptize and who we recognize as members of the local visible church. Does that make sense? Have you all thought about that before? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Okay, so implication of how we recognize leaders, who we baptize and recognize as members within the church. Okay, let's go ahead and look ahead. Jeremiah 31 made reference to in the New Testament. It is Hebrews chapter 8. So if you want to turn there and see it in full, that'd be a good thing for you to do. So Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34, it's quoted in full in Hebrews chapter 8, verses 8 through 12. Here we see that Jesus Christ is the mediator of this new covenant. So Jesus Christ is the mediator of the new covenant, which makes sense, right? All the promises that we've been looking at, a son of David who will sit on the throne, all these things, right? It makes sense that Jesus is the mediator of this covenant. In chapter eight, verses six through seven, it says this, speaking of Jesus, but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second." And after quoting the Jeremiah text in full, the author ends with this, when he said, a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. So there is a distinction between the Old Covenant and the New, with the New being better, a better covenant, enacted on better promises. So this becomes possible because God promises to forgive sins, as we heard in verse 34 of Jeremiah 31, and that is good news, that is the gospel. Those who have turned from their sin and trusted in Christ in this way do so only because, as we read in Jeremiah, God has given them new hearts. He has given us hearts and minds to love Him, eyes and ears to hear the truth, and desires that they're no longer enslaved to sin. But he sets us free to pursue the delight of beholding the majestic God in the face of Jesus Christ. So, interestingly enough, Jeremiah 31 could be a really good place in the Old Testament for you to defend your Baptistic convictions. Probably it should be at the top of your list for Old Testament text to do that. We see the new covenant is promised. We will get a sense of what it's going to look like, and we will see what will mark its members. In the New Testament we see this idea applied in the establishment of the organization of the church, and in our time we seek to order our ecclesiology according to the logic and command of what has been laid out for us in both the Old and the New Testaments. Let's go ahead and finish, and then we'll be done. We're really about out of time. So as we finish the book of Jeremiah, chapters 46 through 52, let's go ahead and look at those chapters. Here, Jeremiah describes the final destruction of Jerusalem, and then in chapters 46 through 51, prophecies of judgment against other nations, including Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Edom, and a few others. Like the other prophets, Jeremiah condemns the Gentile nations for pride, insolence, boasting, foolishness, for mistreating God's people, for trusting in riches and military power. This section finally culminates with a lengthy proclamation of judgment against Babylon itself. But Babylon was the instrument that God used to extract his punishment on Judah. And Jeremiah had been accused for treason by prophesying against Babylon's victory. And we know that Jeremiah is no traitor. He knows that even though God is using Babylon, Babylon is not guiltless. Babylon is condemned because she rejoiced in the downfall of God's people, and because Babylon was guilty of cruelty, oppression, and murder against God's people. Therefore Babylonians, their overthrow was the vengeance of the Lord. Babylon is God's war club, which he shatters nations and kingdoms. Nonetheless, God says, I am against you. Oh, destroying mountain, declares the Lord, which destroys the whole earth. So though God judges his people, he will ultimately judge their oppressors as well as the whole point. So let's finish with this. Jeremiah records the fulfillment of his main prophecy. We read this in chapter 52. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled. The Babylonians burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and the houses of Jerusalem. Every great house he burned downed. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. The stay of God's people in the promised land was seemingly at an end, and the nation had appeared to have failed. And so ends the prophecy of Jeremiah. except the last few verses, and this should hearken you back to the way we looked at 1 Kings. Look at verse 31 through 34. If you recall Jehoiakim, An earlier king of the line of David, right? He lives. And in fact, he is invited to sit and dine at the king's table. So what an interesting way to end this chronicle of judgment. Okay, the seed of the woman, the seed of David, is still alive. God is still going to make good on his promises. So, there he is, one of the descendants of David, sitting in exile at the king's table, and I think that's supposed to give us, you know, give the reader a little anticipation that there's more to the story. And to that, we'll turn to Ezekiel next week. Father, thank you for this time. Give us many things to think about as we try to faithfully apply these texts and to live our lives according to them. We thank you, Father, for the glorious reality of the new covenant. Father, that you have forgiven our iniquities, that we are truly your people. Father, that we all know you from the least of us to the greatest. Help us, Father, to order our lives, to order our church according to these great realities. Thank you, Father. In Christ's name, amen. Thank you all very much.