OK, well, some of you may have been wondering when I was going to come to this one dealing with these familiar passages of Scripture that are often used in our culture and our society, but are just as often as they're used, they are just as often taken out of context. And so we come to Jeremiah 29 11. Does God have a wonderful plan for my life? I mean, that's basically what this passage is often used to promote. Let's go there. Let's go to Jeremiah 29. Look at verse 11. The ESV says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare. also translated peace, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. The NIV puts it this way. This is probably the more familiar rendering people are most familiar with. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. And that is a, again, very familiar, very popular passage of scripture. And you ask why? I mean, you're just just looking at it at face value. What do you have there? You have God knowing plans. Well, we know that God knows all things. And so what's so exciting about that to the world? Not so much. But this part is that the Lord has plans to prosper. He has plans to prosper, not just to prosper, but to prosper you. and not to harm you. I mean, the mindset that, look, God has plans for me, and these plans are to prosper me, and he doesn't want to hurt me. He doesn't want to harm me. He has plans to give me hope. Who doesn't want hope? I mean, that was President Obama's whole campaign, coming out with, I want to give hope, hope, people like hope, or at least what they think hope is, and a future. And this idea of a future, well, some people are afraid of the future because they don't know what the future holds. But here they say, well, we know what the future is. The future is God has plans to prosper me. I don't have to worry about a future of harm because God has plans to not harm me. I can have hope. People don't hope in things that are discouraging and hopeless people have hope and things that are good and so this this one verse is just used and it's just full of so many things that is that are used and given to a world that is self-loving We live in a microwave world, if you will. People don't want to wait for things. They want everything now, right now. I heard one guy say, you know, I was talking to one of the students, and we were talking about patience, and he said, I want patience now. You don't understand the patients. But that's the reality. They want everything now. Right now. That's when we want it. And when we do get it, it needs to be about me. It needs to be for me. Many people in this world are willing to do many kind things as long as there's something in it for them. As long as there's some type of comeback for them. I've seen this tested. Even something as simple as people driving on the highway and letting someone over. They let someone over and they go and they look. And you know what they're looking for? They're looking for that little hand to go up saying, thank you. If they don't get that hand, suddenly they're not feeling so charitable. Suddenly they're not feeling so generous because they did that action to receive something back. It's for me. That's the mindset. that many have. And so this verse is used in a way that just corresponds with people's man-centeredness. In fact, I heard John Piper say, I don't know if he got it from someone else, but he said that man loves to be God-centered as long as he thinks that God is man-centered. So many people are, yes, I'm for the glory of God, I'm all for God, as long as they're thinking that the center of God's universe, if you will, is them. It's you. That may be you. You may be thinking, yeah, I'm all for God as long as God is all for me. Plans to prosper. This just screams, He wants me to be prosperous. We are very familiar with the prosperity so-called gospel. I was watching a video of how the prosperity gospel has gone to Africa and there was this video of this this preacher and he was clothed in silk and these fancy shoes and it showed the people in the seats and they were in barefoot and flip-flops and they were in rags and here he is telling them about the prosperity that God guarantees and he has a wonderful plan for your life and that's a plan to prosper you and here these people are coming with scraps. They're coming with all that they have, and they're giving it to the charlatan who is demanding their money. Prosperity, it's everywhere. We know that, and this verse is used to promote that foolishness. And they say, so look, look, you're going through hard times, you're going through difficult times. That's okay. They say, don't worry. It's not going to last very long. How do you know this? Because God has a plan to prosper you. And they take that, and they mangle it, and then they take John 10 10, the thief does not come except to steal, to kill and destroy, but I have come that you have life and that you may have it, what, abundantly. And they say, look, Jesus wants you to have an abundant life. And then they go over to 3 John 1 2. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health even as your soul prosper. And they say, look, God wants you to prosper above all things. Jesus wants you to have an abundant life, and we see in Jeremiah that God has a plan, and that plan is to prosper and not harm you. Joel Osteen said, God desires to see you flourish in this life. He wants to see you come out of setback stronger, wiser, increased, and promoted. He wants to give you hope in your final outcome and see you come to a flourishing finish. He wants you to be wiser, stronger, come out promoted. You're going to excel. This is the mindset. It's not if, it's when. It's not a matter of is this going to happen? Yes, it's going to happen. It's just a matter of you not giving up and just keep on pressing because look, don't give up on your dreams, don't get discouraged. You're going to get exactly what you want because God wants to prosper you. That's what they're telling you. And you may be believing that. You may be telling yourself that. things will always work out for you. It will go your way. Because God has given you this promise. They say, you're the head, you're not the tail. You're above, you're not beneath. Churches even have people confess these things over themselves, as though that has some type of supernatural power to make it so. They actually go so far as to take our Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of His suffering, sweating great drops of blood, and they reduce it to a prosperity message and say, yes, He was discouraged, and He knew that things were rough for Him, but He had a future of prosperity ahead of Him. God has plans to prosper you. So they say, if you're sick, Don't worry, your healing is on its way. If you're poor, don't worry, your prosperity is on its way. You're having family problems? Don't give up, they will return. You have a guarantee. Why? Because God has a plan for you. This is what they say. But is this what the Bible says? No, these are lies. In fact, the Bible says that every person who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom. Jesus said, if they call me, who is God Almighty, Jesus Christ, He's God. He says, if they call me Beelzebub, if they call me a devil, if they malign the master of the house, what do you think is going to happen to you? He said, you'll be good if they treat you like they treat me. But is the servant above his master? No. If the Lord was persecuted, if the Lord was treated with intense mockery and scrutiny and suffering, then what do you think is going to happen to you, the created? John the Baptist, he had his head cut off for honoring the Lord. Stephen, he was stoned to death for proclaiming the truth of the gospel. James, he was killed with the sword for his obedience. Paul, he was beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, left to the elements, deserted, hungry. Job, Job had all of his things stolen, taken away. His children killed, his body covered and infested with sores. His wife, the wife that he loved, told him, curse God and die. His friends came to him in the midst of all this suffering and railed against him and blamed him for his own suffering. And he was the most obedient man that God could point to. This is not true what they say. These are lies. It's not true. In fact, the very book that we're going to be coming out of, Jeremiah, listen to a little brief bio about his life. His own relatives betrayed him. He was beaten, put in stocks by the temple overseer. He experienced social rejection, mockings, and public ridicule. He said, I'm a laughing stock all the day long. He was seized by the priests, the prophets, and all the people in order to put him to death. He was shut up in the king's prison. He was forbidden to go into the temple, which is a very big deal. He was accused of treason, beaten, placed in the dungeon cell for many days. He was imprisoned in a muddy cistern, left there to starve to death. The Lord did not see fit for that to happen though. And he was obedient. He honored the Lord. He was faithful. So did God have a wonderful plan for his life to prosper him, to not seek him harm? I mean, the fact that John the Baptist got his head cut off, would you call that harm? Would you look at that and say that that's prosperity? Well, if you have the right mindset, Paul said to die is gain. But not in the mindset that they're talking about. to be stoned to death. Have you ever been hit by a stone before? I remember when I was young, you know, I grew up in the slums and we didn't have trampolines. We had old dirty mattresses and we would flip on them. And we were doing that and I remember feeling this sensation of pain and then warmth. And my white t-shirt suddenly became crimson. A little boy had thrown a rock at me for no reason other than to do it. It hurt very much. That was one rock by a little boy. I cannot imagine the pain of having stones hurled at me with fury and anger by the people who are grown men. That must be extreme pain. That's what happened to one of the Lord's faithful. We would call that harm. We would definitely call that harm. He was harmed. Paul, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked. James, killed by the sword. Job. We looked at, these are just a few biblical examples. There are examples outside of Scripture. Our brothers and sisters currently who are going through all types of suffering, all types of pain, all types of injury. faithful to the Lord, and yet they're suffering harm. And the world would not look at that and say that that's prosperity. These people who are taking this verse and ripping it out of context, they would not look at that and say that that's prosperity. But what does this mindset do? Obviously, we see that this is in conflict with what the Bible actually is talking about. We see that with some of God's most faithful servants, they suffered some of the most painful and cruel deaths, some of the most painful and lonely lives. This mindset that this verse, Jeremiah 29 11, not in its proper context, but out of context, what kind of mindset does it bring? Well, it brings the mindset that God only wants good things to happen to me. And anything that happens that's not good is not from God. That's what some people say. Look, anything that good happens to me, that's from God. Anything bad happens to me, that's from the devil. Well, what does that do? That demotes God's sovereignty. Now God's not in charge. Now God has things He wants to happen, and things He doesn't want to happen, that's out of His hands? No, that's against the sovereign power of God, the sovereign nature of God. We serve a God who sits upon the throne, and He does what pleases Him, and no one can disturb His plans. No one can tell Him this will not take place. He does what He wants. What other mindset does it produce? It produces the mindset that calls us to listen to the lies of the devil. Look, the devil is called the slanderer, not because it sounds nice, but because that's what he is. He slanders. And one of the biggest workings of his slandering is he takes God and slanders him to the believer. So you're going through suffering. You look at Jeremiah 29 11, you've believed the lies. That this means that all your life is meant to be prosperity. All your life is meant to go harm free. God only wants good things to happen to you. And you start experiencing bad things. You start experiencing suffering. You start experiencing pain. You start experiencing tragedy. And you say, well, God must not be kind. God must not be loving. God must not be compassionate. He must not care. The devil comes and says, well, God gave this promise, but look, he's not even keeping his promise. So then you look at God and you begin to question him. You begin to question God's motives. You begin to judge God. You stand in the place of the judge and put God on trial and call God unjust. God forbid. But that's what this mindset produces. If you look at Jeremiah 29 11 and say, look, God said he has plans for me and those plans are to prosper me. He has plans for me and those plans are not to do me harm and I'm experiencing harm. What are you left to conclude except there's something wrong with God? This is not conditional on me being obedient. It doesn't say God has plans for me as long as I obey. It just says God has plans for me to prosper me. So you're going to point the blame square with God. But God is compassionate, He is kind, He is love, that is true of Him. You don't want to call His person into question. Don't stand in the place and judge God, lest you be questioned like Job was. You know what else it does? It gives false assurance to the wicked. And it justifies their assurance, their false assurance. What do you mean? There's a mindset that goes around and it's like this. And this mindset was also held in the Scripture. If you have many things, God is with you. If you have a lot, God is pleased. You say, where is that in the Scripture? Do you remember when Jesus said, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. And what did the disciples say? Who then can be saved? Why? Because the mindset is the mindset that, look, if you have a lot of things, God is blessing you. So look at the world. This was the same thing that was talked about in, well, not so much, in Psalm 73. He was saying that they're wicked and they have a lot of things, and their lives are going well. He wasn't saying God is with them. But the question that the disciples put forth is, who then can be saved? So you look at the world and you see these celebrities, they have so much, houses, cars, bank accounts, filled. They're not in the hospital, they're not sick. They're not going through the hard times that we go through on a regular basis, or so it seems, you don't know, but that's what it appears to be. You see these godless, wicked sinners living lives full of prosperity. You see these false prophets and these false preachers living in mansions, having private jets going from place to place, and they are completely and totally wicked. And then you have some of the most faithful men of God proclaiming the truth, and they Some of them don't even have shoes for their feet. They're suffering malaria. Their children are riddled with all kind of disease because they're in a foreign country proclaiming the message of the gospel. They're suffering intense persecution, death, but it gives a false assurance. Well, look, they're prospering. They're doing well. God must be with them. I told many of you that, look, I grew up in the hip-hop culture, and one thing that was common, common, almost the norm, that these godless rappers boasting in their depravity, they would say, thank you God for blessing me with all that I have. They have assurance. They think they are with God. They think they're going to heaven, making songs about it. gives them false assurance. This mindset encourages the narcissism. What is that? The belief that it's all about me. You spend your life in the mirror. You spend your life about you. Every move you make, it's all about you. And this mindset encourages that. So what we want to do as we look at Jeremiah 29, we want to dismantle all of these mindsets that are against Christ, that are against truth, that spit in the face of the gospel. We want to bring truth. We want to look at exactly what is real, not this false notion. So, Jeremiah 29, starting with verse 1. These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeconiah and the Queen Mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elisha, the son of Shaphan, and Gamariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, it said. So, what is the situation? The situation is this. For almost 50 years, Jeremiah was preaching the truth. He was telling these people in Jerusalem, in Judah, he was telling them, listen, repent. repent cease from your idolatry cease from your adultery cease from your fornication cease from your lying cease from your murdering cease from your sin God is angry and if you do not cease he is going to send you into exile he's going to send you into captivity the Babylonians are coming for you if you do not repent and for 50 years almost about 48 he proclaimed this message day in and day out. And they did not listen to him. They ignored him. They mocked him. They tried to kill him. He was alone. No one listened to him. Finally, God had enough. He brought down the gavel and judgment came. The Babylonians came and carried away the Jews into captivity. And while they're in exile, while they're in captivity, Jeremiah, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he writes a letter to them. The letter said, verse four, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. We can stop right there. That's huge. What do we see there? God's sovereignty. Who sent them into exile? God did. That suffering that you're in, God put you there. God sent them into exile. That's consistent with scripture. It flies in the face of one of those mindsets that we looked at. Look, God only wants good things to happen to you. Anything good happens to you, that's God. Anything bad happens to you, that's the devil. That's not what it says here. It says, God, the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts, to all the exiles, not just the kings, not just the false prophets, all the exiles, whom I have sent into exile. Do not mistake this. Do not miss this. There is a sovereign God who is behind even your suffering. There is a sovereign God who is behind even your pain. Not a tornado, not a flood, not a thunderstorm. Jesus said not even a sparrow, not even a small bird falls to the ground apart from my Father. Nothing happens. As one person put it, there's not a maverick molecule in the whole universe. Everything, every atom, every iota, every speck of dust is under the sovereign control of Almighty God. He sent them into exile. So that's key. Because they rejected the message of Jeremiah. They said that he was not speaking truth. They didn't like his message. They said God was not with him. Here they see, sure enough, not only was God with him, but this is God's doing. God sent them into exile. Verse 5. Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Whoa. What does that imply? They ain't going to be there for a minute. This is not a quick rescue. Me and my family, we like to go camping. We set up a tent. We don't bring lumber. We don't bring, you know, screws and bolts and sheetrock. We don't expect to be there for a long time. We build a tent, we're there for a couple of days, we break it down and we go. God said, build houses. And don't just build them, live in them. There's something permanent about homes. Some of you have been to my home, some of you have not, but at least Maybe you don't know, but I live far away, about 40, 45 minutes from the church. And there was not a lot in our area. And some of you have been to homes where there's not a lot out there. But as homes begin to be built, you'll start to notice something. Stores begin to be built, hotels begin to be built, schools begin to be built. Why is that? Because homes being built implies permanence. Longevity. They are going to be there for a while. It keeps going, there's more. Take wives and have sons and daughters. That's one generation. You take a wife, I don't want you to have children. That's one generation. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage. That's two generations. That they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease. That's three generations. You are going to be here for a long time. So look, God puts you here, build houses, live in them, plant produce. Look, I don't know if any of you grew up on farms, I did not, but I know a little bit about planting. You don't put something in the ground and the next day it comes up. I planted trees in my backyard, fruit trees. I was told you shouldn't expect to see any fruit for a year or two. There's this strong message of get comfortable, you're gonna be here for a while. God is not sending a hero on a white horse to come and save the day. They're not going to be rescued from this anytime soon. Take wives, have children. Those children, give them a way to marriage and let them have children. You're going to be here for a while. It's just compounding the reality. It's telling them that there's no quick rescue. I mean, this is real. You know, the people of Israel, they were constantly reminded of the history of their people. And they remember, wait a minute. Our ancestors were in Egypt. God sent plagues and rescued them from captivity. Maybe we should look for a Moses to come and plagues to release us from this captivity. No. No plagues are coming. You're going to be there for a while. This implies something else. that it's not about them. We'll come back there. But seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its welfare, you will find your welfare. I mean, you just imagine this, okay? You are in captivity. You see the armies approaching Babylon to destroy it. And there's a temptation in you like, hey, let's pray that Babylon loses so we can make our escape. And God says, pray for their welfare. Pray that they do not be destroyed. Seek their welfare because that's where you're gonna find your welfare. Pray that Babylon would be the victor when it comes to the battles. When the storms sweep in and begin to decimate the cities all around, you pray that Babylon would be spared. When the famine and the drought is hitting the surrounding cities, you pray that the drought and the famine does not touch the city where you are in slavery. This is world-shifting. Let me get this straight. I'm in slavery because God put me here. I'm going to be here for a long time and God wants me to pray for the very people that are enslaving me. To pray for their welfare. Yes. That's exactly what God wanted. Verse 8. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to them. Rather, do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. In my name, I did not send them, declares the Lord. Well, what were the false prophets? What were these prophets who were not sent by God? What were they prophesying? Well, if you ever read Jeremiah, if you haven't, I encourage you to. But in Jeremiah, often the false prophets are spoken against. They're spoken about. And a few times we get to hear their messages. This is one of the rebukes of God about them. This is from Jeremiah 23, 16. It says this. Thus says the Lord of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually, to those who despise the word of the Lord, it shall be well with you. And to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, no disaster shall come upon you. For who among them has stood in the counsel of the Lord to see and to hear His word? Or who has paid attention to His word and listened? " I mean, can you see what was going on here? He's saying, look, these prophets, they're not speaking on behalf of me. They're not looking at my word. If they would have looked at my word, they would have seen that what they're prophesying is false. What they're proclaiming is not true. And it's amazing. The same thing that Jeremiah was going through, the same thing that the people of Jeremiah's day was having, we have today. We have false prophets who are saying the same thing. Those of you who are still in your sin, you have people who are telling you, it's okay. No harm will come upon you. Everything will be okay. It is well with you. They're saying the very opposite that this passage is saying. Okay, verse 10, for thus says the Lord, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 70 years. That's a long time. Some of these people went there when they were 50. Do you think they made it to the 70 year mark? I don't think so. Some of these people went when they were 70. I don't think they lived to be 140 years. That's significant. The people who are reading this, many of them, did not get to enjoy the pleasure of the promise that's in the next verse. The next verse is the familiar verse. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. So some of these people didn't get to see this plan of prosperity, this plan of welfare. Many of these people didn't get to taste the goodness of this promise. Some of their children didn't get to taste and see the prosperity that the Lord had planned. Some of these people, only their children's children. And some of the people, their children's children's children. So what does this say? I mean, this is not about them. This is not about a personal promise for the people of Israel. Yes, I can hold on to that promise. God has a plan for me to prosper me. First of all, this was a message for the people. This was a collective promise. This was for the people of Israel. I mean, what do people do with it today? They claim it for them, right? They put it on a t-shirt. They put it on a plaque in their home and they look at it and say, yes, God has a plan for me. I'm going to read that every day. No, this was a collective prophecy, promise for the people of Israel, collectively, not individually. And those people were not necessarily the very people who were reading this letter. This was a multi-generational, in the future kind of promise, kind of fulfillment. Because in 70 years, the Lord said, I will come and visit you, and then I will fulfill this promise. So this has to do with suffering. for the sake of others, in light of others. Your suffering, you may not see the end result, you may not see the quote-unquote blessing of your suffering, but it may affect others down the line. The suffering that the Jews were facing in exile, 70 years later, they would get the promise of, I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you. This is a familiar theme throughout the Scripture. Many people had this same mindset. That their suffering was for another. Remember Joseph? Joseph. Innocent. Taken into slavery. Forced to work in slavery. Falsely accused. Thrown into prison. Forgotten. Years and years and years. He's there. Forgotten about. But then he's elevated. But even in his elevation, he's still in captivity. He's not with his family. He's not in the home of his people. He's surrounded by pagans. His brothers betray him at the end. Genesis 50, they come, they're before him. It all comes to light. This is our brother. They're afraid for their life. He tells them, look, what you meant for evil, the Lord meant for good. And what does he say there? He says, to bring about so that many people would live. His suffering, He didn't say, this has to do with me so that I could be promoted and I could be elevated and this would be for me. He said, no, the Lord, you meant this for evil, the Lord meant this for good, to bring about good so that many people would live. Ultimately, it was to preserve the seed of the Messiah so that Christ would come. Because Judah benefited from that. suffering. And you're suffering. Look, if you have children and you're going through all manner of suffering, your children are watching you. They watch how you suffer. And if you suffer well, that will impact them, which will then impact how they prayerfully disciple their children. You may not even see the benefits of how you suffered well. You may not see that in your lifetime, but if you do it in such a way that honors Christ, your children are impacted by that, and then that goes and impacts others. If you have a marriage, if you're married, your marriage is supposed to be a picture of the gospel, so that all who see will see a picture of Christ. And some people in their marriage have suffered adultery and forgiveness. And they say, wow, why? Why did my wife cheat on me? Why did my husband cheat on me? and you respond in such a way that shows the gospel and you forgive and those who see it they say the gospel they see Christ and the Lord may even use that to save them and they go and minister to someone else and that you may never even see the fruit of that until you get to heaven And you say, wow, by me suffering in a marriage where adultery was committed and forgiveness was given, and then you see in heaven, these are the believers who came from that. All manner of suffering that you may never, ever in this lifetime see the benefit of. It may not be about you seeing it today, but just like them, it wasn't for necessarily the hearers of the letter. You take wives, have children, those children, give them to marriage, and those people, let them have children, and in 70 years, I'm coming to fulfill my promise. That's the mindset I shared with some of you, that as a child, I was molested. Going through life, what was the point of that? but in the forgiveness that the Lord, by His grace, that I was able to give to my molester. People have, they've heard of that, and the gospel has been preached in that, and people have been cut to the heart, and salvation has come about. What is the purpose of our suffering? It's not necessarily for you. It's not necessarily that you're going to see the end of this. Yes, I'm going through suffering, but in this life, I'm going to have brighter days. John the Baptist didn't. Stephen didn't. James didn't. That may not come about in this life. Paul was beheaded. Now tradition says how the other apostles were destroyed. I don't know, it's not in scripture, so I can't say without a shadow of a doubt that's how they died, but that seems to be the consensus that they all died except for John in a horrible way. Did their suffering end in brighter days? Ultimately, yes, because they're in glory. They're with Christ. But in this life, no. That may be the reality of your suffering. You may not see the rainbow on the other side, so to speak, in this life. But if you suffer in such a way that brings glory to Christ, you never know what kind of fruit may come from that. It's huge. Look at verse 12. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me. When you seek Me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile." Again, the people who were reading this, Many of them did not get this promise, but it was made to the people as a whole. But don't miss this. He says, look, what's the point of this? So that you come back to me. Remember, this is the same book that has the heartbreaking passage where God is saying, what fault did your fathers find with me? Wasn't I good to you? Haven't I been faithful to you? Be shocked, be utterly appalled, O heavens, for my people have committed two evils. They forsake me, the fountain of living water, and they hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that do not hold water." He's saying, look, all of this, so that you will come back, that you will seek me with your whole heart and you will find me. This was to discipline them. God is kind, He's compassionate. He knows us. And He knows, you know yourself. When the heat is on, that's when you're on your knees and you're crying out to God. When things go well, you seem to neglect the prayer closet. But when things are intense, when people are in the hospital, when life is on the line, When hunger is causing your stomach to growl, when there's intensity, when suffering is upon you, then, oh, prayers are being, and the Lord's face is being sought. And that's really to our shame. For God is kind, and he's good, and he deserves to be sought always. But he says it there, doesn't he? Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. Look at verse 14. I will be found by you. I'm sorry. Verse 15 rather. Because you have said the Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon. These were the false prophets. There is such a warning here. He's calling them to repent. He's promising them that after a period of time, 70 years, He will come for them, but not all of them will be alive. Not all of them will seek Him. Some will go back to their idols. That's why they're in captivity. Because they were going to idolatry. Some will become like the Babylonians. They will start to assimilate with the pagans that they are being held captive by. Others will curse God for putting them there. If you're familiar with the history of how this worked out, that's exactly what happened to some. To many, in fact. They liked the words of the false prophets. Remember, God was saying, don't listen to these false prophets. What were they prophesying? Everything's going to be okay. God's not mad with you. There's no harm going to come upon you. Though you're in your sin, everything's okay. And some listened to the false prophets and he said, Because you have said, the Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon. Thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile. So there were some who were not taken into exile. He says this is what's going to happen. Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them a horror so all the kingdoms of the earth to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them. Now look at this and be, tremble. Why? Why is this going to happen? Why are they in captivity? And why is God coming for those who are not? Look at these words. Because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord. That I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord. That's something to tremble about today. This message was sent to them. But there is truth here for you as well. The same warning goes out to you. God's Word is clear. It is consistently being preached to you. Look, you have the word, you read it. It's there, saying the same thing. The Lord is angry with the wicked every day. His wrath is coming for you. There is a way of escape, there is a way of salvation, and it is to be had in Christ and Christ alone. While there is time, repent, believe the gospel, and you say no. The message comes again, look. God is angry with the wicked every day. His wrath is coming. His judgment is upon you now. There is one way of escape. It is Christ alone. Repent and believe the gospel today. You say no. His message comes to you again. The Lord is angry with the wicked every day. His wrath abides upon you now. There's a way of escape and it is Christ alone. Repent and believe the gospel while there is time. You say no. It comes again and again and again to you and the Lord He said, because you did not listen to my word that I consistently sent to you. Consistently. That's over and over and over again. Ask yourself, how many times have you heard the gospel? Ask yourself, how many sermons have you heard? Ask yourself, how many times have you read the scriptures? You've seen the warnings, and you've said, nah. Not for me. You know what God does to fornicators and adulterers, but you say, not for me. You know what God does to liars, but you say, not for me. You know what God does to idolaters, and you say, that's not going to touch me. You know what God does to the proud, to the arrogant. He opposes them. He comes after them with His judgment. But you continue in your pride. You continue in your fornication and your lust. You continue in your idolatry. You continue in your sin. spitting in God's face, testing him, daring him. Just as the people of Israel did. Jeremiah, for almost 50 years, he preached the same message and they did not believe when the Lord came for them. He said, I'm coming with sword, pestilence, and famine. I will make them a horror and a terror to all who see. You will be like a rotten fig that cannot be eaten." If that was true in Jeremiah's day, What do you think will happen to you when you have Christ come, crucified, buried, risen? When you have the full counsel of God before you, when you have the gospel proclaimed, if this was true in Jeremiah's day, what do you think will happen to you? Look, I'll tell you this, people are taking Jeremiah 29 11 and they're telling you God will not harm you. I'll tell you this, He will harm you. He absolutely will harm you if you do not repent and believe the gospel. I tell you this, that time is limited and you do not know when your time is up. You say, well look, God's sovereign. I believe in Calvinism and if I'm supposed to be saved then God will save me. That is a lie from the pit of hell. You better believe. You better believe today. You better cast off that, if God's going to do it, it's going to happen. He says to you, repent and believe. He told Matthew, come, follow me. And he got up from his booth of tax collecting and followed. You better cast aside that foolishness, for the day is coming. The day is coming when you will stand before God, and the Lord is angry with the wicked every day. And if you do not have the righteousness of Christ, you are wicked. If your name is not written in the Lamb's book of life, you will have the full wrath of God poured upon you. And if you're hearing this, then you will have the accountability of this message to add upon. Look, God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. God has been kind to you day in and day out. He has spared you from car wrecks and bullets and bombings and air crashes and all manner of things and illness and all What kinds of ways that God has to take you out of this life? He has spared you from that if you're still alive. That's God's kindness. Why is He being kind to you? It's meant to lead you to repentance. But the next verse says, but because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. If you're... Let your heart not be impenitent. Let your heart not be hard. In the day you hear this message, harden not your hearts. This is the day of salvation. This may be it. This may be it. You may laugh and scoff at that, but look, Lot's wife had a day when it was it. Sodom and Gomorrah had a day when it was it. The people of Noah had a day when it was it. Ananias and Sapphira had a day when it was it. When it's over. when time's up, and they didn't know when that was. There are many people in hell today who were making plans for next week, who were making plans for tomorrow, and none of them said, I will be in hell tonight. Certainly, they all said, I have time. He has warned you. His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. Do not spit in His holy face. Today is the day to repent. Today is the day to believe. And Christ will not cast you away if you come to Him in faith. Your sins will be forgiven. The righteousness of Christ will be given to you. He will never forsake you nor leave you. It does not promise you that you will have a life full of prosperity and free from suffering, but He does say this, that He will be with you in the midst of your suffering, that He will be with you. Though everyone else deserts you, He will never desert you. And you will have an eternity to be with him. There is no greater treasure. There is no greater promise You can have all the things that these prosperity preachers Promise you fall right in your lap, but it pales in comparison to knowing Christ that is the greatest treasure of all in Christ himself is offering himself to those who will come and believe and Look, there is a wrath to face, and there is a joy to have. I pray you would come. Seek Him with your whole heart. You will find Him. Come to Him. Let's pray. Father, O Lord, I can preach for days and I cannot make anyone believe. I'm relying on you. It's all to you. Salvation is of the Lord. The hand of the King is in your, the heart of the King is in your hands and you move it like the rivers of water where you want it to go. These hearts are in your hand as well. Lord, would you please grant repentance? Please grant faith. Please grant salvation. Let them not hear such a message and then go on to their sin and go to hell. Please, Father, please be merciful. Be gracious. Pray you would do it. In Jesus name, amen. You're dismissed.