Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, good morning again. Glad you're here this morning. And I just want to mention one thing. You know, we're coming up to kind of a citywide event called Westerner Days. And one of the things that we decided to do years ago was to actually engage with the community and how to do that. We're always trying to find ways to make it meaningful, have a meaningful engagement with them. And so we decided to provide a free lunch after the parade, hot dogs, hamburgers. And it's really gone over well. We actually brought a bunch of things for the kids to be involved with. They have bouncy things and all the rest of it. Then we brought gospel music in. So we're doing all this thing to kind of give people an exposure. And so over the years, this thing has grown so that prior to Covid, we had one day, we served 2000 hamburgers and hot dogs between 1130 and 132 hours. That's a lot of food. Now, how many recognize you have to be prepared to do that? And so it took a lot of people to do it. We had usually 100 people from our church would volunteer. Some would come early in the morning and help prepare tables. Some would help with the cooking. Some would help with the cleanup afterwards. Some were involved in the music. So what I'd like you to consider is to be involved in this. And usually on that Wednesday, it's pretty laid back. In our city, people are finding ways to go to the parade and be involved in that way. So if you could at all become involved that day, maybe you're free from work that day, or maybe you can take the day off ahead of time if you schedule for it. It's July the 19th. Would you please consider signing up? We have about 50 people already registered to help us. But it would really be nice if another 50 people said, you know what? Many hands make light work. How many discover that? And that's true. And so I'll be involved. I actually help cook some of the meals.
[00:01:51] Other times, I try to get to know some of the people that are seated. We actually have greeters and people that mingle with people. Because how many know you do all this work? It's really nice to connect with people. So I'm going to invite you to be joining together to make this our church's connection to the public and our community. Because we're not just here for ourselves, we're here for others. And once we understand that, I think it gets more exciting. I'm going to have a stand this morning as we go to the Lord in prayer. So, Father, I thank you this morning. I'm excited about the fact that you are ruling and reigning on planet Earth. And no matter what we experience, no matter what the challenges that lie before us, and all of us experience testings in our lives, some are challenged with temptation.
[00:02:37] Whatever the issues that we're faced with, Lord, as we come to your word this morning, I pray they would hear your voice, that we would discover the value of living in obedience to your word. There's something profoundly powerful about doing what you're asking us to do. And when we do that, Father, it releases a peace in our life that maybe we've never known before. It releases joy, hope. We don't live in regret and sorrow and anguish. And so, Father, I've just prayed today that you will give us ears to hear. Now we'll look at an example from scripture today of the value of obedience and some of the challenges and consequences of disobeying you. And so we thank you for your word. We thank you. It's instructive. We thank you. That it encourages us. We thank you. That it corrects us. We thank you. That it establishes, strengthens, and it motivates and inspires us. And I pray today that all of these things will occur to us. We thank you for that. In Jesus name. And God's people said, amen. You may be seated. And I'm going to have you turn to the book of Jeremiah. I started a series, believe it or not, we're in chapter 35. So we've actually are going chapter by chapter. We've looked at 34 chapters of this book, and I have been shocked about how relevant it's been, and also it's not boring. We just keep looking at different themes.
[00:04:04] So this morning we're at chapter 35.
[00:04:08] Now, there's always been countercultural movements on our planet. We have people called the Amish, and some of you are acquainted with the Amish. The Amish are a group that are agrarian, communal, and for many of them, we would say traditional or non modern approach to life. And what they're trying to do is live a more simple life. And the goal, ultimately, is to get to know God better and not be entangled with the complexities of our sophisticated world. And there's some value to that.
[00:04:47] Back in the 60s, we had a lot of young people who were frustrated with life. They kind of dropped out. They were known as hippies, and they started living a communal life, got involved in all kinds of crazy stuff. But ultimately, by the grace of God, it became the birth of the Jesus people, a lot of them became christians.
[00:05:05] So there's always been a segment of society that's tried to live a countercultural life. There are people today that even gone, quote, off grid. They just feel we're too dependent on electricity and all of the modern conveniences, and so they go out and try to live life on a totally different scale. So values are really what shapes how people live. Isn't that true? What you and I value, what means something to us affects the decisions that we're going to make in life. And there are many who are at ods with the current culture, and they're not going to allow this current culture to define them. They're not going to let culture squeeze them, as J. B. Phillips translations say, into their mold. They don't want to fit into this cultural mold. So probably one of the best ways for us to determine what our values are, because we can say to people, this is what I value. We can say it in word, but really what we value is always seeing when we're brutally honest with ourselves is how we spend our time, our resources, and what our passions are. Isn't that true? So if I take a really hard look at my life, I go, what am I really passionate about? And I always say to people, if I really want to get to know you, I'd never do this, but really, this would be a tremendous indicator. Give me your daytimer, let me see how you spend your time, and then give me your checkbook, or however you keep track of how you spend your money. And I could probably tell you a lot by those two things, who you really are, because what you are investing your life in is telling me what you truly value.
[00:06:50] That's what we need to understand. That denotes value. So sometimes as a Christian, we'll say, I value this, but our time, our energy, our resources are given totally to a different area in our life. And I go, well, yeah, you're saying one thing, but this is what you truly value. How many say that's accurate? We need to be a little more honest with ourselves sometimes we're living in a little bit of self deception. So living a countercultural lifestyle, it's not just a modern phenomenon. As a matter of fact, in Jeremiah 35, we're going to discover a group of people who rejected the predominant lifestyle of the jewish people. They were Jews, but they didn't live like the majority of the jewish people.
[00:07:35] R-E-O white describes the nature of the Rakabite, the Rachabites and their lifestyle. In this book, the Indomitable Prophet, a biographical commentary in Jeremiah, he says, the Rakabites were a family guild who worshiped God strictly after the manner of the pilgrim patriarchs, living as nearly as possible in a nomadic fashion of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Crops, vineyards, houses, towns and cities all tied men to one place, they said, and so bred luxury, strife of possessions, materialism, worship of fertility gods, and all manner of soft, lazy extravagance, very different from the hard, disciplined life of herdsmen under the desert stars. So we're going to look at where these guys came from, what got them into this whole motif of living. And by the way, when you think about, like in the fourth, the early church, a lot of times you had people that wanted to live a more devout life. And so we have the beginnings of monastic living, right? So we always know that there's a movement out there. There's a longing, a yearning to live a life of greater simplicity in a life where we won't be swept into the pressures of the prevailing culture of our time. Now, we know that Moses, this goes back a few years, Moses said to the Israelites when they were going into the promised land. Now, just, I want to warn you of one really great danger. When you get in there and you begin to possess the land and you experience the blessing of the land, and you inherit these houses and crops, and you become materially affluent, don't forget God.
[00:09:25] Isn't it interesting that there's a relationship between material affluence and spiritual decadence? It kind of goes together. And so one of the great temptations for people that live in a very affluent part of the world, which is us, is that you and I, and I know that you guys, listen, the fact that you're here tells me that you're making some major value decision because you're exercising your time. You could be somewhere else, you could be golfing, you could be doing something else, but you're here, and you're basically saying, in spite of how good my life is, I am choosing to put God first. Hopefully that's where we're all camped today. That's the cry of my heart as a pastor, that we're saying I don't want to allow the good life to keep me from the best life, which is walking with God. That's the greater life, because I know that this life comes to an end.
[00:10:22] Anybody figured that out yet? We all age.
[00:10:26] It's true. And I've been meditating a little bit more about this. I'm aging and I'm watching people around me age, and I'm recognizing something. Ecclesiastes is very insightful. He says, remember to serve your creator in the days of your youth before the evil day comes. And what's the evil day? When you get older.
[00:10:50] That's true.
[00:10:52] Read the text, because the next few verses, it's kind of an allegory of aging. And, you know, when you start losing your hearing, you can't see very well. It gets more challenging to really serve God the way you really would like to when your body starts falling apart on you. So what I'm pointing out to all of us is that we have a shelf life. We have a timeline. We can only do this so long, and then we're going to go moving into eternity. And so the decisions that we're making in this life is going to impact how our eternity is setting up.
[00:11:25] So a lot of people go, yeah, well, I'm preparing for retirement. And I'm going, well, that's good, but that's a very small block of time. I'm preparing for my ultimate retirement. I'm preparing for eternity. How many think that's even a wiser person?
[00:11:38] We have these people that talk about, help you with your retirement years. Listen, folks, I'm here to help you with your eternity years.
[00:11:46] And that goes a lot longer.
[00:11:49] Yeah, that's right.
[00:11:52] So in approaching Jeremiah 35, what we're going to discover is a flashback to a decade or so earlier than the previous reign of Jehoakin, which was seen in the previous chapter of Jeremiah 34. These chapters are not in historical or chronological order, but are making a theological argument. They're designed as a contrast between what had happened early, where the faithfulness of the small guild, guild, or clan in Israel highlights the unfaithfulness of God's people in the last year of the monarchy, before the city of Jerusalem is destroyed and they go into exile. So I'm giving you a little bit of the background of the chapter we're going to look at. So we are going to learn something about this guy by the name of Jehona Dab, a reformer who shaped the outlook of his descendants for 250 years. How many say, somebody gives you instructions and for 250 years, all of your descendants obey you? You're going to say, that's pretty profound, isn't it? That's an amazing thing, 250 years. Do you know our nation is only 150 years old? So here's a guy that 250 years earlier told his family, this is how you ought to live. And they said, okay, we're going to do it. And they had done it. So we're going to look at that story. Tremper Longman points out, God never required this actual mode of living. These seem to be human laws. Whether their mode of living was right or not is not the issue of the chapter, however.
[00:13:20] Rather it has to do with the quality of their obedience. So this is what we're going to look at. What the point the chapter is going to make is simply how is it that one group of people are willing to obey a father for 250 years while God's people can't listen to God and are continuously disobedient? That's the contrast we're going to see here in chapter 35.
[00:13:45] We're going to look at and evaluate a life of obedience to God's word and what happens as a result of it. Faith in God is always manifested by obedience to God's word. So you can tell me you have faith in God, but if you're not doing what God's saying, you don't have faith. See, that's the argument at Book of James. People of genuine faith do what God says. So obedience is the fruit or the result of true faith. Obedience is the result of it. And if I'm not obeying, I'm challenging the fact that I'm really trusting God then.
[00:14:22] And one thing that each of us can expect is temptation and testings. I come to challenge our faith. Everybody in this room, if you're a Christian, you've been walking with God for a while. How many say, yeah, I've experienced temptation, I've experienced testings. That's going to happen.
[00:14:36] But it's not a bad thing. It's to prove our faith. So as we obey God, then we can look back and say, yes, I trusted God and God is trustworthy.
[00:14:49] Will we obey God's word or will we surrender to the pressures in the society in which we're living? I'm currently reading a book right now talking about why people are giving into the pressures of society. It's very fascinating. It's because when you have a lot of cultural pressure, you don't even realize that you're succumbed to it.
[00:15:14] And I think we have to really get to know what God's word is saying, and then we have to make a resolute decision that we're going to do what God says regardless of what people are saying.
[00:15:28] And that's a little more challenging, isn't it? Because all of us want to fit in. All of us want to be accepted, all of us. We don't want to rock the boat, so to speak.
[00:15:38] And yet I think we have to stand before an almighty God one day and give an account of our lives. That's the most important thing. So we need to prepare ourselves for that moment. So what are we going to learn from this message regarding listening and obeying God, or will we disregard what he has to say? And so I think there's three aspects to this issue of obedience to God, which I believe is the true manifestation if we're serving God or not. And let's take a look at the first one. It's overcoming the temptation of disobedience. We have to overcome that.
[00:16:10] Will I live in obedience to God, or will I rebel against what God wants for my life? Now, I said something earlier. God's ways are what? Higher.
[00:16:20] God's ways are higher than our ways. As a matter of fact, Isaiah says it this way. He says, my ways are so much higher than your ways. My ways are like heaven compared to your earthly ways. They're just far above you. And so we need to understand that God is brilliant, okay? We're tainted by sin. We're fallible, we're weak. And God is holy.
[00:16:47] That word holy means other than we are. He's beyond us.
[00:16:53] He's separate from us. It's very powerful. And when God says something, we have to say, you know, God, you're so brilliant, your view of life, you can see the future. You know what's going to happen, you know what's best.
[00:17:08] I just read a story of obedience this morning in my devotional time. It really just reinforces this in my mind. But let me get to our text, and then I'll come back to that story.
[00:17:20] So Jeremiah is now being instructed by God to create what he calls an enacted parable. It says, this is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah. Go to the rehabite family, invite them to come to one of the siderooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink. So why does God tell them to do this? One of the side rooms of the House of God at the temple. He wants people to see this. This is going to be a visual. Everybody's going to watch what's about to happen. So I went to get Jezaniah, son of Jeremiah, the son of Hazaniah, and his brothers and all his sons, the whole family of the reckabites. And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hannah, son of Igdaliah, the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Messiah, son of Shalom, the doorkeeper.
[00:18:16] How many go? This is very specific instruction. Very specific. And the fact that he's using people's names you can lock into this is something that actually happened. Now, why is he this detailed? Because now he's writing this ten years later, and he's pointing out an incident that happened earlier, and God is. He's going to challenge the people that are about to be taken into exile. And he said, ten years ago, God told me to do this. Okay.
[00:18:44] Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the rack of bites, and I said to them, drink some wine. Have some wine.
[00:18:51] But they replied, we do not drink wine because our forefather, Jehonadab, son of Rekham, gave us this command. Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.
[00:19:02] And also you must never build houses, sow seed, plant vineyards. You will never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.
[00:19:13] Why did he give them that instruction then? Here's the result. You will live a long time in the land where you are nomads. So what are they concerned about? They're concerned about remaining in the land.
[00:19:27] How many see that? And how many know? The real threat in the story right now is God is saying, I'm taking you out of the land and exiling you.
[00:19:37] Why? Because you're not listening. These guys were told by their forefather, if you do these things, you will never be removed from the land.
[00:19:47] Okay, are we following the story now? So, John Thompson relates with, I think, rather keen insight, maybe one of the possibilities why they felt so strongly about their manner of life. He said maybe the Rakabites and justification of their refusal explained their origins and their way of life and were thus reactionaries whose Yahwehism, in other words, their worship of the true God, had fossilized at the nomadic stage. In other words, they decided this was the best way to live. Being nomadic, we're not going to get entangled with the affairs of this life, so we're going to live like this. This is going to keep us from being seduced by the challenges of a very sedentary, very prosperous life.
[00:20:36] He says they had rejected that Sedentary culture completely. For them, Yahweh was a nomadic deity. In other words, they saw him as the God who had led AbraHAM and ISaac and JaCOb through their wanderings. Okay, perhaps they had some ground for their outlook when Israel settled in Canaan and began to live the sedentary life into practice agriculture. The first thing they encountered was what the CAnAANiTe culture and the religion. Remember, God had said, go in and destroy them. But they didn't do that.
[00:21:07] They allowed them to remain there. They became, not only did they accommodate, eventually they began to embrace the culture in which they were now living. So instead of living a high standard, this sort of way of life with God, they now became accultured to a far different kind of lifestyle. And they began to embrace the worship of the canaanites. It says, increasingly, they were drawn to the fertility God baal, to whom the Canaanites turned to bless their crops and flocks. And they were tempted to accept the religion of Canaan. So here's what you need to understand.
[00:21:47] The JewIsh people at this time, they didn't stop worshiping Yahweh, but they also worshiped BAAL. You follow what's going on? They created a syncretistic approach to worship. So they would have never said, we don't believe in God. Of course they believe in God. Of course they have a temple. Of course they worship God. The only problem was they also put their trust in BAal. They also accommodated to the Values of the CAnaAniTe cUlture. Okay, can everybody see that there's a parallelism with us? You see, you and I are living. We're saying, yeah, I believe in Jesus. I worship God. But many times we begin to accommodate to the values of the culture.
[00:22:33] And I see it more and more and more as time goes along that the church, especially in North America, has done more accommodating and more accommodating and more accommodating until finally you have churches today that they don't even preach the gospel anymore.
[00:22:47] They just accept the values of our society in hope somehow of being able to relate to them and connect with them. But pretty soon we begin to practice the very things they're doing.
[00:23:01] You say, well, how do christians do these behaviors? I go, because they're accommodating.
[00:23:06] You don't get there in one movement is what I'm getting at. It's a directional thing. So we have to sit down and say, which direction am I going in? Am I moving towards the God of scripture? Am I moving towards what God is saying? Am I moving towards obeying what God has to say? Or am I kind of trying to fit in into my society and the neighborhood? And I'm accommodating. I'm accommodating. I'm accommodating. Yeah, I still believe this, but I'm also doing this, you see what's going on? This is what was happening. This is how they got there. So the Reykabites were identified, the sedentary life with a particular religion. They saw that as a canaanite approach. So we would call them separatists today.
[00:23:53] They wanted to be a purist in their thinking.
[00:23:56] The point is that they had honored their forefather by obeying his instructions in order to receive God's blessings. They wanted to be in the land, because to be in the land meant that you were with God.
[00:24:09] To be exiled out of the land meant you were separated from God. So for them, it was about God and being in his presence.
[00:24:18] The conditions for achieving the promised blessing. Here, reacub sets out that if the people live this nomadic lifestyle, they'll always live in the land.
[00:24:28] You know, when we look at this text, how does that relate to me as a new Testament believer? How does it relate to you? Well, we need to remember in the New Testament, it's not about being in the land. It's about being in God's presence. It's about God dwelling within us, and we are with him. There's a relationship with God. Okay, you can see why the land speaks of his presence for us. What's the great promise? Jesus said, it's important that I leave so I can be with you and in you. I want to be in you. I want to be with you at all times.
[00:25:05] This is the great thing about living the christian life. To know God, to have God living within our lives, to have God watching over us, protecting us, providing, directing our lives, is what makes life worthwhile. As a matter of fact, Paul writes it for if God is for us, who can be against us? And I was just reading this morning a beautiful story of Elisha. He tells this shunammite woman who he had raised her son from the dead. He said, there's going to be a famine in the land for seven years. Leave the land. And she immediately obeys him. Leaves. She was a very affluent woman. She had actually built a room for Elijah and Gehazi, Elisha and Gehazi. And she leaves the land for seven years, and she just obeys the prophet who is speaking the word of God. And then seven years are up, and she comes back to the land and she says, I'm going to go to the king and ask him for my property back. And it just so happened. I love this. This is providential Gehazi, who's now the leprodist man who had remember the story he had taken he coveted material things, and he ended up with Naaman's leprosy. That whole story, some of you need to read the story. It's very fascinating.
[00:26:12] But anyways, he's sitting there talking to the king of Israel and the king of. Listen, you know, Elijah, life is so amazing. All the miracles. Tell me about him. And he said, well, let me tell you the time when a shunamite woman came and her son had died, and Elisha comes along and he raises this boy back to life. And while he's telling the story, the woman with the boy who was raised back to Life, who had obeyed Elisha, is at the king's court waiting to talk to him to ask for her property. And Gehesi looks over and he goes, and there's that woman and there's her son. And the king got excited, says, really? Yeah, tell me it. And so they testified of what they had experienced. And he says to his administration, he says, give her back the property and all of the revenues that were lost over those seven years.
[00:27:09] Give it back to her.
[00:27:11] And I wrote in my little journal this morning, listen, folks, if we obey God, he'll take care of you.
[00:27:21] You see, you and I are trying to figure it all out. God goes, I've got it figured out.
[00:27:27] I can handle this for you. Just do what I tell you to do. I'll take care of you. Isn't that beautiful? I love it. Here's the testimony of the Rekabites, verse eight. They said, hey, listen. We've obeyed everything our forefather, Jehonadab, son of Rekab, commanded us. Neither we, nor our wives, nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine.
[00:27:52] He's not saying it's wrong to drink wine. We know the scriptures teach us wrong to be drunk. But these guys, they're saying, hey, our dad said, this is how we ought to live, and we're going to do it. And we've never done it for 250 years. How many are impressed?
[00:28:08] Yeah. Or we've never built houses or lived in, or had vineyards, fields or crops. We have lived in tent and have fully obeyed everything our forefather, Jehonadab, commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar, now we have a little exception. We're kind of behind the walls in Jerusalem. But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, invaded this land, we said, come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape the babylonians and the aramean armies. So we have remained in Jerusalem. In other words, we know this is a momentary crisis. We don't plan to remain here. We plan. As soon as this crisis is over, we're back to our nomadic way of life. Isn't that neat? So God is using this amazing example of people who are honoring their father, their forefather. How many know when we honor people that God puts in authority in our lives, God will honor us.
[00:29:01] Listen, I still remember reading that text from first Samuel 230.
[00:29:06] If you honor God, he'll honor you. And if you disregard what God has to say, God will disregard you. We're sowing and reaping something, is what we're saying.
[00:29:19] So we should be asking ourselves, what's my testimony? What is my life speaking out to people? How is my obedience to God influencing, infecting the lives of people around me? Is it affecting my kids?
[00:29:34] How is it going to affect my kids, my disobedience or my obedience? How is it going to affect my children? Let me tell you something. We can't make people do the right thing, but I think we can influence people. And let me say this. If you live a life of disobedience, you're influencing people to do negative things. And if you're living a life of obedience, you're influencing people and inspiring people to do the right thing. That's the way it works. Think of Noah. How many would like to have Noah's job? It had never rained. God says, I want you to build a boat. Okay. It's going to rain. Really? What's that?
[00:30:08] Water is going to come down from heaven. He spent 100 years building a boat. That was really huge.
[00:30:15] How many know? The people around him thought he was a little bit over the top, little eccentric. Noah. Noah's telling us, God's going to judge the know. It's always been this way. Nothing will ever change. Isn't that kind of the world we're living in? It's always going to be like this. Can I tell you what's going to happen? Christ is going to come back. This world's going to face judgment. I've read the last book. It's coming. It's coming our way. And we can act like, well, no big thing, never going to change.
[00:30:46] He seemed like he was out of touch with reality. Totally irrelevant to our times.
[00:30:52] Noah, I mean, what's he talking about? And what is he building over there? And, you know, these guys were so locked into their worldview that when all of the animals started trotting up two by two, you think clue in how many know this is not normal behavior. Animals are moving along, moving up into the ark. Wouldn't that kind of have something strange is going on there? This is not normal. Yeah, it was supernatural. So all these animals start parking into the ark, and all of a sudden the door closes and starts raining. I can just imagine people shocked when the crisis came. How many know that we're never ready for crisis?
[00:31:31] How many here were really prepared when Covid hit? You just knew this was about to happen.
[00:31:36] There were actually people out there that knew a pandemic was on its way. They just didn't know when they knew it was overdue.
[00:31:44] It's true.
[00:31:47] But listen, I'm telling you, there'll come a day of crisis again.
[00:31:51] Most people aren't prepared for that stuff because they're not walking with God. They're not doing what God's asking them to do, so it overtakes them. The prophetic point that Jeremiah is making, it's significant that these people were obedient to an earthly forefather, whereas the people of Judah were disobedient to their God, creator, and redeemer. In reality, this is an unthinkable state of rebellion. FB Huey says the contrast between the Rakebites obedience and Judah's disobedience was painfully apparent. Obedience to the Lord's commands is not a problem unique to the know. You read the Bible and go, man, don't these guys smarten up? How many have ever read the wilderness wanderings? And they're complaining and carrying on. You going, what's with these characters?
[00:32:35] Dems us?
[00:32:38] We're journeying through life. God's providing, but we're whining and complaining and grumbling. Come on, it's the way it works. Read the Bible. It's not unique to the Hebrews. It says, from the beginning of history, the human race has insisted on asserting its own independence from God. It has not yet learned the lesson that declaring one's independence from God does not bring happiness or blessing that the tempter promises. Isn't that what happened at the very beginning? God really did say that. Oh, you should try it out. He's holding back some really good thing for you. The fruit looks good. Hey, it even tastes good.
[00:33:19] Whoops.
[00:33:21] Now we're in trouble, right?
[00:33:23] Isn't that the truth in all of our lives? Well, let me move on here. Bad choices. Choosing to go our way brings nothing but heartache and broken relationships. Let's look at point number two. Is the power of example. Our obedience or disobedience not only impacts our lives, it impacts the lives of people around us.
[00:33:45] All of us are leaving a legacy your whole life.
[00:33:51] Ultimately, what are people going to say about you?
[00:33:55] What kind of a person were you? Were you a kind person, generous person, loving person, forgiving person, forbearing person? Were you a christlike person?
[00:34:04] Were you a selfish person or unselfish person? You're leaving something behind. You got footprints.
[00:34:12] Okay.
[00:34:13] What kind of a legacy are we leading? Here? In Jeremiah 35, we have two examples, one positive, one negative. One's designed to encourage us to do what's right. The other is a warning against violating God's word, especially after he keeps repeatedly warning us to do the right thing. So here's God's complaint against the people. Verse twelve. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, this is what the Lord almighty, the God of Israel, says is saying, go and tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. Would you not learn a lesson and obey my words? Declare, the Lord Jehonadad, son of Reicham, ordered his descendants not to drink wine, and this command has been kept to this day. They do not drink wine because they obeyed their forefathers command. But I have spoken to you again and again, and yet you have not obeyed me again and again. I sent all my servants to prophesy to you. They said, each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions. Do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors. But you have not paid attention or listened to me. Who's talking?
[00:35:26] God is through the prophet. He's saying, you're not listening to me. Whoa.
[00:35:33] Walter Brugeman relates God's charge and says it this way. The argument begins with a question that is part urging and part accusation. Could you not learn a lesson? The revised standard version says, could you not receive instruction? Actually, that term lesson is the word discipline. It's the hebrew word Musar. I actually looked this word up once.
[00:36:02] It's really important that we get it that God is a father. He's going to discipline his kids. That's what Musar is all about.
[00:36:12] I'm going to make you listen. I'm going to discipline you. Thus the question is asked with some impatience and indignation, could you not accept nurture into the true identity of the community? In other words, could you not become what I designed you to become, a community of faith? Could you not go down that track? The community is urged to accept what it means to be Israel, to come under discipline, to learn, to listen, to become persons and a community whose very life consists in hearing what God is addressing. Or he's saying, right, goes on to say, thus, the listening urges not to a particular command, but it's a posture and a habit and an inclination of life that acknowledges that the source of life lies outside of self.
[00:36:58] Okay, what's Brugerman saying? He's saying, well, let me close what he says. Thus the question means, could you not renounce your fraudulent autonomy? What he means is, who's really in charge here in your life, you or God? Are you going to do your thing or are you going to do God's thing? We have a choice.
[00:37:18] And when we do our thing, what we're basically saying is, we know better. We're wiser than God.
[00:37:25] We know what the future holds. We know what's best for us.
[00:37:30] How many say, that's pretty presumptuous?
[00:37:33] Or would we rather say, you know, God's really bright, he's smarter than me. He knows the future. He knows how to take care of me. I don't even know what I want half the time.
[00:37:45] Let's be honest. How many have ever, I really want this. And then you got to go, that's no big thing.
[00:37:52] Ever had those experiences that wasn't that great? And then there's moments in life where God just gives you something, you go, I didn't ask for it. I didn't expect it. But, man, is this ever know you ever, those moments where you're. I call it know where I'm going, wow, this is a bonus. I don't deserve this. This is so know, I was on our trip to Europe. It was really interesting. We went to France, and I didn't know we were going to stay close to a little french village called Bayou. And so, you know, how many know that I'm into history? Anybody know that about me? I'm really into history. I'm reading all the time about it. And I knew about this thing called the bayou tapestry. And I thought, how far away are we to this thing? And I hadn't said anything. I hadn't said, this is what I'd like to see. And all of a know, we met up with Kelly and Marcia over there in Normandy, and she goes, oh, tomorrow we're going to go see the bayou tapestry. And I went, yes. I got so excited. I didn't even know we were that close.
[00:38:56] And you go, what is that, pastor? Well, it's a 70 meters tapestry designed in the twelveth century. So it's like, what, 900 years old? It's under glass and it's 70 meters long, or 210ft describing William the conqueror's coronation and victory at the battle of Hastings when the Normans invaded England. Okay. And it was so neat to see it.
[00:39:26] Can you imagine seeing a piece of history like that? I mean, everywhere I went I was walking in history. You have to understand, for me, I'm just bonusing. This is a bonus. That's what I mean about know. He's so good. He knows deep down inside he goes, wait till you know. He's probably telling his angels, just wait till he gets to Normandy. I got a surprise for him.
[00:39:47] That's how I think you see God is good.
[00:39:53] He goes on here to say, israel is not a self starter, can never exist autonomously. Its life is always a derivative, as a gift from God which requires responsive obedience. To listen is to resist autonomy. In other words, when you and I do what God wants us to do, you know what we're doing? We're denying ourself. Jesus says we're denying our self autonomy. We're saying, God, I'm made in your image and I'm designed to be in union with you. I'm incomplete apart from you. There's something missing in my life when you're not in it. As a matter of fact, all the search for meaning and significance and belonging that people are on, all of the things they're pursuing after is trying to meet the longing in their soul for this union with God. Isn't that amazing? We were designed to have fellowship with God. We are incomplete apart from God. You ever feel an incompleteness? That's because you don't know God very well. The more you get to know him, the more the soul satisfaction starts happening in your soul. It's so powerful. I love it.
[00:40:59] This is at the heart of the issue that Jesus faced in the wilderness. Temptation. It's equally the same for us. We're constantly called to make choices between what God is asking and what society is peddling that would attract our sinful nature. Will we listen or will we ignore the voice of God? Will we do what God requires or will we rebel and do what we desire? That's in conflict with his will and his word.
[00:41:26] Let me move to the final aspect. The result both of obedience and disobedience. It's a very simple sermon. What am I saying? Just do what God says.
[00:41:37] Blessings flow from it. If you ignore God, you're going to suffer. When we honor God by acting in obedience, his word, you can expect blessings in your life. You can start bonusing. You know I love it.
[00:41:51] I walk around every day going, I don't deserve the good life you've given me, God. That's how I think.
[00:41:57] The more mature you are in your christian life, the more you start realizing God's grace, God's goodness, God's kindness, how many things God kept me out of, how many stupid things I would have gotten into but for the grace of God he kept me from.
[00:42:16] I just rejoice in it.
[00:42:18] There are serious consequences to ignoring and disobeying God. Verse 17. Therefore, this is what the Lord God almighty, the God of Israel, says, listen, I'm going to bring on Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem, every disaster I pronounced against them. Now you have to understand something. Deuteronomy is part of the Old Testament, Leviticus, part of the Old Testament covenant. God says, if you obey me, all these blessings are going to flow. If you disobey me, all of these things are going to happen. All of these curses, exile, war, famine, judgment, all these terrible things. He says, you know what? I've been warning you. It's going to come. I've been warning you for centuries now. It's going to happen.
[00:42:59] But they did not listen. I called to them, they didn't answer.
[00:43:04] Isn't that sad?
[00:43:06] Jesus also warns us.
[00:43:09] I think sometimes we look at it and go, boy, are those guys ever dance.
[00:43:14] Be careful, because Jesus is speaking to us.
[00:43:19] You know what he says? If you don't do what I say for you to do, you could be eternally separated from the Father.
[00:43:28] Are we hearing this? You see, God says, I will take you out of the land. That's a separation from God. God says, jesus is God. He's talking to us. He's saying, listen, guys, if you choose your own way, you may be choosing to be eternally separated from God.
[00:43:47] That's the very nature of what hell is, an absence of everything good, including the ultimate goodness, God himself.
[00:43:56] You know, Jesus uses a parable of a rich man and Lazarus the beggar. And he speaks of eternal destinies and the critical aspect of listening, which means acting on God's message. In Luke, he says, a rich man was also buried and he died. Lazarus the beggar died. Rich man also died. We're all going to die one day. It's like taxes. You all got to pay them, right?
[00:44:18] Death and taxes, two things you can't avoid in Hades.
[00:44:23] Other translations say in hell, but it's Hades where he was in torment. He looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He said to him, father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I'm in agony in this fire. And we're told that there was existing a gulf between them that no longer could be crossed the day of grace and the opportunity for repentance had been lost to the rich man. And then he goes on, the rich man says, okay, I get it. For me, it's beyond hope. But he said, I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my family. For I have five brothers. Let him warn them so they will not also come to this place of torment. You know, it's really amazing that we get highly motivated to warn people once we've experienced the severe consequence of know, if you do something terrible and it destroys your life, you're going to be telling people, don't ever do this. Look what happened to me. That's what he's doing. He says, abraham says, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them. What's he mean?
[00:45:30] Moses and the prophets are the word of God.
[00:45:34] No, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they'll repent.
[00:45:41] He said to them, if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they'll not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
[00:45:49] You know, Jesus said that Jesus was smart. He's brilliant.
[00:45:54] Jesus, actually, Lazarus came back from the dead. It's so fascinating. Here's a guy who's been dead for four days. All these people mourning his death. He comes back to life, and you know what happens? It says, some believed in Jesus and others ran and told the leaders they didn't believe.
[00:46:15] The leaders in the nation decided to kill Jesus, even though he had raised someone from the dead. And you know, from their own scriptures, the only people that are raising people from the dead are prophets from God.
[00:46:29] How many think there's a little bit of inconsistency? Because, you see, once we get locked into a certain way of thinking and looking and living and experiencing life, we're afraid to lose the life we have. It's hard to turn and repent. Then that's the struggle. That's what we're hearing.
[00:46:48] To listen means to obey.
[00:46:51] What is the sin that keeps people from heaven?
[00:46:54] It's the sin of unbelief.
[00:46:56] What's unbelief? Not acting upon what God has said. It's really simple. We're not doing what God's saying. Belief is not a mental ascent. I think there's too many people in North America think, I'm going to heaven, man. I believe all the right stuff means zero. The devil believes all the right stuff. He's fighting against it. He's a believer, but he's not acting in obedience to God's word. And so God is looking at her life and saying, are you doing what I'm saying? Don't tell me you just believe it. You don't believe something until you act on it.
[00:47:29] That's what we're getting. That's the right understanding of faith.
[00:47:34] Then Jeremiah, look at the great blessings in store for those who listen and act on God's message. Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rachelbites, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says. You've obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab, and have followed all of his instructions and have done everything he's ordered. Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says. Jehonadab, son of rehab, will never fail to have a descendant to serve me.
[00:48:00] Isn't that neat?
[00:48:02] I love that God.
[00:48:05] I think like this, God, I'm going to do everything I can to obey you, because my desire is for my children to walk with you and for my grandchildren to walk with you and for their children to walk with you if you so tarry. I don't want to do anything that would impede their obedience to God.
[00:48:21] So help me to do the right thing. Help me to model the right way.
[00:48:26] So what's the fruit or result of disobedience? Well, our obedience to God brings love, joy, hope, peace, forgiveness and grace. Our rejection and rebellion leads to sorrow, regret, shame, despair, darkness, and self pity. Unfortunately, as we've seen in the life of God's people, their constant rejection of God's message of reconciliation led to death and exile. While we often divorce ourselves from the lesson this is designed to teach us, what we need to do is listen and then act upon what God is saying to us through his word. And if we refuse, all that is left is the eternal consequence of our choice. And I'm going to close with something C. S. Lewis said, I like him. And he said this about God reaching out to us in Christ, offering himself to us for all of eternity.
[00:49:15] This is what heaven is all about, and the opposite is really our choice. Lewis said it this way, but there are two kinds of people. In the end, those who say to God, thy will be done. In other words, they do it. And those whom God says, in the end, thy will be done. They did what they wanted.
[00:49:34] And he said, all that are in hell, choose it. Without that self choice, there could be no hell, no soul that seriously. And constantly desires joy will ever miss it. And those who seek it, to those who knock it shall be open. So what is God saying?
[00:49:52] Are you listening? Because your future is defined by your acting on what God is saying. Let's stand.
[00:50:05] It's a real simple message.
[00:50:08] I either do what God says or I don't. How's that? That's very simple.
[00:50:14] And he's calling us to himself. He's challenging us. He said, you know, come, follow me.
[00:50:20] Come and follow Jesus. Isn't that a beautiful thing?
[00:50:23] I believe that if we follow him with our whole heart. That's my prayer for this congregation, that you and I will be wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ will not let society squeeze us into their mold.
[00:50:37] No, we don't have to be obnoxious about it. We're just going to do what God wants us to do. We're going to obey God. That's the choice we make. And let me tell you something. We're seeing the demarcation lines growing greater all the time.
[00:50:50] You either do what God says or you don't. It's very simple. And all the people who are deciding not to do what God says, they have all kinds of really fancy reasons why they're not.
[00:51:01] Just do it.
[00:51:03] Just do it. Just do what God's telling you to do. So just with every head bowed this morning, we make choices every moment of every day, and we're all moving in a direction.
[00:51:16] Maybe you're here this morning. You're saying, you know, pastor, I'm not moving in the right direction right now.
[00:51:22] But this morning, God's spirit is speaking to me and he's telling me, change course.
[00:51:29] Change direction. That's what repentance is. Change course. Change direction. Begin to do what God is telling you to do. Do the right thing. Yeah, but I don't feel like it. Forget your emotions for a minute. Just do the right thing. Your emotions will catch up to that decision. I can guarantee you, you will be far happier in the end by doing the right thing than doing the wrong thing. Maybe you're here this morning. Maybe you're listening to me online.
[00:51:58] I want to challenge you today. How many here say, you know what God's speaking to me this morning. I need to change direction. I need to obey God. I need to do what he's telling me to do. That's you this morning. Raise your hand. I want to pray with you right now. Okay. Yeah. God's speaking to hearts right now. Beautiful. Beautiful. It's great. Yeah. We're all being tested, and we're all being tempted, and I want to encourage you this. I'm going to pray for it right now. God is going to give you strength. God is going to give you his grace. God's going to empower you by his spirit. God is going to encourage you in doing the right thing. So, Father, I pray today, bless my brothers and sisters. Help them walk in obedience. Help them to experience the fruit of obedience, love, joy and peace. Lord, empower their lives, father, encourage them, strengthen them, Lord, help them to do what's right and pleasing in your sight. And, Lord, I pray today, Lord, even as they turn their face toward you, may you fill them with your divine presence. May joy begin to fill their hearts, o God, may you strengthen them by your spirit in their innermost being. Father and I thank you for that. Give them the courage, the strength, the wisdom, the understanding to listen and to obey. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
