Lamentations 1:1-4 (KJV)
How doth the city sit
solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was
great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become
tributary!
She weepeth sore in the
night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to
comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become
her enemies.
Judah is gone into
captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth
among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her
between the straits.
The ways of Zion do
mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her
priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
After King Solomon died
the nation of Israel divided into two different countries:
· Israel, to the north, had rebelled against Solomon’s son,
Rehoboam
· Judah, the southern kingdom, remained true to the family of
David for their kings
The northern kingdom, built on rebellion, had never done well
spiritually and was the first of the two to be defeated.
The southern kingdom survived for almost 350 years, experiencing
periods of decline and revival.
I think it would be fair
to say, however, decline was trend.
They would have highs,
but the highs never made up for the lows until they were finally so low that
God said he would not allow anyone from the particular family of David to rule
on the throne again.
Jesus is the son of
David but he is not the son of Solomon.[1]
In this respect Jeremiah
is a useful study for the Christian in 2017.
We too see periods of
highs and lows.
We have great revivals
and marked victories, but the general trend in the United States (as well as
the rest of the world) is a trend downward.
Jeremiah happened to
live at the very end of that downward trend preaching just prior to, during and
after the collapse of Judah and the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon.
He is frequently called
The Weeping Prophet.
When everybody else was
trying to put on a brave face and pretend that God would bless them once again,
Jeremiah stood alone to preach that judgment was coming.
I don’t blame anyone for
trying to be happy.
Our God is able to do
anything He pleases.
If He pleases, He can
bring a revival such as this world has never seen.
It is not impossible
for:
· Islam to be routed out of the world
· Christianity to become more influential that it has ever
been
· Christ to be loved such as the world has never loved Him and
· More souls to be saved than we have ever seen saved before
I think that is exactly
what happens during the Great Tribulation.
But the Bible also says
that, before that Great Tribulation, there will come a falling away.
There will be a decline
in faith and a growth in evil such as the world has never seen.
Could it be that we are
seeing that decline right now?
If so, the most
appropriate spiritual response would be to weep.
I am going to propose to
you that the fundamental character of Jeremiah was faithfulness.
First, Jeremiah was,
I. FAITHFUL
DESPITE THE HARDNESS OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES
Jeremiah 1:17-19 (KJV)
Thou therefore gird up
thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not
dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
For, behold, I have made
thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the
whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against
the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
And they shall fight
against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee,
saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
As far as I can tell,
Jeremiah was the only faithful preacher left in Jerusalem in his day.
There were some other
faithful believers:
· Ezekiel was with the Jews that got captured and
· Daniel ended up in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace
But it looks like
Jeremiah was on his own in Jerusalem.
The preachers that
remained in Jerusalem were false prophets. They hadn’t heard from God, maybe
ever.
· They were pro-Israel
· They were pro-revival
· They were pro-God and Country
They just were clueless
as to God’s Word.
And they hated Jeremiah.
Have you ever wondered
why those who don’t agree with what you believe can’t at least respect you
believe it?
That has been a
fundamental problem for Baptists since, well, since there were only Baptists.
Paul would to plant a
church but the Judaizers cold not let that be.
They followed him around
trying to ruin what he started.
The Catholic system got started and invited all the Christians to
join in – ok. Good enough if they want to do that.
But they had to
persecute anyone who chose not to join them (the Baptists).
As a Baptist I believe
everyone has a right to worship God according to their own conscience.
I believe they have the
right not to worship God at all if that is what they believe.
My only caveat is this –
your conscience needs to be informed.
All I ask is that I be
allowed to present to you what the Bible says.
All I ask is that,
should you choose to believe something other than what the Bible teaches, you
at least do it after you have studied it out.
Is that acceptable?
Oh no!
That we believe what we
believe, and that we have a reason we believe what we believe threatens them so
they fight against us.
What do you do?
Jeremiah stayed
faithful.
Secondly, Jeremiah was,
II. FAITHFUL
DESPITE THE HURT IN HIS OWN SOUL
Jeremiah 20:7-9 (KJV)
O LORD, thou hast
deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed:
I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
For since I spake, I
cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a
reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Then I said, I will not
make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine
heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing,
and I could not stay.
I’ve known some people I
think might be sociopaths – they don’t feel remorse.
· They might be Christians
· They might be pastors
Some people say that the
pastorate particularly appeals to sociopaths because it is so easy to control
church people.
That’s not to say that
church is a dangerous place to be – sociopaths also like:
· Politics
· Military
· Civic organizations and
· Sales jobs
A sociopath has no
trouble selling you a used car that’s about to quit.
There may be some
sociopaths in the ministry but Jeremiah wasn’t one of them.
· It hurt him that they were fighting against him
· It hurt him that they rejected the message of God and most
of all
· It hurt him that they were going to suffer terribly because
of it
Never think that the
average Christian enjoys the thought of souls in hell.
Never think that those
who reject Jesus deserve to suffer like they will.
They do not deserve it
any more than you do.
The thought of a soul in
hell.
· The rich man who has been tormented in flames these two
thousand years
· The lost through all of the ages past
· Those who will yet judge themselves unworthy of eternal life
and suffer where “the worm dieth not” and “the fire is not quenched.”
That ought to bring a
tear to your eyes right now!
Third, Jeremiah was,
III. FAITHFUL
DESPITE THE HATRED FOR GOD’S WORD IN HIS DAY
Jeremiah 36:11-24 (KJV)
When Michaiah the son of
Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the
LORD,
Then he went down into
the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat
there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan
the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of
Hananiah, and all the princes.
Then Michaiah declared
unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the
ears of the people.
Therefore all the
princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of
Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read
in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll
in his hand, and came unto them.
And they said unto him,
Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
Now it came to pass,
when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and
said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
And they asked Baruch,
saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
Then Baruch answered
them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them
with ink in the book.
Then said the princes
unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
And they went in to the
king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the
scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.
So the king sent Jehudi
to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And
Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes
which stood beside the king.
Now the king sat in the
winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning
before him.
And it came to pass,
that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife,
and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was
consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
Yet they were not
afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that
heard all these words.
Every one of the men who
wrote the Declaration of Independence and later those who wrote our
Constitution and Bill of Rights – even men like Benjamin Franklin -
· Respected preachers and
· Saw value in the Word of God
Until very recently it
was a given
· That those men who held high public office would at least
have some profession of Christian faith.
· That they would swear their oath on a Bible and
· That said act would mean something
Today we see a complete
disregard for the Word of God.
· Almost anybody can be retained to make some new version and
· Almost anyone who wants to think they are a Christian will
use it
· There is no interest in vetting those who worked on the
translation
· There is no interest in whether or not it is accurate, let
alone infallible – the only interest is
whether or not it is
easy to read.
We may not have any
leaders cutting the Bible up and throwing in the fireplace, but we have plenty
of so called preachers hacking it apart in their pulpits this morning!
I think its interesting
what happened when Jeremiah found out …
Jeremiah 36:27-28 (KJV)
Then the word of the
LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words
which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
Take thee again another
roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which
Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
What should we do when
people abuse the Word of God?
Just stand up and preach
it again
And again
And again
Fourth, Jeremiah was,
IV. FAITHFUL
DESPITE THE HARM DONE TO HIS PERSON
Jeremiah 38:4-6 (KJV)
Therefore the princes
said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he
weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands
of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not
the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
Then Zedekiah the king
said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing
against you.
Then took they Jeremiah,
and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the
court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon
there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
Make no mistake – the
plan was to kill Jeremiah.
The only reason it
didn’t happen is because Babylon conquered the city first.
Imagine him, buried in
this pit, sinking in the mud.
It’s a pretty low day!
A guy might think about
going in to a new line of work (if he ever gets out.).
And he does get out…
Jeremiah 38:10-13 (KJV)
Then the king commanded
Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and
take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
So Ebedmelech took the
men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took
thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the
dungeon to Jeremiah.
And Ebedmelech the
Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags
under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.
So they drew up Jeremiah
with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the
court of the prison.
So what does Jeremiah
do?
Jeremiah 38:17-18 (KJV)
Then said Jeremiah unto
Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou
wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall
live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and
thine house:
But if thou wilt not go
forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the
hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not
escape out of their hand.
He stayed faithful to
the message God gave him.
· He did not stop it
· He did not soften it
· He did not change it to make it less offensive
He just kept preaching
it!
Finally, Jeremiah was,
V. FAITHFUL
DURING THE HOURS OF JERUSALEM’S CONQUER
Jeremiah 38:28 (KJV)
So Jeremiah abode in the
court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there
when Jerusalem was taken.
Jeremiah had been
preaching that God promised if they would surrender to Babylon they would be
spared.
They did not surrender
and they were taken captive or killed.
Jeremiah was saved
He was allowed to stay
in Jerusalem where
He continued to preach
the Word of God to the stragglers who were left.
Conclusion:
Jeremiah was faithful
from start to finish.
· He had his struggles and
· He had his days when he wished he could give up
The key is, he never did
it.
He stayed faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV)
Moreover it is required
in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
The most important
quality of a spiritual person, and the one most threatened these days is
faithfulness:
· Faithfulness to Christ
· Faithfulness to the Word of God
· Faithfulness to your church
· Faithfulness to your family and
· Faithfulness to the truths this Bible teaches us
[1] His step father, Joseph
was of the lineage of Solomon, giving him legal right to the throne but his
mother, Mary was of the lineage of another of David’s sons, Nathan, making Him
by blood a son of David but not a son of the cursed line of Zedekiah.
