Jeremiah 9:1-3
What Is A Believer to Do?
Outline:
I. \\#Jer 1:1-19\\ Jeremiah’s Calling
A. \\#1:1-3\\ Jeremiah’s Background
B. \\#1:4:10\\ Jeremiah’s Commission
1. \\#1:4-5\\ What God FORMED Jeremiah to do.
2. \\#1:6-9\\ What God ENABLED Jeremiah to do.
3. \\#1:10\\ What God COMMISSIONED Jeremiah to do.
C. \\#1:11-19\\ Jeremiah’s Conditioning
1. \\#1:11-12\\ Something Is About to Happen
2. \\#1:13-16\\ Something Is About to Boil Over
3. \\#1:16-19\\ Someone Needs to be Ready
II. \\#2:1-37\\ God’s Case Against Judah
A. \\#2:1-8\\ Judah Blessed but Not Satisfied
B. \\#2:11-13\\Judah Abandoned God.
C. \\#2:30\\ Judah Refused Correction
D. \\#2:9\\ Judah Called to Repentance.
E. \\#2:36-37\\ Judah Facing Judgment
III. \\#3:1-25\\ Israel’s Three Time Zones
A. \\#3:1-5\\ Their Past State
B. \\#3:6-19\\ Their Possible State
C. \\#3:20-25\\ Their Continuous State
IV. \\#4:1-6:30\\ Sins and Judgments
A. The Sins
B. The Judgments
C. The Mercy
V. \\#7:1-\\ Some Specific Messages
A. \\#7:1-34\\ A Message to the Religious
B. \\#Jer 8:1-22\\ A Message to the Continuous Backslider
C. \\#Jer 9:1-10:25\\ A Message to the Believer
1. \\#9:1,10\\ We will weep.
2. \\#9:24\\ We will glory in the Lord.
3. \\#9:25-26\\ We will wait for the rest of the
judgment of God.
4. \\#10:2\\ We will keep our ways clean.
5. \\#10:19-21\\ We will take care of the house of God.
Jeremiah continues to prophesy the coming judgment of Babylon against
Judah. He started a second message by going to the gates of the
temple to preach \\#Jer 7:2\\; that means that this message is
directed to the religious. This is not an encouraging message,
however; there is not one mention of mercy, forgiveness, restoration,
rebuilding, regathering, or any other kind of encouragement in the
entire message. As a sample of what is discussed in these two
chapters, please note:
Jer 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and
a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of
Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even
this people, with wormwood, and give them water
of gall to drink.
16 I will scatter them also among the heathen,
whom neither they nor their fathers have known:
and I will send a sword after them, till I have
consumed them.
21 For death is come up into our windows, and
is entered into our palaces, to cut off the
children from without, and the young men from
the streets.
But it is not the judgment that I want to focus on tonight. Instead,
let’s focus on what God wanted Jeremiah, who represents the
righteous, to do while that judgment was going on.
I notice several things in these two chapters.
I. \\#Jer 9:1,10\\ We will weep.
A. Jeremiah wept That may sound like an irrelevant action
but it is not.
B. Weeping is a sign of sorrow and potentially a step in
repentance.
1. \\#2Chron 34:1\\ Josiah had become king of Judah.
2. \\#2Chron 34:8-26\\ When he was 18, he commanded
the temple to be repaired and while the work was
being done, Hilkiah, the High Priest, found a
copy of the law. He brought it to the king who
had it read before him. The king, hearing the
words of the Law, rend his clothes and sent to
a prophetess to inquire of the Lord.
2Chron 34:27 Because thine heart was tender, and
thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou
heardest his words against this place, and against
the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself
before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep
before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the
LORD.
a. What spared Josiah and his generation from
judgment? A tender heart, humility, rending his
clothes, and weeping.
Ezr 10:1 Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he
had confessed, weeping and casting himself down
before the house of God….
b. Ezra, when repenting for his nation, did so on his
face and with tears!
C. New Testament Christians should know that tears are the
only water that will help gospel seeds to grow.
Ps 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
D. In short, God tells us that all people will weep. It
will either be the tears of supplication or the tears
of judgment.
Isa 22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of
hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to
baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Jer 3:21 A voice was heard upon the high places,
weeping and supplications of the children of
Israel: for they have perverted their way, and
they have forgotten the LORD their God.
II. \\#Jer 9:2\\ Jeremiah wanted to be in a place where wicked men
were NOT.
A. Jeremiah wanted to go to a remote place where adulterers
and treacherous men DID NOT live.
1. Of all the responses that Jeremiah will mention in
this chapter, this is likely to be the only one that
some Christians hear.
2. That is sad because this will be the only response
that Jeremiah will NOT do.
B. We need to understand Jeremiah’s life.
1. The messages are grouped together in this book but
that doesn’t necessarily mean they were all preached
in the early parts of Jeremiah’s ministry.
a. Jeremiah had some rough days.
(1) He will be beaten, arrested, left to starve,
charged as a traitor, deceived, plotted
against, kidnapped, and some traditions say
killed.
(2) There is no wonder he wanted to find a more
tranquil place!
b. However, Jeremiah has several opportunities to
leave, but he never did.
(1) \\#Jer 37:4\\ Jeremiah was free to go any
where he wanted in that he was not arrested
until Nebuchadnezzar laid siege against
Jerusalem.
(2) \\#Jer 37:12-13\\ - He does try to go to the
area of Benjamin in between sieges on
Jerusalem, but that only ends with him being
brought back to Jerusalem.
(3) Jeremiah 40 - Once the city was destroyed,
Nebuzardan offers to let Jeremiah go
anywhere in the kingdom he desires. He
stayed in Israel.
(4) \\#Jer 42:5-7\\ The only way Jeremiah left
the land of Israel was he was kidnapped and
forced to go by some of those who rebelled
against King Nebuchadnezzar.
2. This is one of those desires that most everyone has
but that those with a mission never actually do.
a. They can’t and stay right with God.
b. Jeremiah tried once just to stop preaching and
found that he could not no matter what it cost
him.
Jer 20:9 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.
c. Paul said that he was forced to preach.
2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us;
because we thus judge, that if one died for all,
then were all dead:
d. Peter and John stated that they could not stop
preaching what they had experienced.
Ac 4:20 For we (Peter and John) cannot but speak
the things which we have seen and heard.
e. To know the truth of God’s love and then to keep
it to oneself is to be guilty of "silent words."
C. Friend, finding a secluded place in the wilderness
might seem tempting from time to time, but the truth
is God’s people are built to be on the front lines.
III. We will glory in the Lord.
Jer 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth me,
that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness,
judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in
these things I delight, saith the LORD.
A. Here is something we can do while the world is falling
apart around us.
B. Jeremiah teaches us to "glory" in the Lord.
1. The word "glory" here means to praise, to boast, to
be boastful.
2. That is, we should rejoice and praise the Lord during
the judgments that God is pouring out.
3. Granted, that may sound a bit bizarre, but the whole
Bible makes it clear that the sufferings we endure
on this planet are NOT to steal our joy.
Php 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the
Lord. To write the same things to you, to me
indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I
say, Rejoice.
4. We preach on the life of Paul and notice that he was
being beaten, threatened, and persecuted for the
Lord but still preached to rejoice.
5. However, when it looks like we may have to start
enduring some persecution for the Lord, all of
sudden, we think God is supposed to send deliverance.
6. No. Suffering is what a Christian is supposed to do.
7. We just have to make certain that we are suffering
for the right things and in the right way.
8. So while we are suffering, we are to rejoice.
C. Jeremiah tells us there are two things we ought to boast
about even while judgment is falling around us.
1. We will glory in that we know God.
a. Christians get caught in the net of God’s
judgment.
b. But even so, we are NOT the ones God is judging.
c. We are His and He knows us and we know Him.
d. Rejoice in that!
2. We will glory in that we understand Him.
a. We don’t just know God. We understand Him.
b. We understand why He does what He does.
(1) The lost may say God is a mean God but we
know Him better than that.
(2) We understand His "judgment" AND His
"lovingkindness."
(3) We know that God is longsuffering and
compassionate.
(4) That He sent His Son to die for sinners.
(5) That for the most part, earthly judgment only
comes after God has done much more than be
merciful. He has been taken advantage of!
c. We do not enjoy the judgment, but we get it.
d. God is holy and He will let man get away with only
so much sin, then comes judgment.
e. So we will rejoice—even in the midst of the
judgment—in the God we have and understand.
IV. We will wait for the rest of the judgment of God.
Jer 9:25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that I will punish all them which are circumcised
with the uncircumcised;
26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children
of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the
utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for
all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the
house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
A. We won’t get into this right now but this is a prophecy
that tells us that judgment was not just coming to
Israel.
1. It is coming to all of the wicked nations around
Israel.
2. Jeremiah will have words for these nations later in
his book.
B. But so it is the judgment of God.
1. It always begins at the house of God.
1Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment
must begin at the house of God: and if it first
begin at us, what shall the end be of them that
obey not the gospel of God?
2. But then it takes in the evil as well.
3. God often uses the wicked to punish those who claim to
be God’s, but it is not long after that the judgment
encompasses all.
4. So we will wait and watch for the other shoe to drop.
V. We will keep our ways clean.
Jer 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way
of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs
of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain….
A. There are two times of great temptation.
1. Prosperity and desperation
2. Some of us have fought against prosperity for some
time and we know its dangers.
3. However, there is another set of pitfalls that come
in desperate times.
B. Jeremiah was speaking to a people that were living in
desperate times.
1. There will be pressure to turn from the teachings of
God, from the Bible itself, and even to deny Jesus is
God.
2. There will be pressure to commit acts that the Bible
clearly teaches is wrong.
3. There will be pressure to compromise standards of
living that you feel God wants you to follow.
4. And there may be internal temptations to behave in
ways that you would not normally behave.
a. Maybe to harbor bitterness or anger.
b. Maybe to change break some rules.
VI. We will take care of the house of God.
Jer 10:19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is
grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and
I must bear it.
20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords
are broken: my children are gone forth of me,
and they are not: there is none to stretch forth
my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have
not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not
prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
A. This is an interesting text.
1. First, I thought it was Jeremiah speaking but it
appears to be God.
a. The first person is used in \\#19\\ but it
continues into \\#20\\.
b. While it may be Jeremiah speaking in \\#19\\,
Jeremiah has not tabernacle so \\#20\\ is God.
c. And God is concerned about worship and upkeep of
His temple!
2. That seems strange.
a. God is the One sending the judgments that would
have some impact on the temple ministry being
carried out.
b. However, we need to remember that God is not
interested in the temple functions just for the
temple functions.
c. The temple was for worship and God desires the
godly to worship Him.
B. Those living today actually have an a ability today to
worship in smaller groups so that righteous worship
can be conducted with smaller groups and in smaller
settings than it could in the Old Testament.
C. Even so, this text teaches us that even in wicked days or
days of judgment, God desires to be worshipped.
1. And why not?
2. God is no less worthy of worship in those days than in
any other.
3. So let us take care of the house we have built in the
Lord’s name and let us make certain that we worship
God in it as long as it stands.
4. And if a day should come when we can no longer worship
God in this place, let us continue to worship Him in
our hearts - FOR HE IS WORTHY!
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