Jeremiah 18 | The Potter's House | 11.6.1996

[music] I chose to entitle this particular installment in our book study of Jeremiah simply the ancient ancient paths. The ancient paths Jeremiah chapter 18. Let's begin reading together at verse one in Jeremiah chapter 18. Now read verses 1-10 and we'll get into our study as we're continuing to study through the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 18 beginning at verse one. The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words." Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter says the Lord? Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, oh house of Israel. The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck it up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build up and to plant it, if it does evil in my sight, so that it does not obey my voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. And so the Lord is speaking through Jeremiah and he he said to Jeremiah, as we read in verses 1-4, he said to Jeremiah, I want you to go to the potter's house. And as Jeremiah arose and he went down to this potter's house, the Lord had him see the potter who was at work. And he's seen this potter working on a vessel, the scripture says, and the vessel was of clay. And as the potter is working on it, the Bible says that it was marred. That word marred speaks of the it about it being ruined. It was spoiled and it was marred in the hands of the potter. And the potter was forced to make a different kind of vessel from the same lump of clay. Now two things need to be understood as I develop this with you. One is the potter at the wheel represents God forming a vessel of clay. In the book of Isaiah in chapter 64 verse 8, the scripture says this. Yet oh Lord you are our father. We are the clay and you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. So the first thing is the potter at the wheel represents God who is forming a vessel from clay. And secondly, the quality of the clay determines the kind of vessel that is being formed. This clay is not suitable for the vessel that God had desired to form. So he forms a different vessel. And what we're seeing here is a picture of the clay frustrating the plans of the potter. Now the defects as we look at this closely are not in the potter. The defect is found in the clay. The defect or the reason that it has to be reshaped isn't because the potter made a mistake. The reason it has to be reshaped is because it's willful clay. And people who work with clay will tell you that there is clay that is compliant. Meaning that when you begin to work with it, you can form it into whatever you want. and it seems to just form with your hand as you touch it. And then they'll tell you that there's what is called a willful clay. It's a clay that resists your hand. So no matter what you're doing to it, no matter how you're forming it, no matter what you've intended to do with it, because there's a defect inside that clay, that clay is resisting your hand. And ultimately what you intended at one time to be a vessel that you were going to use in some some wonderful way, it becomes, you know, an ashtray or a spatoon or something that's of no value. And so that's the picture that you have here. You have a picture of the potter and there's nothing wrong with the potter. He's working at the wheel, but you also have this potter who's working on clay. And even as he's working on the clay, the clay is marred in his hand. It's ruined or spoiled in his hand. And so he had one intention and yet he had to modify his plan and he had to do something else. So in this passage, God is declaring his sovereignty over Israel. He's declaring his sovereignty over the world because in verse 5, it says, "The word of the Lord came to me saying, "Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" said the Lord. He said, 'Look, as a clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, oh house of Israel. And as he begins to develop this, he points out something. He points out that if he has something that he's going to do in a nation and he communicates to that nation and say the nation has been going in the wrong way and he communicates to that nation and he says to that nation, you're going in the wrong way and I want to do a work but you're going to have to change. She says, "If that nation should change, then I will relent for my plans to do destruction to them and I will bless them. But on the other hand, if I have plans to do good and the nation that I plan to do good for chooses to with withstand me, chooses not to be formed by me, then the good that I desire to do in that nation, I will not do." I want to develop this with you because as God can work in nations, he also works in individuals. And to develop this, let's turn our Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, and we'll look together at verses 20 and 21. The Lord is the potter. We are the clay. He forms us. We can resist him. He may have plans for good for us, but when we resist his plans for good by resisting his word, then he'll judge us. or he may have plans to judge us. But we hear his word even as during the day of Jonah when Nineveh, that mighty city, heard the preaching. Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed. And from the king down to an animal, everything was clothed in sackcloth and ashes, and God spared that mighty city. The Lord may have a desire or a plan because of the constant sin of a nation. He may have a desire and plan to judge it. But if that nation should repent, then the Lord will relent from his plan to destroy. Not only is that true in nations, it's absolutely true with individuals. The Lord has a desire for your life. He has a plan for you. He wants to do a work in you. You may resist his plan. He may have something he wants you to do that you continually are resisting. You say no to him. There's been many people who know they've been called in the mission field who didn't ever go. They thought that they could substitute themselves with somebody else. So they supported a missionary but their entire life they understand and know that God had called them to go. There are people who were called into the ministry as pastor teachers who resisted the call of the Lord and said there's other things for me to do. I'd rather do something else. I've talked to recently a pastor's son and this pastor's son was saying I knew God had called me to the ministry but I didn't enjoy it because I saw what happened to my father and I said I don't want any part of that. I don't want to go into the ministry. I saw how my father neglected the family. I saw how my father was treated by people. I saw how my father uh was was was as a pastor. I didn't want any of that. He said, "But I couldn't resist it any longer." And so I started to serve the Lord in various ways. And ultimately now he pastors a church. So the Lord has a work he wants to do in our lives. We can resist that work. We can say no to him, but if we say no to him, then we're never going to be blessed the way the Lord wants to bless us. Nations say no to the Lord and they're judged. People say no to the Lord and they're not blessed and sometimes they're judged. Notice in verse 20 here, 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul said this. Paul said, "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he'll be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work." So when he speaks concerning a great house, when he says in a great house, the word great house or words great house in the original language really speaks of a palace or a mansion. When he speaks of this palace or this mansion, it's a picture of the church. Because when you cross reference 2 Timothy 2:20 with 1 Timothy 3:15, you see that the way Paul chooses to use the word house is a description of the house of God. And so when he says here in 2 Timothy chapter 2 20 in a great house, he's speaking about the church. And as he speaks about the church of the living God, the church of Jesus Christ, he says there's vessels of gold and silver. But he goes on to say, but also of wood and clay. You see four types of materials that are being spoken of here. Gold, silver, wood, and clay. And as you look at this, you note with me that these are listed in a value that is descending from gold all the way down to the bottom. Now the question we have today as we're looking at this is how can we become vessels of honor because the Lord wants to do a work and he is the potter. We are the clay in his hands. Now how can we become vessels of honor? And what are vessels of honor anyway? So when he says, "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor." He speaks to us in verse 21 and says, "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he'll be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work." How can I be a vessel of honor? And what is a vessel of honor anyway? Well, I never really understood the scripture until I went to China of all places. And when I was in China, we went in February in February in Beijing, China, it got to be about 30° when it was warm. And we were wearing down jackets and then you know what happens when you're walking outside in the cold. It's it's it's just really it's uncomfortable, especially for us Californians. And I had a guy who had traveled with us who said to me that he had found a place where the local Chinese people ate in the morning. They ate their breakfast. And he said, 'Why don't we get up tomorrow and go to breakfast. There was no way you were going to get me up at 5 in the morning to wander around Beijing. And so I said, "No, I don't want to get up." But he said, "Look at let's get up." He said, "I found a place where we can eat and it's real quaint and we can take some pictures and you'll really like it." And I said, "No." But finally I I said, "All right." So I got up the next morning and it was 5:00 in the morning. It was ice cold outside. I put on my down jacket and I walked from our hotel and we started going through some of the small streets there. And finally, we found this little restaurant that was open. It only could seat maybe 10 to 20 people. And as we walked in the door there, there was a large pot right at the counter. And we walked up and I noticed this this clay pot. And as I looked at it, uh, they seated us and we went and we sat down. And then we ate a breakfast that cost us one penny. It wasn't worth it. It was so bad. Oh, it was bad. I have a picture of me eating it. It was bad. But as we were there eating it, the local Chinese guys started coming in. And then I discovered what that clay pot was for because every one of them walked up to the clay pot and every one of them put their thumbs on their noses and everyone and think it's real early in the morning. It's cold. Your nose is running. Every one of them blew their nose in the clay pot. And the Lord said [laughter] I'm sitting there eating this delicious breakfast with this incredible floor show in China, right? And the Lord said, "Do you want to be a vessel of honor or dishonor?" And that's when I discovered what a vessel of dishonor is. It's a vessel that is used in that fashion. Now, every one of us in this room have some options. What do you want? Do you want to catch the Lord's blessings? Or something else? It's up to you. You make up your own mind. Now, the Lord is responsible for putting us together. We can willfully reject him. So, how can I be a vessel of honor? Well, he tells us in this passage, look at verse one with me. He says in verse one, "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace." Verse one of chapter 2 of Second Timothy. I heard you guys changing your Bibles. Chapter 2, verse one, 2 Timothy. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Notice verse 15 of the same chapter. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Notice verse 21. If anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor. Do you see that? Verse one, be strong in the grace of God. Verse 15, be diligent to present yourself a proof to God. Verse 21, be a vessel of honor. How can I become a vessel of honor? One, be strong in God's grace. The word grace there speaks of the inward grace that God gives to a person at salvation. If I'm going to be a vessel of honor, fit for the master's use, prepared for every good work, then I have to have a strong understanding of the grace of God. I didn't save myself, he saved me. I didn't die on the cross. Jesus did. And when I begin to understand the grace of God, then I'm on the road to becoming a vessel for honor. Secondly, I'm to be diligent to present myself unto God. If I'm strong in the grace of God, and if I'm diligent to present myself to God as a worker who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. One, being strong in grace. Two, being diligent. Three, I'll be a vessel for honor. Sometimes people think, well, I got saved. I must be initially and and immediately I must be just that vessel. But God has a work that he does in our lives over a lifetime. You have options and I have options. I can resist the Holy Spirit. I can quench the Holy Spirit. I can do things in opposition to God's word and God's will every day of my life. Now, I may be a saved person, but if I'm not growing in the word of God and in the grace of God, then undoubtedly there's going to be areas of my life that are areas that the Lord is constantly convicting me in, trying to cleanse me in so that I would be fit for his use. But if I am constantly resisting his hand, then I'll be a vessel of dishonor. See, when the Holy Spirit speaks to my heart and says, "David, you've blown it. you've sinned. Instead of making a million and one excuses as to why I sinned, if I'd only grow wise enough to agree with him initially and immediately, then my life would be a lot more pleasant. I think yours would be too. If I would only learn to agree with God immediately when God convicts me. But see, I have a tendency of arguing even with the Lord. Do you? I have a I have a habit of that. No, Lord, you see, you don't understand. May I contend with you for just a moment here? because you don't really understand me. You know, [laughter] the problem is he does. He knows everything about me. And he knows exactly what to do in my life. So when back in Jeremiah chapter 18, when the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah, he's saying to Jeremiah, "This nation is resisting me." He's saying to Jeremiah, "If a nation that hears my word listens to what I have to say, even though I have made plans to bring judgment on it, if that nation were to repent, the Lord says, then I'd spare it. But on the other hand, even as the nation Israel had been a covenantal relationship with God and God had given them the law and the blessings that were along with that, if they resisted his word, then God's only other alternative is to bring his word to pass when he speaks concerning judgment. If I want to be used by the Lord, I need to be strong in the grace of God. I need to be diligent in the things of the Lord and then I can be a vessel for honor. And God is still shaping our lives, guys, even to this day. And we need to look at ourselves and ask ourselves today, are we willful clay? Are we resisting the things of the spirit of God when he speaks to us? Now notice what happens in verse 11. Jeremiah 18. Now therefore speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, "Thus says the Lord, behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. return now everyone from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good. And they said that's hopeless. So we will walk according to our own plans and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. Now isn't that heavy? Really is. The Lord says, "Listen, I'm going to bring judgment on you. I'm going to keep my word. And I have said if you break your covenant with me, that judgment is going to occur. I've told you that in in my word, God is saying that to the nation." And God speaks to Jeremiah, who's become by this time a very unpopular man. And he says, "Jeremiah, you need to tell them that they need to listen to me. You need to tell them to repent. You need to tell them to get right with me." And so, he's calling them to a place of repentance. And he's given to them a call through this prophet Jeremiah. But notice their response when they say in verse 12, "That's hopeless." That reminds me so much of what we see today. It is so reminiscent. Every time I read these passages, even as I was preparing this study, I think of the nation that we have right now. A nation that ridicules and really does ridicule Christian faith. I have to be careful with this next thought that I'm going to share with you because I honestly believe that God has called us to pray for those who are in rulership over us. That's our responsibility. And I do. And I'm getting more and more clarity as to how to pray. As I watched my nation yesterday vote in marijuana. As I watched California do that, it is so like Satan. It is so like him. He He He always does the same kind of thing and and we always blow it. Now, somebody says, "Oh, wait a minute, Pastor David. Don't you feel sorry for those poor guys who are going through chemotherapy? You have no idea how much pain they go through." And no, I don't. I don't understand that. You're right. I don't understand that. But I do know this. I do know that you don't even need a doctor's prescription to smoke grass in California. All you need to do is have a verbal consent from a doctor. And I do know that it doesn't have to pertain just to cancer or AIDS. It can be a headache. And there going to be a whole lot of people with headaches in California. And so we're going to, you know, It was a much deeper issue. All of my adult life, I have heard arguments for legalization of pot, and they've always been shot down until this time. And because Americans have a compassionate spirit many times over, all you need to do is couch that argument now with sympathetic words concerning these poor people who are sick and need this as a medicine. And all you need to do is get some pothead doctor to give you a few studies, discuss it in a few college classes, and you end up wanting to be in the right trend, in the right direction. And so Americans say, "Well, of course, marijuana has therapeutic qualities." I don't know how therapeutic they are. because I did inhale for years and I don't I don't remember how I felt after smoking pot. I I I I stand amazed. I I stand amazed at my nation and at my state sometimes. I hear the arguments against Christian belief and Christian teaching and people say, "Hey, that's hopeless. You've got to be kidding. Why in the world would I want to be a Christian?" And right now, people are gloring in being what they're calling liberal. I don't really know what that means anymore. Liberal used to mean generous. The liberals I know are generous with my tax dollars. So I guess that's generosity. But right now I really do see this. I really see that the nation is in a very spiritual prime place. I think that we need to be aware of the fact that morals and character have been redefined and brought down to a level that is unheard of. We need to understand that the church's message is basically by and large ignored now. The issues of sin and righteousness, the issue of judgment, all of these things are laughed at and mocked. And we are in a very very wonderful time to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because the more you tell people that there is no judgment and the more you tell people there is no God, the more their heart begins to ache for reality. And so it's a great time to be alive right now. We have an opportunity now, I think, to really know the condition of our nation. And no longer are we going to be wearing blinders. And we know that people need the ancient path. We know they need the way of the Lord. But the thing that you're seeing here in Jeremiah is the people are saying, "Listen, we don't want what you have to offer us. We're fine without it. We don't want what you claim to be a relationship with God. You see, it seems too narrow to us. You're telling us that we can't have God and our other gods, too. and that's just too narrow. We ought to have all of it if we want all of it. And so the Lord is speaking and he's saying to them, "You need to amend your ways. You need to get right with me." But they're saying, "That's hopeless. We'll walk according to our own plans." In other words, we In other words, we have our own ways to get to heaven. We don't need you to tell us how. We have our own ways to get right with God or to be right with God. Who are you to tell us? You're so narrowminded. I heard somebody yesterday say to a reverend, some pastor, Jerry Fwell, this guy spoke to Jerry Fwell and said to him, "You know what? Why don't you just basically stay in your pulpit and leave politics alone? Leave it for us. That's exactly what the world is saying to the church. Leave the real world alone. They're saying, "Don't get involved with it. You guys, you know, it's okay if you want to go into your little buildings and stand there and talk for a while, for an hour and so, and the people can sing and all that's great. It's good for them. But leave us alone. We want our own ways. We want to do it our way." Well, notice what happens. Verse 13. Therefore, thus says the Lord, ask now among the Gentiles, who has heard such things? The Virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow water of Lebanon, which comes from the rock of the field? Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters? He's saying, why do you want to drink water that isn't even from me? Why do you want to have foreign water, a water that is not good for you? Why do you want to leave that which is good and right? That's what that which is coming from God for something that doesn't originate with me. He goes on in verse 15, because my people have forgotten me. They've burned incense to worthless idols, and they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths to walk in pathways and not on a highway, to make their land desolate in a perpetual hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy. I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity. So he says in verse 15, my people have forgotten me. And he says they've burned incense to worthless idols. The word forgotten when he says my people have forgotten me, the word forgotten means to cease to care. It speaks of ignoring. And he's saying they've staggered in their way of life from the ancient path. He's saying they are walking in rudded trails. They're walking in an unmade dirt path and not on the highway. When he speaks concerning the ancient paths, the ancient paths are the ways of the Lord that were established in his covenant with them. The ancient paths is another way of speaking of the blessings that the Lord had established for the nation of Israel. In Jeremiah 6:16, Jeremiah had already said, "This is what the Lord says." Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, "We will not walk in it." So they've strayed from the ancient way. I sense that right now. You know, I don't know how to put this in a way that it'll be clear, but I do sense that right now. Even a generation ago, if you would have walked up to me and I was 18 and you would have said to me, "What you just said using God's name in vain is sinful." I would have said to you, you know, you're right. It's wrong to take the name of the Lord in vain. I'm sorry. I would have done that as blasphemous as I was. I believed there was a Bible. I believed that the Bible was from God. I believed that there was a heaven and I believed that there was a hell. So when people spoke to me about going to heaven, I believed that there really was a place called heaven that you could really go to. I believed in a man named Jesus and I believed he was God in the flesh. I believed that there were judgments coming and I believed that there were good people who loved God. But today when you talk to a young person, you have to first define what God you're talking about. Cuz the word God means something different to everybody. So you talk to somebody who's 14, 15, 13. See, a lot of these kids aren't like some of us who are older. See, we went to church when we grew up. A lot of us did. We were forced to maybe, but we went. And when we went to church, we had respect for elders. We had respect for people. If you went to church, you sat there and you listened to the message, even if you didn't agree with it because you were taught to do that. That was a right thing to do. There were right things and wrong things. Today, it's a lot different. When you got in a fight, if you got in a fight, it was oneon-one. If two people on one person fought, that's what cowards did. There was things called fair fights. You didn't do a lot of what we see today. Life was still precious then, too. By the way, you know, you might have won fight, but you didn't want to maim the person. It's entirely different today. Try and talk to a kid and say to him he shouldn't want to kill that guy who did that to him. And try and convince him that it's wrong to do that. And with no concept of God at all, it's almost impossible. You have to appeal to him in a different way. You can't say you're going to be judged for it. You can't say it's against God's law cuz they don't believe in God. What God are you talking about? My God says it's all right. We have forsaken the ancient way. We're not walking in the paths of the Lord. We're in a rut. And the Lord is saying, "You've chosen to walk in an unmade dirt path when I want you to walk on a highway. You have chosen to walk in a ruted path, stumbling all along when you could be walking on a highway smooth, free of stones, free of debris, free of obstacles because you're walking my way." And so the Lord makes a statement that he's going to judge them. In verse 16, he says that he's going to bring judgment. He's going to make their land, he said, desolate and a perpetual hissingene. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head. So when they walk by and they see what has happened to the nation, they're going to shake their heads at the stupidity of the people there who forsook their God. Now, as he says this, notice the response of the people. Do they fall on their faces before the Lord and say, "Oh God, forgive me." No. Notice verse 18. They said, "Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. For the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words." What are they going to do? Two things. One, they're going to gossip about him. They're going to attack him with the tongue. And two, they're going to ignore what he has to say. We'll attack him and we'll ignore him. We'll start a slander campaign. We'll undermine him because we really believe that we've got it all hooked. We're doing real well because we believe that the word's not going to perish or the law is not going to perish from the priest. The council from the wise nor the word from the prophet. And so let's just ignore him and let's slander him. Notice how he responds in verse 19. Give heed to me, O Lord, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me. Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before you to speak good for them and to turn away your wrath from them. Therefore, deliver up their children to the famine and pour out their blood by the force of the of the sword. Let their wives become widows and bererieved of their children. Let their men be put to death, their young men be slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses when you bring a troop suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit to take me and hidden snares for my feet. Yet Lord, you know all their counsel which is against me to slay me. Provide no atonement for their iniquity, nor blot out their sins from your sight, but let them be overthrown before you. Deal thus with them in the time of your anger. If you do, he's not. This is an Old Testament form of prayer. Impregatory prayer is what it's called. You find it throughout the Psalms. Is Jeremiah mad? No. What Jeremiah is doing is simply saying, Lord, let your word come to pass. He first says, "You know me and you know the innocence of my life before you and Lord, you know that I have stood on behalf of this people and I have prayed for them. But Lord, they're making choices. They're choosing to reject your word. And as they choose to reject your word, they are calling you a liar because you have said that you will bring judgment on them. You have said that the words of their prophets are false. But they're saying that the word has not departed from the priests and prophets. And thus, somebody is being called a liar, Lord. And that somebody isn't just Jeremiah. That somebody is you yourself. Because guys, when you reject the gospel of Jesus Christ, when you reject the word of God, you are not rejecting mere words, but the God who inspired them. When man rejects the gospel, it is not that the man is simply rejecting the way it was said. See, there going to be people, I'm sure, who who say they would have become a Christian if it was said nicer. as if personality is what God calls us to have in pulpits. No, there are times when people will find every reason to refuse to believe even when they know in their heart of hearts that they have no real reason to refuse to believe. It is simply an obstinacy of the heart. So when Jeremiah is praying, he's saying,"Lord, you've seen me stand up in their behalf before you, praying for their well-being." But you hear what they're saying, too. You hear that they are against me. You hear that they have chosen not to listen to what I have to say. And you and you know that they are gossiping. Lord, you see this and you understand this. But beyond it, the bottom line is this. If the Lord's word is going to be honored, if the Lord's word is going to be honored, they can be changed. But if God's word is not honored, there's no hope for them. There is no other gospel. There is no other message. There's only one. There aren't a lot of religions. There are only two. God's and Satan's. God's religion is expressed through his son Jesus Christ. God's message is the gospel of Jesus Christ. God's way is his son Jesus Christ. Now there are various expressions of that one message. We call them denominational expressions. But it's the one Lord and it's the one faith. And though I may call myself Calvary Chapel and somebody else may call themselves Presbyterian, if we hold fast to the same Lord, the same gospel, the same Jesus, then we're brothers in the Lord. But if somebody says, "I'm not a Christian. I want nothing to do with Jesus Christ, but I have a faith in God on my own. And I believe that I can get to God through whatever. Contemplating my navl. What a bizarre practice that is. You think about it for a minute. Or by following Buddha or Muhammad or a variety of other expressions. Remember with me always, and this is what gets us Christians in trouble. When we insist that there's only one way. When we insist that there is only one Lord. When we insist that there's only one message. When we insist there's only one Savior. When we insist that that Savior is Jesus Christ. When we insist that every man is born, every woman is born a sinner and needs to be forgiven. It isn't mistakes that we're making, guys. It's sins. It's sins against God. It isn't my lack of education alone. It isn't my lack of financial prosperity alone. Those things can contribute to me being evil, but they can also contribute to me me being noble. It isn't that at all, guys. My condition is more than a psychological problem. My condition is a sin problem. And there's only one physician who can heal that sin problem, and that's Jesus Christ. and he does it for free. He doesn't charge me a hundred bucks an hour and tell me I'll see you next week. We don't have a 12step program here. We have a one-step one step to Jesus Christ. He transforms your life. He will change you. But people say we don't want that. We want our own way. And even as in the Old Testament when the Lord said, "No, there's it's my way or the highway." It's still that way now, guys. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ, God sending his son that transforms a person and transforms a nation. And when Jeremiah was crying out, when Jeremiah was speaking to the Lord, he is saying, "Lord, you have given your word and now I just ask that you fulfill it." And as you've stated, judgment will come. Bring judgment. They're rejecting you, Lord. Honor your name. But do you think he likes that? The answer is no because you've already seen more than one time how he says tears have rolled down my face as I think about what's going to take place these people. No, you never smile when somebody dies and perishes without the Lord. Jeremiah is not calling for judgment simply to make him happy. Jeremiah saying, "Lord, honor your name.