Jeremiah 22:1-10 | They Have Forsaken The Covenant | 12.11.1996

[music] chapter 22 and we'll read verses 1 through 10 and uh get into our study. Thus says the Lord. Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word, and say, "Hear the word of the Lord, oh king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the Lord, "Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. For if you indeed do this thing, then shall then shall enter the gates of this house riding on horses and in chariots accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David. But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Judah, your Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet I surely will make you a wilderness and cities which are not inhabited. I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons. They shall cut down your choice cedars and cast them into the fire. And many nations will pass by this city, and everyone will say to his neighbor, "Why has the Lord done so to this great city?" Then they will answer because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them. We'll stop there at verse 9 and I'm only going to go up to verse 9. Now chapters 22 and chapters chapters 22 and 23 are containing messages to what are called the Davidic kings. The Davidic kings are also referred to as kings of Judah. The reason they're called Davidic kings is because King David was from the tribe of Judah. And so God had made promises to David concerning him having an heir on the throne. And so what we're looking at here in chapters 22 and 23 are messages to the Davidic kings. Not only to the kings, but also we'll be seeing especially in chapter 3 a message to the priests. And the the priests are spoken of here in chapter 23 when we get there in verse one to the they are spoken of as being the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture. And so what we'll be looking at today is we're going to be looking at in chapter 22 and then we'll be moving on into chapter 3 within the next few years. And we'll be seeing that the Lord is ministering a word to the leadership over the nation of Israel. He's speaking in chapter 22 to the kings and in chapter 23 to those who are the priests. And so as we get into our study today, we see that Jeremiah is speaking to these these kings because they are responsible for the national crisis that the nation has found itself in. In verses 1-5, we'll take that together. The Lord speaks beginning in verse one, and he says, "Thus says the Lord, go down to the house of the king of Judah. there. Speak this word and say, "Hear the word of the Lord, oh king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates." And so he's commanded, Jeremiah is commanded by God to go to the palace, to the palace of the king of Judah. And as he goes to the palace, he's going to be speaking to those who are in secular authority over the nation. And he has a message. And the message that he's bringing is to the reigning king and to his counsel. He's coming to the ruling court. Now the Bible says in verse three, thus says the Lord. And he begins to share this message. Thus says the Lord, execute judgment and righteousness and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. This is the message that the king is to receive. The king is being called on by God himself to be a righteous king. And last time we were together, I shared with you how that the Lord had established the ways of the king. And so the king is to be held responsible. And the Lord is now speaking a word to him. And when it says in verse three, execute judgment and righteousness and deliver the plundered, the Davidic throne is to make justice its primary responsibility. That's what Jeremiah is saying to the king. Justice is to be your primary responsibility. He's saying that the officials of the nation are to rule with righteousness. Now notice he says they are to execute judgment. When it says they must execute judgment, that simply speaks about making decisions and executing sentences in a righteous and worthy fashion. And this is what is fitting for the king. The king of Israel is to rule in a righteous fashion. In the book of Proverbs, in Proverbs chapter 29 at verse 2, the writer of Proverbs says this, the writer of Proverbs in Proverbs chapter 29:2 says, "When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice. When the wicked rule, the people groan. I can say amen to that. When the wicked rule, the people will always grown. And so God had established the kingdom of Israel and intended the kingdom of e of Israel to be ruled by a righteous king. Now, the Bible says in establishing the way that a king rules that it is the duty for the king to judge properly. And it is the duty of the king to properly execute what would be called the Mosaic law. It's called the Mosaic law because it's Moses. It was handed to the nation of Israel through Moses. And so, it's just called the Mosaic law. the law that was to rule the nation of Israel. Now, the kings and the judges were established by God to execute judgment. When it speaks about them executing judgment, it speaks in particular about them carrying out the law of Moses. When it speaks about them executing this judgment with righteousness, righteousness is its proper application. And so, the king and his ruling council was ordered by God to understand the law, to interpret the law, and to apply the law in a righteous fashion so that the nation would be blessed by God. If the king did not apply the law in a righteous fashion, and if the king was an ungodly ruler, then the Lord had stated that he would bring judgment on the nation. So when Jeremiah is given the message to go and speak to the king and his ruling council, he's simply calling them back to what God had already given to them in the first place. He's calling them back to righteous rulership. He's telling them, you need to execute judgment in a proper fashion. Now you might find this interesting, but the kings of Israel were really in a sense a type of the righteous Messiah who is the king. You can see this in the book of Isaiah. Why don't we turn there for just a moment? Isaiah chapter 11. And you'll see this because the kings really were to be a picture of the righteous Messiah who is king over the world. And Isaiah makes reference to this picture in Isaiah 11:es 1-5. This passage here in the ancient book of Isaiah is a prophetic picture of Messiah. Every once in a while, you may be in a discussion with somebody who doesn't believe that the Bible is inspired by the word of God. You might want to remind them or perhaps let them know that the Bible is the one religious book that actually has prophecy that can be validated in terms of whether or not these prophecies came true. And in Isaiah 11:es 1-5, you have a picture of the righteous Messiah who is to be king. And notice what it says here, because this is really a picture of Jesus himself. And in Isaiah 11, beginning at verse 1, it says, "A chute will come up from the stump of Jesse. From his roots, a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him. the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of power, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears. But notice, with righteousness, he will judge the needy. With justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. With the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. This is a picture of Messiah who is king, who is the righteous judge. And the kings were simply to be a picture of Messiah. And that's why God says that they are to rule righteously and execute judgment in a proper fashion. Why? because they were a type of the righteous rule of Messiah who was to come. And when the kings failed to properly be a type of Messiah, they were going to receive and did receive judgment. Now, back in Jeremiah, righteousness is to be the norm of judgment. And the king, I'm going to be developing this further and further and further with you because I think it's important. The king was to be conversant with scripture and its application. Remember I shared with you recently out of Deuteronomy 17 18 and 19 that God had established the rule of the king. And in that passage he had said when the king takes the throne of his kingdom he's to write for himself on a scroll a copy of the law taken from that of the priests who are Levites it is to be with him and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees. It was the responsibility of the king to know the word of God. It was the responsibility of the king to read the word of God every day. And if the king were to know to read to obey the word of God, then righteousness was going to follow in his in his judgment because he wasn't making decisions based on his own wisdom because he was yielding himself to the wisdom of God. and in yielding himself to the wisdom of God and applying the word of God to the circumstances surrounding him, there would be righteousness in the nation. But when he would begin to make decrees or decisions on his own without the righteousness of God, then at that point you have you have forfeited the wisdom that comes from above. And at that point, you also begin to yield to your own human wisdom and understanding. You begin to receive counsel from those who don't know the Lord. You begin to walk in darkness and you fail to represent the kingdom of God. And when that takes place, the Lord says that their judgments will not be righteous and God will at that point bring judgment upon them. So they were supposed to be a representative of the type of Messiah. They were to be like Messiah in the sense that they were decreeing in the way that God would state for them to by getting into the word of God and obeying it and and properly uh properly exampling that. Now the judges the judges were to follow the law of God with impartiality. in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy in chapter 16 in verse 18. The Lord was speaking in this portion of scripture and he said this. He said, "Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you and they shall judge the people fairly." The judges were to represent once again righteous judgment and they were to be appointed to do that and their standard of righteousness was not their own opinion but rather the word of God. In chapter 25 of Deuteronomy at verse one the scripture says when men have a dispute they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. And so judges were supposed to be those who were making those kinds of judgments and determining who was guilty and who was innocent. But God had stated in the book book of Leviticus in chapter 19 at verse 15 something that I want to develop with you. In Leviticus 19:15, God had said this, "Do not pervert justice. Do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Interesting. That really speaks clearly, I think, to our own legal system today because we see both. We see on the one hand that if you have a certain social status that is looked upon as being less favorable that you may very well win sympathy and be acquitted. On the other hand, if you're very wealthy, you may be able to buy yourself out of any guilt simply by buying the best lawyer that you can who knows how to get into the loopholes of the law and circumvent. And ultimately, what you end up with is both things that the law of God has stated is an abomination to him. Favoritism to the poor or respect of persons to the rich. The law was not intended to be bent in that fashion. The law was intended by God to be exercised with impartiality. The reason that God would exercise the law with impartiality is because God desires people be rightfully cared for. Notice with me here in Jeremiah chapter 22. And I want to look at something closely with you. Notice again at verse three. Notice how he says, "Thus says the Lord, execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place." When justice is administered properly and prevails, the criminals will actually be considered to be guilty instead of the victim. Sometimes I think in our society, and I'll be very careful about these comments. I don't want to beat this up, but I think sometimes in our day, it's the victim who is punished for the crime. We hear so much outcry for criminal rights today that it it concerns me greatly because in a lot of ways we forget about the victim of the crime. So somebody is burglarizing somebody's business and he falls through the skylight and he sues and wins a settlement because he was injured on the premises of the person he was burglarizing. And that's an actual case. I mean, that actually has happened. I better be careful. I just I don't want to get off on this too far. It's just I really believe that the law was something that God intended for us to be ruled through so that righteousness might reign. Now, I want to develop something with you. I want to look at something very closely. Notice he says, "Deliver the plundered. Do no wrong or violence to the stranger. Do no wrong to the fatherless and widow. And do not shed innocent blood." When he says deliver the plundered, it simply means rescue those who are being robbed. When he says do no wrong or violence to the stranger, it speaks about not mistreating alien residents. When it says do no wrong to the fatherless and widow, that speaks for itself. When it says do not shed innocent blood, this may be in regard to the sacrifices of children to Moolik in the valley of Hinnim. And he's saying in essence, you're supposed to be obeying the law that has been established to protect people from these kinds of things. One of the things that I've I've noticed in scripture and I see this often and I I'll point it out very very quickly here when it says do not uh it says deliver the plundered do no wrong or violence to the stranger no wrong to the fatherless a widow. You see that as a repeated theme throughout the scriptures. You see the Lord speaking concerning that throughout the scriptures. The Old Testament uh wanted to protect people from injustice and you see it throughout the Bible. And social justice is something that you find in scripture and it's there throughout the Old Testament when the law was given. And throughout the Bible you see God caring for the widows and the orphans. You see him concerned about the aliens in the land. He even goes so far as to tell them you were once aliens yourself. So you ought to have sympathy for those who are coming in who are also aliens. But what happens after a while is is we forget where we came from. and we forget that there have been times in our lives that we've needed help. Or perhaps we haven't remembered that because we haven't really understood that. But it's a fact and it's true. In Deuteronomy 10 18 and 19, the Bible says that God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow. He loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And it says, "And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt." Don't forget that you had needs yourself. Don't forget that you've had time of poverty yourself. Don't forget that there have been times you've needed help yourself. And here we go. I'm going to say something. You ready? I was listening to a Christian radio station couple weeks ago, three weeks or so ago, and a lot of conversation was on the Christian radio station. It wasn't Kwave concerning how you treat the illegal immigrants who are entering into the United States. An individual called and was angry and was voicing his opinion. And I respect the fact that he has his own opinion. I don't know that you should say that he shouldn't have his own opinion, but his opinion really stumped, be honest with you. and he said something to the effect that the aliens who have entered into the United States are vermin. I'm not real sensitive, so be very, you know, don't misunderstand. I'm not real sensitive. It's my grandparents came from Mexico at the turn of the century. I don't consider my grandparents to be vermin, but I'm not hyper sensitive to that either because I know there's a lot of people who are angry over these kinds of things. And I've heard those things said before, and it doesn't kill me. It's not like I go home crying over these things. What hurts is the knowledge that this is a professing Christian who's calling human beings vermin. There's something wrong there. Now, there is something wrong there. You can have your opinion concerning legalities, illegalities, all you want. And I'm real open to those things. And I never preach about this from my pulpit because I think the Lord has a way of sorting these kinds of things out. And it's not my responsibility to do that. What I do get upset about and what I am greatly concerned about is loving thy neighbor as thyself. The Bible is very explicit when it states you are to care for the alien in this sense in the sense that you should care for their needs as they have them and exercise loving concern for them because they're human beings. We have a tendency I think of reducing human beings to little catch terms. America is famous for that. But we're not alone in this. So, it's World War II and you have nips and jaffs. It's Vietnam and you have goops. I mean, you can find a name for every every ethnic class if you want. Every one of us who comes from any ethnicity at all is familiar with some of the slams and things that pe people can say. So, Irish are myths and and Mexicans are And I mean, you can go on and on and on and and we we use these words amongst ourselves and we think that it's okay, but it really isn't, now, is it because it's dehumanizing people because it's causing us to think we're a little bit better than that person we just labeled with a lesser name. When I was in the army and we had a march out there, we used to have to sing songs of cadence and we said, "I want to go to Vietnam. I want to kill the Charlie Kong." That's what we sang. any veteran who ran I have veterans in here. You know what I'm talking about. We reduced them. They were not human beings. They were our enemy and we called them names. What was appropriate in World War II when you called people japs? Is that appropriate now? No. Why not? And when was it ever appropriate? And when when was it ever right to do that? And when did the church get behind that and think it's okay? And when is it okay for us to call human beings vermin? It's wrong. And righteousness needs to rule the nation. Righteousness needs to be ruling our hearts. It has to change us from the inside. Now, I'm not standing up here saying, you know what, you know, um, there aren't things that bother me about this. You know, there are things that bother me like every other American. But God has been speaking into my heart for so long about this. And he's been saying, you know what, you got to love these people. They need the Lord Jesus Christ. Your mission field is moving in. It's moving in. It's here. It's at our door. And we want to push it out. We're Christians. Why aren't we reaching them? Why aren't we speaking to them? Why aren't we sharing with them about the Lord Jesus Christ? No, we just want them to leave because they make us us uncomfortable. And yet, so many people who cry about these people taking jobs wouldn't work the job that they're willing to work. It amazes me. Am I angry about this sometime? Right now, you bet. You bet. Because it's wrong. Because we are to love. Because we're to care for these people in whatever way the Lord gives us. I get concerned when a nation turns to too much to me and my what I want. The church has been famous through the history of its existence for caring for those who are in need. And America has a surplus that until you go overseas, you can't even imagine. Ali's up here sharing what they're saying. Do you have any used clothing? Do you know that when you go to some of these burger establishments and they give you these toys for free? We call it for free. You paid for it with a hamburger, but we call it free. That if you gave one of those little toys to some of these children, it would be the best thing they've ever gotten in their lives. You know that? You thought about that? We throw these things away because we don't have kids that want to play with these things. These are toys that you could give to some child in an orphanage and it would be the best thing that they have. See, we don't understand that. Even we Christians, we don't understand that. Was I angry when those immigrants got beaten up by the police? Absolutely. Absolutely. Why? Because they were Mexicans? No. Because they were people and they should not have been hit and they should not have been beaten. They should have been treated with respect. And what has America come to? America has come to a place where we feel that it's okay to do that. Let me say this. I might as well I'm in it. Might as well say this, too. I read several years ago that the minority that was to be acceptable to be discriminated against in the 21st century was going to be the Mexican Mexican population, not the Mexican the Mexican. And I wondered whether that was true or not. And I say to you that it is true. I say to you that absolutely it is true. It's okay to be angry at Mexicans. Why don't we get upset at Canadians? Why don't we build a fence around Canada? Is Is there something wrong here? Or maybe am I missing the point? Because I know Canadians who are here working illegally and nobody's upset. Why not? Maybe it's easier to point out a brown person than it is somebody white. Maybe it's a sin. But is it really? And God spoke to the kings and he said to the kings, you execute righteous judgment. He said, "You don't oppress that alien because you need to remember that you once were an alien yourself in Egypt. Don't forget where you came from. America is a nation of immigrants." Except for the Native Americans. They were here. They were here and then we came here. Now, some of my people were here and some came from Spain. I don't deny that. That's just part of life. And I don't run around wearing a Spanish flag or a Mexican flag or an American flag. I wear the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's the bottom line. That's ought to be. It's ought to be. You see, the Bible's very clear about this and we need to be very sensitive to these things. And every once in a while, people may misunderstand one thing I say or another. But I want to be very clear about that. I really believe that the Lord has called us to love. Now, I'm not getting, and notice this, I'm not getting into the political implication of all of that. What I'm speaking about is the condition of the human heart. What I'm speaking about is the motives of the things that we do and the reasons that we do need to be motivated by love and concern. That's the key. And so let us be very careful that we don't fall into the trap. In Exodus 22 21-2, notice what God had said as he was establishing the law in the land. In Exodus 221, he said, "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused. Notice this. And I'll kill you with a sword. Your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a money lender. Charge him no interest. The Lord cares for the poor and he says when they cry to me I hear them and I will deal with you. And that's what's taking place here in Jeremiah chapter 22 when he's speaking to the kings and he says execute judgment and righteousness. That's what he's speaking about guys. He's speaking to the kings. Now in verse four it says,"For if you indeed do this thing, then shall enter the gates of this house riding on horses and in chariots accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David." But he says in verse 5, "If you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation." So he has a promise and basically a threat. If you keep my word, then the kings will continue to rule. But if you fail, then judgment and ruin will ensue. In verse 6, for thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Judah, you are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet I surely will make you a wilderness in cities which are not inhabited. I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons. They shall cut down your choice cedars and cast them into the fire. So in verse 6 and 7 when he says you are Gilead to me the head of Lebanon, you need to know what he's referring to when he says Gilead in Lebanon. Gilead and Lebanon were places known for their forests. And so he's saying to them that they are like a beautiful, lush, abundant forest. When Solomon built his palace, as it's recorded in first Kings 17, the Bible says in verses 2 and three that he built the palace of the forest of Lebanon. And so when Solomon built, he used cedars of Lebanon. So when the Lord is speaking here and he says again in verse six, you are Gilead to me the head of Lebanon, he's saying to them, you are lush and beautiful and abundant. But he goes on, "Yet surely," he says, "I will make you a wilderness in cities which are not inhabited. I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons. They shall cut down your choice cedars and cast them into the fire." So, he's saying, "I'm going to be bringing against you judgment." And indeed, Babylon did come and Babylon was the hand of the Lord in bringing judgment. He says in verse 8, "Many nations will pass by the city, and everyone will say to his neighbor, why has the Lord done so to this great city?" Then they will answer, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them." Many nations will pass by the city, everyone will say to his neighbor, "Why?" Now, we're going to have to close in a few minutes here because we're going to have communion. I'm sure all of you are ready for that now. But in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy in chapter 29 to a conclusion here. The Lord has laid in laid out in the book of Deuteronomy blessings and cursings for those who obey the law or fail to obey it. This was applicable to the nation of Israel. And this obviously would apply here in Jeremiah. God is speaking judgment to them. But he had said many nations will pass by this city. Speaking of the city of Jerusalem, and everyone will say to his neighbor, why has the Lord done this? Now God had said in Deuteronomy 29:4, all the nations will ask, why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce burning anger? And the anger and the answer rather will be it is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. Therefore, the Lord's anger burned against this land. So that he brought it brought on it all the curses written in this book. In furious anger and in great wrath, the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land as it is now. God said, "You keep my law, I'll bless you. If you forsake my law," the Lord said to the nation of Israel, then this is what's going to take place. And so, when we're in Jeremiah, that's exactly what God is doing. He's fulfilling his word. Now, when King Solomon was making dedication, rather when King Solomon was praying to the Lord on one occasion in First Kings chapter 9, uh the Lord was speaking to him in verse 6. And the Lord was speaking to Solomon concerning remaining faithful to him. And God as he was speaking to Solomon in first kings chapter 9 and verse 6 said this. He said, "If you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my name." Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will stop and say, "Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land, to this temple?" People will answer, "Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them. That is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them." God has stated that they are not to forsake him. They are not to forsake the covenant of the Lord the God and they are not to worship other gods and serve them. Now remember with me for just a moment when Jesus was being tempted by Satan. How that Satan said to the Lord that if he wanted to have rulership without a cross, all he needed to do was he said just bow down and and worship me. And Jesus's response said it is Jesus in response said it is written you're to worship the Lord God and him only shalt thou serve. I want you to notice the connection here. You are to worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. And if you make a connection tonight, connect the word worship with the word serve. Because whatever I worship, I will serve. That's why Jesus would not worship Satan because in the worship of Satan comes service to Satan. When God speaks concerning them forsaking him, he's saying in your abandoning of me and in your beginning to worship these false gods, the result has been a life of service. It applies in paganism. It applies in Christianity. If you worship God, you will serve him. The question is, and here this is the personal kind of spiritual check for all of us. If we are really worshiping him, then I ask you to ask yourself, how are you serving him? And in what way? How are you serving the Lord Jesus Christ? Because you know in these last days guys to be honest with you talk is really cheap. It's really cheap. There are so many professing Christians today who are not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. They're not. They serve themselves. Oh, everything I have belongs to the Lord, we say, but in reality we keep it for us. And what is happening is a lot of people are deceiving themselves into believing that because they said a simple prayer or because they even answered an altar call that they must be saved today because I prayed and answered an alter call. Hey, wait. True conversion is worship and service. It's hearing and obeying because there's a form of godliness that denies the power thereof. There is an appearance of being a religious person with no substance of the spirit in our lives. And we can clean ourselves up all we want and we can even go to church and we can even read the Bible and we can even be involved in service in one form or another that that we may think is is is demonstrating true salvation. But in reality, if I'm not really worshiping the Lord with all of my heart and really seeking ways to worship him, then I'm truly not serving him either. I believe that the Lord God is calling the church to not just speak with our mouths anymore, but to actually put our lives into action for Jesus Christ. And I believe that it's very possible for me to have a torn heart, to believe on the one hand that I'm saved, but to practice on the other hand efforts and works of the flesh. But Jesus on one occasion said, "No one can serve two masters. Either will he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." He said, "You cannot serve both God and money. You have to make up your mind which it's going to be. Who is it going to be? See, the nation of Israel was not doing righteousness. The kings didn't care about the law of God. The rulers ruled by their own might and their own wisdom. And they were listening to false prophets. You see, even to this day, true religion in the sight of the Lord, the Bible tells us this in James 1:27, "Religion that God our father accepts is pure and faultless is this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep yourself from being polluted by the world." Even to this day, the church is to be known by that kind of behavior. Remember with me in the early church, remember with me in the book of Acts when God did his work in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Peter went out there and he and he preached that great message on Pentecost. And remember the thousands who came and and committed themselves to Jesus, their Messiah. And remember that they began to meet together regularly getting involved in the word of God, prayer, and the sacraments of the Lord, baptism, and and communion. Remember with me that they were doing these things because they were now one in the Lord. how that the Lord began to move within the confines of that fellowship. And if anybody had a need, then people would see the need and they would meet that need themselves. That was the mark of the early church. If somebody saw a brother or sister in need, they met the need themselves. Be very careful because it's easy for us to think that person has a need. I had to go tell somebody else because sometimes the Lord allows us to see the need so we can be part of the solution and so that we can make the efforts of sacrifice that result in that person's well-being which demonstrates the costliness of love and and when we want to cheapen our commitments by reducing them to something easy to handle and perhaps we're missing a very vital important ingredient into what it really means to be saved. The true measure of the gift is not what I keep for myself, what I give, but what I keep for myself. The true measure of the gift is the cost, not just of my finances, but everything else that's involved. And be very careful that you don't look for an easy out Christianity because if it cost Jesus's life and it cost John the Baptist's life and if the 11 remaining faithful apostles, 10 of them were martyed and then John, according to church history and tradition, the last remaining apostle He attempted to boil and he didn't die. So they exiled him on the island of Patmas for his witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. And if indeed within the first few centuries of the church over six million Christians were martyed and if it's true that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church and if it's true that those who shall live godly lives in Christ judge by Jesus shall suffer persecution. If this is true, if you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake, then maybe maybe sometimes the stresses that we feel in our hearts are actually works of the spirit bringing conviction into our lives so that we might die in certain areas. So that we might learn what it means when Jesus says, "Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it'll bring forth much fruit." Maybe it's time for me and for us to go deeper in further on with the Lord and to be willing to count the cost and see the eternal weight of glory that is promised to us in the Lord Jesus Christ and be willing to strive for that. Even as Paul said, he beat his body into subjection, lest after preaching to others, he would find himself disqualified. Maybe some of the pressures that we're finding ourselves in today are actually spiritual things that God is using in our life to bring conviction to us and cleansing. Have you thought about it? So, my son David is driving his car on Monday night coming home from a Bible study and he's driving through the parking lot at Golden Springs and he doesn't see a curb and he drives over it and smashes the entire undercarriage of his car. $7,158 worth of damage. And he's in my office today bummed. I wonder why. He's had his license a month. He's very discouraged. And I say as a father to my son David, "You want to know something? The Lord said to me, you're a man now, and he's going to treat you like a man. Maybe you're going to learn the lesson. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Maybe you're going to learn that. I said, David, my son, look around and see how God has blessed your father. Do you think I haven't learned that lesson that you've learned? I think anybody that God uses learns those kinds of lessons. The son, it's important that you learn it now at 18. Don't wait till you're 46. Learn them now. Learn your lessons now and learn them well because the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Now, if we're going to live for him, are you willing to count the cost? Or on the other on the other side, are we going to be like the nation of Israel? A nation that forsook the Lord. A nation that got so into itself that it forgot where it came from. A nation that worshiped and served other gods. It's up to us. Now, my personal desire, I want to serve the Lord. And I pray that's the desire of us today in this fellowship. Let us serve the Lord.