Jeremiah 36 | That I May Forgive Their Iniquity | 6.11.1997

[music] I've chosen to entitle this particular installment, this chapter, simply that everyone may turn from his evil. Let's begin reading in verse one here in Jeremiah 36. And we'll read verses 1-8. And we'll get into our study in Jeremiah 36:1. We read these words. Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, "Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day." It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purposed to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baroo, the son of Nera, and Baroo wrote on a scroll uh scroll of a of a book at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which he had spoken to him. Jeremiah commanded Baroo, saying, "I am confined. I cannot go into the house of the Lord. You go, therefore, and read from the scroll, which you've written at my instruction, the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people in the Lord's house on the day of fasting, and you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah, who come from their cities. It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people. And Baroo the son of Naria did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him. Reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house. In these few verses here, we get a a good understanding of how the book of Jeremiah came to be. Notice with me in verse two, the scripture says that God had given a command to Jeremiah for him to write all the words he had spoken to Jeremiah. Now, in those days, dictating to a secretary was very common. And in this case, he is going to be dictating to a man by the name of Baroo, who is going to be taking the notes that Jeremiah is basically dictating to him. And Jeremiah is to write all the words that God has spoken against Israel from the days of Josiah to that time. Now that would cover a period of over 20 years because we know that the book of Jeremiah begins somewhere around 627 and we know that this event here is taking place somewhere around 605. And so the events that he's about to cover cover over 20 years. Now, it would be an incredible feat on the part of Jeremiah to be able to give word for word 20 years of ministry. And so, we're going to take a little bit of time here and think about that because to accomplish this, there have to be at least a couple of things that were taking place at that time. One is Jeremiah may very well have already had certain written records of things that had already been said. But undoubtedly God would bring to his remembrance the things that he's already been inspired to say. In the New Testament book of the Gospel of John chapter 14 at verse 26, Jesus was speaking concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. And when you read the New Testament, you'll discover that very often the Holy Spirit is given different names. They're they're the same Holy Spirit, but there are different names given to him. He's called the consoler. He's called the the uh comforter, the helper. And in John 14:26, Jesus said, "The comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." And so, the Holy Spirit, part of the work of God's Holy Spirit is to bring to your remembrance the things that the Lord has given to you. And so in the case of Jeremiah, undoubtedly the Holy Spirit is going to be bringing to his remembrance the things that God had inspired him to say. So this gives us an insight into what has been called the inspiration of scripture because we know that both the Old and the New Testaments are inspired by God. We as Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God recorded by human agents. We've had people ask in the past, I had one individual several years ago now ask me,"Well, how in the world did the Bible come to be?" And I said, "God utilized human natures moving them by his Holy Spirit." He says, "Oh, I don't think I can believe that." I said, "Well, what would you prefer believing that God used typewriters? I mean, God used people and the Holy Spirit would inspire people to give us his word." Now, that's what the Bible teaches us. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 tells us all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness. All scripture is given by inspiration. The original word used for the English word inspiration is the Greek word theonustas. And the word theos speaks of God. Newas speaks of breathed. And literally it is all scripture is God breathed. That's what Paul was saying in second Peter 1:es 20 and 21. We see the same kind of insight given to us in the New Testament. Peter said this. Peter said, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." That word moved again in the original language speaks of being carried along by the spirit of God. And so all scripture is given by inspiration of God. But holy men of God were moved along by the Holy Spirit. There's this there this way of putting it. It's truth through personality. In other words, we don't become typewriters where God just basically gives to different people what he wants them to say in his words devoid of any personality that that person may have. Because if you read the Bible and there are some 40 different people who wrote under the inspiration of scripture over 1500 years in three different languages. If you look at the Bible, you're going to see that the different people's personalities come out. Jeremiah wrote differently than Ezekiel. Ezekiel wrote differently than Isaiah. First and 2 Kings isn't exactly the same as Judges. There are different people God inspired and these people wrote things down. And you'll see some of the evidences or glimpses of their personality. You'll see in the gospels that Matthew wrote differently than Luke and Mark and John. You'll see in the epistles that Paul wrote differently than John or or the Apostle Peter. You'll see the different ways that they wrote and yet the imagery is the same. The person that they're pointing to is the same and they don't contradict one another. And yet you'll see that they write in different ways. And so the Bible is an inspired book. And God had moved Jeremiah by his Holy Spirit and had instructed him to write these things down. And not only was the Old Testament inspired, but also is the New. In second Peter 3:2, Peter said this. The Apostle Peter said, "I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets." And he says, "The command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles." And so God's inspiration is not simply Old Testament, but the Bible, Old and New Testament, is regarded as being inspired scripture. Now, this chapter, chapter 36 of the book of Jeremiah, gives us some insight into how the Lord worked in the recording of his word. Now, the servants of the Lord were to be very precise and very careful as they would take the words of the Lord. As a matter of fact, in Deuteronomy 4:2, uh Moses said, "Do not add to what I command you, and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you." In Deuteronomy 12:32, "See that you do all I command you. Do not add to it or take away from it." And in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, there is actually a curse added on you if you add to the words of this prophecy, he said, which more than likely doesn't simply pertain to the book of Revelation, but the New Testament revelation itself. And so God speaks to us through the inspired writings of scripture. The Bible is not a human origin book. It's a divinely inspired book. And as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe the God who gave life to Jesus Christ who was dead on a cross is able to preserve his word also. And so as we look at this passage, we get the chance to see a little bit about how the Lord went about recording this. Now notice as we move on here in verse three back in chapter 36 of Jeremiah after he's already said, "Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words I've spoken to you." Notice verse three. It says, "It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purposed to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." It may be, but it's not going to be. It may be, I'll give you a few thoughts about that. When he says, "It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purposed to bring upon them." God's desire is that they would hear his warnings, that they would repent, and that they would live. that they would hear, that they would repent, and that they would live. In other words, it's not God's desire. And you do this, go through the scriptures and you'll see this as you look, you'll see that the Lord many times over does not want to have to bring judgment. It's not as if that's something that he desires. And you don't find that impression of the Lord, old or new testament. As a matter of fact, you see the same compassionate, loving God who does not want to have to bring judgment. And yet he keeps calling out to the people and he says, "You need to hear what I say and you need to do what I say because if you hear and you do, then you will live. But if you don't hear what I say and you refuse to do what I say, then you're going to be penalized for this. It's going to happen." See, the Lord isn't kind of like us parents can be. I mean, we may tell our children, "If you do that, if you take another step, you know, I'm going to end up spanking you." But they look so cute when they take that other step. So, we I had a nephew. I have a nephew. His name is Frankie. And uh when Frankie was about a year and a half old, his mom and dad were teaching him not to touch the television set. For some reason, little Frankie used to be really caught up in TV sets. He he would walk up to the screen and he would just put his little hands all over the screens. He just liked the TV set. And so his dad was saying to him, you know, Frankie, you can't be doing that now. He's about a year and a half, less than 2 years of age. But there was such a fascination. It's like a magnet. It would just draw him. And you'd see little Frankie standing there. And I can still remember one day when my nephew was in the den with me. And I was watching TV and and his father was there sitting in the room with me. And here comes little Frankie just toddling on into the room. And as he toddled into the room, he looks and he sees the television sets on. And you could see him. And my brother said, "I've been telling him not to touch the TV. Let's see what happens. And you could see him as he walked into the room and bang, he sees the lights on and the images and everything. And then I just started following him all the way from the door across the room as he kind of just walks very slowly up to the TV. And Frank's telling me now, he knows he's not supposed to touch that t. He knows. And I've caught him and I spank his hand every time he does it. And he knows he's not supposed to touch that. And here he comes walking across the room until he's standing right in front of the TV set. He's got his hands at his side and he's just staring at the TV set like and finally I see his little right hand as it starts to move and it's shaking and it was shaking. His hand was shaking and it started to shake. He'd be a good TV evangelist. And it and as his hand began to shake, his eyes began to blink really fast. Bang. He touches it, man. And he knew he was going to get it. And my brother had to get up and spank his hand. You know, in a lot of ways, not to say that our sins are as cute as that. I don't think our sins are cute at all. But in a lot of ways, we toddle into them and we want them and we and the Lord is just standing there just saying, "I've told you. I've told you." In this case, it's a lot more serious because the Lord said, "You need to do what I've said, you need to repent and that will cause you to live. But if you don't do what I said, if you don't repent from your sin, then I'm going to have to bring judgment on you." So all through the Bible, God's desire for us is that we might hear his warnings that we might do the things he commands us and that we might live. In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel in chapter 33 at verse 11, the Lord crying out to the children of Israel, the Lord says, "Say to them, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live." You can almost hear the cry of the Lord. You could almost hear a cry in the voice of God where he cries out and he says to the nation, "Turn, turn from your evil ways." And then the question is asked, "Why will you die, oh house of Israel?" You can almost hear the Lord's voice with a tear as he cries out and says, "You've got to turn." And then he asks the question, "Why do you want to die? Why do you want it?" That's a good question, guys. That's a good question, don't you think? Why? Why won't you turn? The Lord was saying, "Why do you have to die? What is it that you want that's so so desperate a need in your life?" The Lord would be saying, even to us tonight, that you're willing to give everything up for that. Why won't you turn? Why won't you live? Why do you have to have that? The Lord would be crying out. And God is saying, I don't take the pleasure, any pleasure in the death of wicked people. It's not something that causes me joy. I want you to turn so that you might live. I want you to turn so that you might live. In Lamentations 3:33, Jeremiah wrote, "He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men." It's not that the Lord delights in causing us to pay the penalty, but look how far God has gone to save us from the ultimate penalty. God's love is expressed with such depth and such degree that he took upon himself our sins to save us from the worst possible end which is an eternity without him in hell. In the Old Testament book of Hosea in chapter 11, beginning at verse one, the Lord said, "When Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt, I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me." They sacrificed to the bales, and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms, but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love, and I lifted the yoke from their neck, and I bent down to feed them. But he goes on in verse 7, and he says, "My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the most high, you will by no means exalt them." And he cries out again, "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Adma? How can I make you like Zeboim?" And the Lord cries out, "My heart is changed within me. All my compassion is aroused." He's saying, "When Ephraim," which is another name for the nation of Israel, was a child. He said, "Like a daddy reaches out to a baby who's learning to walk." He said, "I would reach my hands out and I held you and I taught you to walk and I love you and now I'm being put in the position of having to turn you away." And he says, "And I can't. My heart is burning within me. How can I do that? I love you." One of the most touching stories in the whole Bible is the story of David and his son Abselum. Abselum was a son that was extremely dear to King David. But Abselon had a tremendous temper and he rose up and killed his brother for raping his sister. Horrible story in the Bible and he fled. But ultimately David and Abselum had a sort of reconciliation. Scriptures teach about that. And David once again allowed Abselum in his presence after an exile of some time. Abselum began to stand at the gates and that's a place where judgment takes place. And when people would come in, Abselon would begin to speak to them and he'd say, "Where are you from?" And they'd give him the location and he'd say, "Oh yes, I know it very well." And what is your matter that you have to decide? And they'd say, "Oh, I have this case pending." And Abselum basically would say, "You know, if I were a judge, I'd decide for you." And the scripture says, "Thus Abselum stole the hearts of Israel from David, his father." Ultimately, Abselon got himself an army and his father had to flee from Abselum. And as David and his army were marching out, as Abselum was going to come in victoriously, a man by the name of Shemi was there running alongside David, King David, as he's going throwing stones and dust at him, calling him names. And one of David's general pulls out a sword and says, "Let me at him. I won't have to hit him twice." And David says, "Just let him alone because perhaps the Lord is saying something to me through this man." And David goes off in humiliation. And ultimately, he decides it's time to go back and take the kingdom that God had given to him back. And he goes back after his son. And Abselum had long hair. It would grow to several pounds in a year. Was long and thick and beautiful. And Abselam was a very powerful, very handsome, very charismatic man with beautiful long hair. and he was riding away trying to get away when his hair being as long as it was got caught in a tree and he was pulled off of the animal he was riding and was basically hanging there and there was nothing he could do when one of David's generals saw him there and came with a spear and ran him through and he goes back to King David and King David says my son and my son where is he is he all right and the general looks at David oh would to God all of your enemies were like your son today. My son is dead. And one of the most powerful things in scripture, suddenly David cries out, "Oh Abselum, oh Abselum, my son, would to God, I would have died and not you." That's a father's love. I would lay my life down for my children. Any father who loves their child would that fast lay the life down for the child. And David couldn't believe his son who had done all that he had done was dead. And his and his general had a rebuke him and said to him, "If the people see you acting this way over an enemy, you're going to take the heart out of your people. They're laying their lives down for you, David. You wash your face. You don't mourn in front of these people." But when he cried out, when he heard that my son is dead, he just wept. You know, a lot of people will see these people who have done very evil things and cannot understand why their family begs for their life. This man did a horrible thing in Oklahoma and yet his family's crying out for his life. There's something about the love of a family. A little girl can be abused by her daddy her whole life and still love her daddy. There's something about relationships that are incredibly strong. And so when the Lord is saying to the nation, I taught you to walk and I carried you when you were small and now I have to give you up. How can I? My heart is torn within me. This gives us some insight into the love that God has for us today. He doesn't want to give you up. He wants you to be saved. He wants you to be right with him. So back in Jeremiah 36, throughout the book, judgment has been declared. And yet throughout the book, God also has been encouraging the nation to repent. Remember in Jeremiah 18:8, the Lord said, "If that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned." again in chapter 26:3 of Jeremiah. Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. And yet with this desire that God had to bring them to a place of repentance even as God is saying perhaps they will turn they do not turn. in verses 4-8. Then Jeremiah called Baroo the son of Naria and Baroo wrote on a scroll of a book all these words. Now when he's speaking concerning the words of the Lord, the words of the Lord, that's another way of simply saying God's word or the inspired scripture and not Jeremiah's opinions. It's very important for us to realize something. This book here that we're looking at today, this book that we're looking at today is not a compilation of man's human philosophy. When this book, this Bible, this word of God is being properly taught, it ceases being simply words written on a page. It begins to be the anointed very word of God himself speaking to man. In the book of Matthew in chapter 10 19 and 20, Jesus was speaking to his disciples in this passage and was giving to them instructions because they're going out and they're preaching the word of God. And in Matthew 10 19 and 20, Jesus said this to them. He said, "When they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it." He says, "At that time, you will be given what to say. Now listen, for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking through you, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. In 2 Corinthians in chapter 5 at verse 20, Paul said, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors." Listen. As though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. Now, I want to make a brief application of that. Church services such as this are not horizontal relationships only, meaning fellowship. Some people choose their churches based on the number of friends they can make or have there. I think that's pretty common. I'm not knocking it because they think that's very real. That's very true. A lot of you came here because you were invited by friends. But you want to know something? If the horizontal relationship keeps you in church, what's wrong with the vertical? Because this is a worship center. Churches are a worship center. We need to remember, we need to recapture that reality. Because a lot of times today, I think churches begin to be called fellowship center, but it's really man- centered and not god- centered. I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and be honest with you, I have a lot of disagreements with quite a few things. But there is one thing that I carried into my relationship with the Lord that I think was a very important thing to learn. And that is when you go to church, you go to meet God. That's what I learned. Anybody here learned that too? When you go to church, you go to meet God. That's where you're going. Now, of course, we know biblically church is the people and we know fellowship is with the people of God. But for for me as a kid growing up, that was a very real concept. And I can honestly say that as a child, I didn't go there because my buddy was going to be there and we'd hang together and afterwards go on the playground and just visit. No, I was going to church because I was going to go meet God. And that's what we're doing here right now, guys. And we have to be very very careful that we always remember that because when the word of God is being spoken and and you may disagree if that word is divided correctly if that word is divided correctly. Now if it's not then you have a reason to disagree. But if that word is divided correctly when you disagree it's not with the preacher. When you disagree it's with your God. if that word is divided correctly. Now, here's where the copout is for a lot of people. They just simply say, "Well, I disagree because I heard it from someplace else differently." In reality, I've discovered, at least it's been true in my own life. Whenever the Lord convicts me, I can very easily escape conviction by simply saying, "I don't agree with that." Well, I don't agree with that. I I know three different opinions of that same scripture. So, and the Holy Spirit has a very tough time with me because I dance very well. I can dance around conviction very well. When I was growing up, when my dad was going to spank me, my dad only spanked me maybe four or five times in my whole life. But when he was going to spank me, my dad would take me by the arm and he would move his hand back to let me have it. And I always would dance and I would dance right in front of his hand. So, and I would always face him because I knew he wouldn't hit me, you know, if I was facing him. And man, could I dance and I would and my dad would get real frustrated. But I'd be jumping. I actually literally would be jumping every time his hand would go up and I'd scream, "No, no, no." And then I [laughter] And do you know I still do that with the spirit of the Lord. I'll sense the conviction coming on me. I'll I'll read something and somebody will be teaching a study and I begin to get convicted and suddenly I can feel myself inside dancing towards the hand of the Lord saying, "No, no, I have a different interpretation." No, I I've read it somewhere else, some other way that you don't really have to do that. No, but I have a right to be upset with and I can do that. So can you. And the Holy Spirit saying, "No, I'm going to spank you." No. No. But you want to know something though? He has Well, you know, he doesn't need just one hand. He can get you on the other side and he's going to he's going to deal with you cuz he loves you. And so we have to be very careful. Listen, when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you through his word, please listen to what the spirit says. It's only for your good. It's only for your good. And so many people don't want to hear what the spirit says to the church. So many people don't want to place a personal application and let the conviction roll because it's going to make you into a better person. They want to dance. And so very often we don't allow the Holy Spirit to operate on us. And the Holy Spirit indeed does. And as I've said before, I was 14 years old. I was laying down on the gurnie. They were wheeling me in. I was going to have my appendix out. They gave me a spinal and they gave me some kind of um anesthetic. I forget that was supposed to put me out. And the nurse said, "Count from 100 back." And I began to count 100 99. And I just kept going. And she said, "You're fighting it. You're fighting it. Stop fighting it. You've got to relax and allow this to take place." So I I I stopped fighting it. And before you know it, I was I was out in time though to wake up when the doctor said, "Scalpel." And I saw the scalpel as he plunged it into my side to slice it open to remove my appendix. I saw it go in and bang, I was out. I mean, I was out. Now, the Holy Spirit is the surgeon and he wants us to lie still for the operation. I would have been foolish if I have started just moving when that scalpel went in. But so many people when the spirit is operating in our lives begin to try and jump off the gurnie and hobble out with the swollen appendix. We want to live that way. And God says, "Hear what I say to you. Do what I say and you will live." We say, "No, no, I can do fine. I can do fine. I'll be all right. I'll I'll be okay." No, you won't. You're going to die. It's going to burst. It's going to poison your system. You will die. you have to allow me to remove it. And you know what? That's what he does. The Holy Spirit operates and he removes. So these are the words of the Lord. Now he says in verses five and six, I am confined. I cannot go to the house of the Lord. You therefore have to go. And you need to read from the from the scroll. Now in other words, Jeremiah is not free to give the prophecy personally. So he's going to have this prophecy read in verses 7 and 8. It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord and everyone will turn. In other words, his hope is that they will hear and repent. Now in verse 9, it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month. The ninth month is the month of December that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. Then Baroo read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the chamber of Gimaria the son of Chiffon the scribed in the upper court at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house in the hearing of all the people. So this this person Gimaria we're going to see is is a friend is a friend of Jeremiah. And so Baroo goes and he obeys and he and he reads what the Lord would have him to do. So he stations himself in a place where they can hear him as he reads these words. Now here comes a whole bunch of names I can't pronounce. Let's go. When Ma the son of Gamaria the son of Chiffon heard all the words of the Lord from the book, he then went down to the king's house into the scribes chamber. And there all the princes were sitting. Alishima the scribe. Ellaya the son of Shima. Al Nathan which is a local cholo. El Natan the son of Akor. Gamaria the son of Chapan. Zedekiah the son of Haniah and all the princes. Then Mia declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baroo read the book and the hearing of the people. And therefore all the princes sent Jehoodi the son of Nathaniel the son of Shelen Shelia the son of Kushi. [laughter] He had a real soft job to to Baroo saying take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people and come. So Baroo the son of Naria took the scroll in his hand and came to him and they said to him, "Sit down now and read it in our hearing." So Baroo read it in their hearing. Now Mia Maya felt that the people showed an interest in what was read. And so he went and he told these officials about what he had just heard. Now the officials who have heard what he's saying desire to hear for themselves. And so they gathered together. Now notice verse 15 because in verse 15 it says and they said to him sit down now and read it in our hearing. Now when they say to him sit down now that's an important phrase. If you take notes you may want to note this. I've shared this with you before in the Hebrew way of teaching. If they felt that the person had or if the teacher had something of great import to say, he would sit down. Jesus gave the sermon on the mount, what did he do? He sat down. And when Jesus sat down to give the sermon on the mount in Matthews 5:6 and 7, when Jesus sat down to teach, it was an authority, a position of authority that he was showing. Now had Jesus stood up and spoken during that day even even here in the time a few hundred years before Christ 600 years before Christ in that day if if somebody didn't have anything of great importance to share they could stand but a teaching rabbi who had something that was important to say was accorded the respect of being seated and so when Baroo is sharing with him and they s they say sit down what they're saying to us according to the Hebrew true custom is you have something we need to hear. It's really important. We don't want to rush you through it. Sit down and communicate to us the things that you've been saying. Now, in verse 16, it says, "Now it happened when they had heard all the words that they looked in fear uh from one to another and said to Baroo, we will surely tell the king of all these words." And they asked Baroo saying, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words at at his instruction?" So Baroo answered them, "He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book." Then the princes said to Baruk, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are." In other words, these people cared for Bru and they cared for Jeremiah because they knew that when the king heard the prophecy in that that they would that the king would be greatly upset and probably go after Jeremiah and Baroo. Now, part of the reason that we see here that they have fear when it says in verse 16, when they heard all the words, they looked in fear from one to another is because the common message at that time was peace. And this message was not a message of peace. This was a message of judgment. And so, they'd been hearing these words of peace coming from people. And they thought for sure the king is going to be greatly upset when he hears the opposite message given. I I've discovered and some of you have also that one of the common messages that I hear today being proclaimed is is peace and prosperity. That's a very common message. I'm going to only make one statement and then I'll move on. There is a big controversy going on. It's been going on now for few years really over a supposed event that's taking place in Toronto. They call it the Toronto blessing. Perhaps some of you have heard. If you haven't heard, then I'm not going to give you a whole lot and I don't want to confuse any who may not have heard. But part of the earmark of that quote unquote blessing has been some incredible manifestations, if you will, where people do very unreal kinds of things. Some people are barking, some people are meowing, some people are oinking, some people are falling down uh and laying there on the ground for 40 minutes or longer. Um quite a number of things are happening that are extraordinary and quite a number of people in the church are very concerned about what may be taking place. And it's been such a such an incredible um it's had such an incredible effect that quite a number of people have actually come from different parts of the world just to go there. And this uh church in Toronto actually has uh basically started a travel kind of agency. I'll use the term travel agency for one of a better description where they actually help to book rooms and bring people from all over. There are people coming in the the number one group of people come from the British Isles. They're coming in from Ireland. They're coming in from Wales. They're coming in from Great Britain and Scotland. And they'll come in and some,500 Anglican churches in Great Britain have now given themselves basically over to this kind of what is called the laughing revival. And there's so many things I could share with you about that. But one of the things of great concern to me is this is during the preaching, if there's such a thing as preaching that does take place, and this thing's going on almost seven nights a week with thousands of people showing up over the course of a week. The one of the great things that concerns me is two things. One is that it's being presented as a last time last time revival, but the center of attention is not on the cross of Jesus Christ and the work of Christ as much as the work of the Holy Spirit supposedly that is taking place. And theologically, I have to be honest with you when I say this that all revivals have to hinge on Jesus and the work he did on the cross. And so that immediately causes me to be suspicious immediately because the Holy Spirit has been sent by God through Jesus in order to bring us to an awareness of who Jesus is, who in turn is to bring us to the father. That's what Jesus said. He said the Holy Spirit will speak concerning me. And what that does is the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment of sin. Jesus said because they believe not on me. And so when the Holy Spirit comes and does a work of conviction, it's to bring you to Jesus. And then Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the father but by me." And so when the work of the Holy Spirit is truly in operation, people bring are brought to a source of conviction of their eternal destiny without God. And so they come to Jesus Christ who in turn presents them to the father as a saved person. That's basic theology. And when the preaching quote unquote is taking place, one of the things that is of great disturbance to me is the fact that one person at least on one occasion was preaching on hell and yet somebody starts to laugh. And that laughter supposedly is from the spirit of God. And one has to ask the question, does God laugh at the concept of hell? And the answer has to be, of course not. That's why he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross to save us from this this this doom that is awaiting us. And so we have to be careful. And in these last days, the scripture says, there will be false teachers and false doctrines. And because people will no longer endure healthy teaching, they will heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears. They will be turned aside from the truth, turned unto fables. And so that's a great concern to me because in the Old Testament, you see this false peace being prophesied to the point where these people want to protect Jeremiah, a true prophet of God, from the anger of the king who once he hears that he is saying judgment is falling, is going to go after him. Because that's normally what happens, guys. You walk into a place that's filled with sin and you say, "You know what? There's sin here. It's like taking a beacon and just flooding a room that's dark and it exposes everything." Do you think the people who are in sin are going to say, "Well, thank you very much. I appreciated that." Normally, no. When I was going to parties as a kid, if you walked into a bedroom and the lights were off and you turned on the lights, you'd have all kinds of angry people who were in that room getting mad at you for turning the light on. Why were they mad? Cuz sin was going on in that room. And sin just is fostered in darkness. And that's where sin is naturally going to grow. And so, you turn the light on and people get upset. And Jeremiah is preaching a message that the king isn't going to like. And so they say, "You know what, Baroo, you go and tell Jeremiah, you'd better hide. We'll take this to the king." Moving on into verse 20, they went to the king into the court. But they stored the scroll in the chamber of Alishima, the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. So the king sent Jehoodi to bring the scroll. and he took it from Alishama, the scribes chamber. And Jehood read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month. He was in a a portion of the palace called the winter house in December with a fire burning on the hearth before him because it gets very cold in Jerusalem during December. And it happened when Jehood had read three or four columns that the king cut it with a scrib's knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid nor did they tear their garments. The king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. Nevertheless, Alatan, Delaya, and Gamaria implored the king not to burn the scroll. He wouldn't listen to them. And the king commanded Jer Jeramiel the king's son, Sariah the son of Azrael and Shereiah the son of Abdel to seize Baroo the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord hid them. So he shows this utter disdain for the word of God and he goes so far as to try and destroy its testimony against him. But notice what happens now. After the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baroo had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoakim, the son of Judah, the king of Judah, has burned, and you shall say to Jehoakim, king of Judah, thus says the Lord, you've burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause man and beast to cease from here? Therefore, uh, thus says the Lord concerning Jehoakim, king of Judah, he shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them." And they did not heed. Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruk the scribe, the son of Naria, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoakim, king of Judah, had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words. So the Lord's saying, "Oh, you can take it and you can burn it, but that doesn't mean I can't inspire a second copy." It's not as if the Lord forgot what he had said, right? Oh, darn. That was the only copy of what I said. I don't think so. So he says, you know, you can go out and you can burn the Bible if you'd like, but that doesn't destroy the veracity of its word. The God who inspired it can make sure that it's preserved. Now in Romans chapter 3, as we're about to conclude, in Romans 3:es 3 and 4, Paul asked a question. Romans 3:3, for what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid. Yes. Let God be true, but every man a liar. As it is written, that you might be justified in your sayings and might overcome when you are judged. Let God be true and every man a liar. But if they don't believe, does that make God's word null and void? Of course not. It simply makes them or puts them in a place of of of of judgment for hearing and rejecting. So, your college professor goes out of his way to discredit Jesus in the Bible and refuses to hear. Does his unbelief nullify the veracity of God's word? No. God is greater than man and his truth always prevails. And I have spent some time in secular college and I've had the unbelieving teachers, the social psychologists and all who had great difficulty believing the word of God was true. But did their unbelief nullify God's truthfulness is the question. And the answer is of course not. Somebody may say to me, "Pastor David, I don't believe when you touch one of those little knobs there on the side and twist it and lights will go on. I don't believe in electricity. I guess there's no such thing." Just say, "Well, you know, I don't know what you're calling it, but watch this." Well, I still don't believe. Just because somebody does not believe doesn't mean God isn't true. It simply means that God is still true, and they need to see that themselves. I pray for people, especially to be honest with you, there are some incredibly intellectual people. My heart just I just admire their their incredible brilliance. I thank God for some of the brilliant scientists who have been able to discover so many cures to so many illnesses. I thank God for that kind of brilliance. Every time I climb on a plane, I thank God that the pilot knows how to fly that plane. I'm very grateful for that. Truly am. Training is a wonderful thing. But in matters of eternity, I have been firmly convinced that God is able to give his word and preserve it. And because somebody doesn't have a God that large doesn't mean that I should become less in my faith. It's my encouragement to them to grow to realize the incredible God that rules this universe that is much beyond our imagination past our finding out. And unless he reveals himself to us, we could never know. And he indeed did with his son Jesus Christ. And he revealed to us his great depth of love for us. We've gotten an insight here on how God's word is true. He saw a nice little chapter that points that out. God to help us as we go through the word of God, realizing that every word of God is inspired by God and preserved by him and is truthful and is valuable for us, builds us up in our most holy faith and gives us instruction and righteousness and that's why he gave it to