Jeremiah 2020

And if you have a Bible, you want to take it and turn to the book of Jeremiah. We're gonna read from chapter 2 verses 1 to 13. The word of the Lord came to me, go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says. I remember your devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness.

Through a land not sown, Israel was holy to the lord, the first roots of his harvest. All who devoured her were held guilty and disaster overtook them declares the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel. This is what the Lord says. What fault did your in your ancestors find in me that they strayed so far from me?

They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They did not ask where is the Lord who brought us up out of Egypt, and led us through the barren wilderness through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness a land where no 1 travels and no 1 lives. I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce, but you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. The priests did not ask, where is the Lord? Those who deal with the law did not know me.

The leaders rebelled against me, the prophets prophesied by bail. Following worthless idols. Therefore, I bring charges against you against you, again declares the Lord. And I will bring charges against your children's children. Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Khedar and observe closely.

See if there has ever been anything like this, has a nation ever changed its gods, yet they are not gods at all. But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. Be abhorred at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror declares the Lord. My people have committed 2 sins. They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own systems, broken systems, that cannot hold water.

If you can think back I know it was a few months ago to when we looked at Jeremiah, chapter 1, And Jeremiah says, doesn't he, when he's called to be a prophet, a last sovereign lord, but I do not know how to speak And then his first prophecy, his first sermon is that. I mean, he got over it pretty quickly, didn't he? Let's pray, and then we'll look at in some detail. Far, we thank you for your word. As Dean said earlier, thank you that we can look at the old testament twice today this morning in 2 kings this evening in Jeremiah that you can speak to us through both passages help us to understand what you have to say to us tonight that we will be gripped by your word and changed by in Jesus' name, our man.

Do you ever wonder whether you're cooling? As a Christian, cooling off a bit. You know that you've got stale perhaps or I don't know even a bit bored you know, that you've heard the gospel so often now that it doesn't really move you anymore. I guess we're all used to the idea that we might have periods where we're not really working on our relationship with God. You know, perhaps we we have gone cold a bit or other things have crowded in, which has, you know, caused us to to not really focus on God anymore.

I mean, it's a real danger, and I think regularly we will hear preachers, won't we? Urging us to keep going, you know, to stick with God, to to stay warm in our relationship with God. We've probably all heard that very old story of the coals in the fire. And if you take 1 coal out and put it on the half, how fast it cools down on its own. You know?

And that's telling us, isn't it? That we have to stay connected with each other, with the church? Otherwise, we will drift. We drift away from God. We cool down.

Or perhaps you've heard that little phrase if you find yourself far from God, then it's not him that's moved. And again, that's terrific, isn't it, that little phrase? But I think most of us have a tendency sometimes in our lives to drift. Something else perhaps is gripping us. Yet deep down, we know even in those occasions that God is our rock.

That he is the person that we go to when we're in trouble, that he's the person that we should be building our life upon. We know that really. He's faithful and he's unmovable. However, poorly, we treat him. We can rely on him being there for us, and that's exactly why this passage this evening should be a shock to us.

Because the Lord says through Jeremiah, that he's the 1 that's gonna consider leaving the relationship. He's the 1 looking at divorcing his bride. He's the 1 who's finally had enough. Did you ever think that would come that God would have could have had enough of you? He says here, he's finally had enough, and hearing that should scare us a bit.

Should scare us out of any complacency we have. You see, the summary really of chapter 2 is actually verse 8, chapter 3, which we're gonna have up on the screen and we couldn't fit into the reading. But this is the summary at the end. He says this. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries.

Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister, Judah had no fear. She also went out and committed adultery. God is triggering the divorce. And so what we're going to do this evening is look at how on earth, Israel and God got to that state in their marriage. And I want to say upfront, I want us to think about this in a certain way.

You see, although there were some applications, which we can make from this passage as individuals, That isn't the emphasis. What God is saying actually in chapter 2 of Jeremiah is aimed at his people corporately. It's aimed at the church, it's aimed at the nation of Israel when it was written. You see, it's important to say that because we're so well taught here. That we know, you're sitting there, you're sitting at home and you know that whilst God may be upset with us sometimes, in the end, he won't leave us.

In the end, he won't file for divorce because we're forgiven in Christ. Because Jesus' death on a cross taking the punishment for all the times we drift and the times we turn away. That happened and that restores us into relationship God, and that allows us to look forward to a future in heaven. And we know that. So it's too easy for us.

We sit there and maybe subconsciously, but we're saying to ourselves, look, if the slate is wiped clean by the blood of Jesus, then I don't really need to worry about how much mess I put on the slate today. So what I want us to do this evening is accept the beauty of the blood of Jesus washing away our sins, and look at whether we as a church are guilty of the unfaithfulness described here of being a bad bride of deserving to be divorced by God. God starts chapter 2, by remembering what it's like to be a newlywed. You know, the love between a young bride, the people, and her husband, God. You know, the excitement, the passion, the joy.

Chapter 2 verse 2, he says this. Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, this is what the Lord says. I remember the devotion of your youth. How was a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness? Through a land not sown.

Seeing this image, God's the husband, The nation's bride, when they were newly wed, the bride was devoted, and this isn't nostalgia on behalf of God. He's not thinking about remembering something that wasn't really true. You know? Israel was devoted to him and God remembers here specifics. He remembers when they were in the wilderness.

Yeah, things weren't perfect. It wasn't always easy. But he says in that verse, you followed me through the wilderness through land not sown and you remained faithful. In verse 3, he's saying that although the whole world is his, you, my love, were special. You Israel where the consecrated part of the world kept for me.

And if anyone tried to harm you or touch you, then I, the Lord God, brought disaster upon them, what a husband God was protecting his wife. In Psalm 105 and verse 14, the Psalmest reminds us again of how God took care of Israel took care of his bride. He says this, he allowed no 1 to oppress them. For their sake, he rebuked kings. So God starts this prophecy through Jeremiah by painting a beautiful, nostalgic in a way picture of a newlywed relationship between husband and wife and it's a clever way to start the prophecy.

Because God is wanting to awaken in Israel and in us tonight, any spark of longing that might still lie dormant in us. It's the same as we start to think about our relationship as a church with God. He's saying to us, you see, think back Cornerstone to when you were first formed. Think back to when there were less than 40 people in a small church hall. Think about how I've grown you.

Think about how I've kept your path straight Think back to when I provided that first hub in the market square. To late night church and the other Christmas events that we did in the marketplace. Think back to when we got the first batch of students in. And how some of them are now married, and elders, and elders and what elders' wives in the church. He wants us to think back to when, as an answer to our prayers, he provided the opportunity to merge with Cambry Park.

So that we can have these permanent premises. I mean think think about that provision of God, how this place has served us so well in lockdown. Think back he says to when after years of looking, I provided Tiffin. Think back to how you've grown even during the pandemic. How financially I provide for you over all these years, or even now I've provided a fantastic staff team.

Think about these things, says God. That's what he's doing here in the early bit of the prophecy. So having started the prophecy by reminding them how he loved them. What things used to be like? He moves on to the root of the problem with Israel and that's our first point this evening.

God hasn't forgotten his bride, but she's forgotten him. She's forgotten him. Verse 4, hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob and all you clans of Israel. As I must just tell you when I was, the way I write now. I'm trying to change a bit.

I speak a lot and have the dictation thing on the computer. I'm not sure it's working because it seems to not really hear what I'm saying. And on this verse, it said, hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, and all you clowns of Israel. And actually, that's much more accurate, I think, in many ways, not of the translation, but of the situation. They were definitely a bunch of clowns.

But Anyway, let's carry on. This is what the Lord says. What faults did your ancestors find in me that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves. They did not ask where is the lord who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no 1 travels and no 1 lives, I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruits and rich produce, but you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.

The priests did not ask where is the lord? Those who deal with the lord did not know me. The leaders rebelled against me, the prophets, prophesied by bail following worthless idols. See, after reminding Israel howells are newly wed, they were devoted to we get to the heart of the problem here. The bride has committed adultery with other gods.

But what's interesting is how it came about. You see, God starts by asking the question, what fault did you find in me as a husband? What fault did you find in me that caused you to stray? Because there isn't 1. We know even from the introduction, God protected them.

God stayed faithful. God provided for his bride. And at the start, she loved him back. But that was then, this is now in the passage, and Israel's got bored. And Israel went looking for something new.

And Israel ended up following worthless idols. Israel is adulterous with other gods. So the first thing we need to ask ourselves as a church is, are we also fickle? Have we got bored with the husband that loves us? Not in the sense that we don't believe in God anymore, but in the sense that we don't want the same old stuff.

The same message that we started out with even though it's the gospel. And actually, it's always remarkable when Things aren't planned in this way, but there's a lot tonight that fits with this morning, if you're here this morning. Pete, saying, wasn't he? I think he was talking to the youth at the time. Is there reaction to the gospel?

Yeah, we know that. It's the same with us. Do we not want that anymore? We want something different. We want something new because our hearts are always looking for satisfaction somewhere other than God.

And so we look for the next thing, the next thing that might satisfy us. We feel stale, we get bored. Why? Well, the passage tells us because we stop remembering. We forgot God.

So building memories as a church, even during lockdown like the gathering or the, you know, the open doors plank challenge thing. Or in fact Dean mentioned it, the music that came on at the end this evening. You know, that video that we had for weeks of, you know, Tiffins over the music. I love that video. But those are the memories that we build up to remind us of God's faithfulness.

Jami is saying here Israel got bored. They forgot God, they forgot the past, and they moved to worthless idols because they wanted something new. And what's interesting is, in this prophecy, Jeremiah lays the blame squarely on the leaders. He says, as time passed, the leaders of Israel went from not relying on God to not teaching the people about God and prophesying by Bale to not knowing God themselves. It was a slide in effect from being a newly wed bride eager to please her husband to a bride that paid no attention to her husband, to a bride that barely knew who he was because there were so many men in her life.

And that's the second lesson for us. As a church we have to stick to preaching the truth, We have to stick to the gospel. We have to stick to the word. We will keep our relationship with God fresh if we allow him to reveal himself in his word. So let's remind each other constantly about what God has done for us.

Let's remind ourselves of the gospel, and let's make sure we teach the generations. That's why you see the kids work at Cornerstone is so important. Whether it's bible tots, to Sunday school, to Seoul, and then rooted, Very, very important. I've heard Pete on several occasions say that, you know, that's why we have some of our best people in there, teaching. Now, you know, that's a I'm not sure about that.

Think about that sometimes, I think, well, we're we're rory and rooted and feel smith in Seoul, I don't know if I'd get that far. But But you know, I get the point. It's important. If you're a parent, make sure you value the people who serve in those groups and make sure you reinforce at home what's being taught. Show an interest in what the groups are doing.

I know it can be hard, but if your child is resistant, to coming to church. Do not shy away from the battle. We have to teach the generations or the church will forget. That's what Jeremiah is telling us when he talks about descendants and children's children in this passage. In fact, I think it's fair to say 1 sign of us beginning to turn away from God towards other idols in our lives is when we don't do that, when we don't teach the generations, where we don't care about teaching them.

So the kid's hobbies or sport on a Sunday becomes more important. You know, or when as parents, we can't be bothered basically to get everyone up and get them here. I heard a story. This is only last week. Again, Providence has got amazing really when you're preparing a talk and these things happen.

I heard a story last week about a family and they bought a second home. They're in London, they bought a second home down on the south coast, I think not far for them to get to. And they went down every Friday night and came back specifically every late, every single Saturday evening, so they were at church on Sunday with the kids. Fantastic, did it for months. Then 1 Sunday, they weren't there.

But it was fine. They were back the next week. And they carried on, but it just over over a year or so gradually, their absence on Sunday mornings increased. And then 1 Sunday, they didn't show up and they haven't been since. That's what happens.

And this stuff is crucial. And yes, I know some of you might feel he tends to go on about this sort of thing when he's preaching. I do, And the answer is, because Jeremiah is blaming the leaders. He's blaming the leaders if this happens. Verse 8, the priests did not ask where is the lord.

Those who deal with the law did not know me, the leaders rebelled against me. You see, that verse should keep our staff team and our elders awake at night. The priests of Jeremiah's Day were handling and reciting scripture, but they didn't know God. And the result was adultery by the nation. See, as the leader or the leaders go so does the church, Through the word of God shines the affections of God.

It's true, isn't it? Through the word of God, shines the affections of God. So if we neglect the word, the affections are not stirred in us. Everything's linked. Where we hear no communication from God because we're not preaching the truth, separation from God will soon follow.

That's what Israel's showing us. So Cornerstone, think about how we can make sure that we don't go down the same path. Let's build each other up in Scripture. Let's teach the generations. Let's be here with your children every opportunity.

And encourage your leaders to keep going, to keep preaching the truth. So firstly, the people forgot. Secondly, They substituted God. Look at verses 11 to 13. Has a nation ever changed its gods?

Yet they're not gods at all. But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols, be appalled at this you heavens and shudder with great horror declares the Lord. My people have committed 2 sins, they have forsaken me the spring of living water and have dug their own systems broke insistence that cannot hold water. See, that is a shocking indictment of Israel. Who changes their God?

Even the pagans, you know, the canaanites, they didn't abandon bale or asherah. In the present day, if we were thinking Luna just generally, we don't even swap football team, do we? You sort of grow up with a team and that's it. That's your entire life. My son, Matthew, is destined to a life of disappointment supporting Fuller.

There's nothing you can do about it. Phil Grout, Rory Steve, a life of unfulfilled promise watching Everton, and my favorite Alex Waterworth. A life of watching the ball go high in the air as 11 thugs run around, supporting Burnley. But we don't change. That's how we live.

Israel swapped your way the true God for other false gods that didn't even exist. Who does that? See, there's there's amazing imagery in this passage. God's saying, look, the people did 2 things wrong. Firstly, they gave up a spring, a fresh living water.

Secondly, they substituted him with a cracked muddy system that couldn't even hold the water they put in. The water was valuable in those days. It was madness. That's why the image is so powerful. It's madness to give a fresh spring for a cracked container.

God says verse 12, be appalled at this you heavens. It's a shocking thing to substitute the real God with false gods. So let's apply it to us again as Cornerstone. We must be wary of substituting the God of the Bible with a God that is more palatable. With a god that doesn't upset the culture around us, with a god that doesn't cause offense, with a god that doesn't demand much of us so that we can get on and do all those other things we'd like to do.

Instead of worshiping him. We mustn't substitute the real God, with 1 we think might be more popular so we can grow church numbers. We mustn't substitute the real god with God who is silent on gender or abortion or sexuality because we find those things uncomfortable to deal with. Israel had substituted the fountain of living water, that is something that's overflowing, that is never ending. With a dead idol.

Who does that? Thirdly, So they forgot God and they substituted God. And thirdly, their behavior then deteriorated. Very, very interesting. The slide here.

They forget God, then they substitute him altogether and then it's downhill. Now, you're going to have to bear with me here because we're now looking at the next 23 verses after the reading. And it's just too much the restraints of live streaming and stuff you just can't read that volume. So please, this week, read the next 23 verses, the rest of the chapter. Because it's a whole series of pictures of what Israel have become.

We don't have time to go through them or even read them, in fact. So I'm just gonna highlight in true cornerstone fashion, the more colorful ones, and then you read the others for yourself during the week. 5 pictures. Firstly, in verse 20, he says they're like a stubborn animal. In 21, he says Israel like a wild vine bearing no fruit.

22, he says that like a defiled body, carrying out religious cleansing and rituals but with a diseased heart. Fourthly, and we'll stop on this 1 for a bit. He says they're like an animal in heat. Pretty strong picture, verse 24, a wild donkey, accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving, in her heat who can restrain her. Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves at mating time they will find her.

That's what he's saying about Israel? Jeremiah is saying they're like a donkey in heat. Such that a mate doesn't have to even wear himself out looking for her, she's out there offering herself. So in our language, you know, there's no need to quarter, no need to buy a dinner, no need to buy the drinks, No need to have a bath full dressed nicely because she's a sure thing. That is a vivid picture, but it's what Israel will like.

So what's the equivalent for us as a church? Well, the equivalent would be, I suppose if we, you know, we don't need a clever, eloquent, false teach to come in and persuade us and argue with us, because we're already out on the street looking for the next idea, looking for something new, looking to pulled further and further away from God. Any new idea coming out of our culture or out of the internet and we'll embrace it, that's what it would be like. Fifth picture, the disgraced thief in verse 26. As a thief is disgraced when he's caught, so the people of Israel are disgraced.

They, their kings, and their officials, their priests and their prophets, they say to wood, you are my father, and to stone you gave me birth. They have turned their backs to me and not their faces. Yet when they're in trouble, they say, come and save us. Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you're in trouble.

For you, Jude, have as many gods as you have towns. Amazing that. A thief when he's caught, he may still protest his innocence. He may cry for help from a friend or a solicitor, not because he's repentant, but because of the consequences he now faces. And Israel says Jeremiah is the same.

Anyone visiting that nation would have been able to see what God saw, a nation captured in the worship of wood and stone, it says, a nation who were ignoring Yahweh until they found themselves in trouble. Until they were in difficulty, and then they rushed back to him. And isn't that where we started this evening? We expect when suddenly things go wrong, God to still be there, to be the rock, to be the constant in our lives, even when we may treat him terribly. We expect to be able to call on him when we need him.

You see, because we have faith in Jesus, We know if we chase other things in our life, if we pay him lip service for a while, we are still nevertheless loved. He still died, and we will be forgiven, and there will be no papers of divorce served on us. And let's thank God for that. But again, you see Pete said this morning. Nevertheless, we must take serious the consequences of what we do now for the future.

If we do as a church, the things outlined by Jeremiah here, there will be consequences to them. It's a shocking series of pictures. Israel's in a terrible state here. Is there no hope for them? Is there no hope for God's people?

Is there no chance of Israel being turned around? Well, we're gonna hear about our next week. When we look at 3 and 4. But Jeremiah is clear here, we have to live with the results of our sin in this world. God doesn't want a wild church producing no fruit or ignoring him because it's lost its first love.

And if we can't do that, if we can't stay firm on the truth, if we don't teach the bible, we go after the latest ideas like a donkey on heat, then we can expect God to close us down. That's the reality, to take away the growth, to take away the resources, to take away the future because of what we've done today. See, in Revelation chapter 2, Jesus addresses the Church in Ephesus. He commends them in many things, but he says in verse 4, yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken the love you had at first.

Consider how far you've fallen, repent and do the things you did at first. It's a very similar message to this 1. Jeremiah saying to Israel, you've lost your first love. You've forgotten me. You've substituted me.

You've strayed from the truth. And now you're like a spiritual whore chasing rivers out there. But in Revelation, the next verse is a stark warning. Jesus is saying there, if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. He's saying, you say, look, you're supposed to be a shining light to the world around you.

You Cornerstone Church. And if you cease to shine brightly and you no longer speak the truth and you no longer love me, I will come and snuff out the light that you have. So we mustn't go down that path, that path. There'll be a great temptation We've talked already about how we can look back over lockdown and see how God has grown us, and we must remember that, and we must remind each other of that. But there will be a great temptation when we come out of lockdown, to spend some weekends in your friendship groups or with extended family and visiting people away, and all of that's a good thing.

Don't give me 1, that's a good thing. It's a great thing to come out of lockdown. But just remember, there are people who've joined this church in the last 12 months who barely have met anyone who don't have those friendship groups, who will be nervous at a church lunch, There will be visitors hopefully from week 1 again when we're back who need to be welcomed. There will be jobs to be done and rotors to be filled and it will be very easy amongst all the excitement and I know because this is my own heart to resent having to serve. To having to, I don't know, pack up if that's what you do while everyone else is chatting.

To resent being in Sunday school teaching, when you can hear the services buzzing and everyone's back. So let's pray that we will stay on track as a church. But when we come out of lockdown, fired up, let's be fired up to reach people who don't know God. Let's be fired up to reach people for the gospel. Let's be excited about teaching the generations again.

Let's stay on track as a church, in love with our husband. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Further, we do thank you for this just amazing prophecy from you speaking to Israel through Jeremiah speaking to us tonight through your word. Help us to take in these things that we don't want to be crushed as individuals.

We know that we are rescued by Jesus that his death on the cross changes everything. But lord as a church, Help us not to forget you. Help us not to substitute you. Help us not to end up with a behavior that comes out of those 2 things. Lord help us look forward to the end of lockdown, but with an energy and an excitement to spread your word to speak the truth, to teach the generations, to reach people, to reach the loss for you.

Not just as at an excitement because the club is open again. Lord, we ask that you will help us to be on fire for you, the light in Kingston of Cornerstone will shine even brighter than he did before. In Jesus' name, our man.