 Hey man, so you're going to bookmark Jeremiah chapter 32. We're going to be looking at this story in detail this morning and seeing what we can take from this great story in the Bible from the life of Jeremiah. To give you some context about what we're going to talk about this morning, let me just give you a little history lesson on something that was done in the early 70s. So in the early 70s, you're going to keep your place in Jeremiah chapter 32. In the early 70s, there was a psychological test that was performed on a bunch of, using a bunch of children really. This is called the Stanford Marshmallow Test. If you've ever heard about this test, it's commonly talked about and referenced today. But basically the test was this. They had a bunch of four and five-year-old kids that were put in a room with a single marshmallow in front of them, all right? And these kids, they had one marshmallow sitting in front of them. And these kids were told that if they could hold off from eating the marshmallow for 15 minutes, they would get two marshmallows. So what happened was they clearly explained the rules to the children. And then the instructor left the room for 15 minutes to see if the kids would not eat that one marshmallow in hopes of then getting two marshmallows when he came back. And especially people with kids are like, yeah, what were the results of this test, right? So the results, I mean, the videos were funny. Some of the kids just immediately, as soon as the instructor left the room, they were just like, done, you know? And then a lot of the kids, I think the majority of the kids, it was pretty funny because they're fidgeting in their chairs. And they're just like, a lot of them waited maybe five, six minutes. And then finally, they're just like, they eat the marshmallow, right? It turned out only 30% of the kids in the test actually waited the 15 minutes for the instructor to come back and actually give them two marshmallows. Most kids just saw that marshmallow in front of them, and they just ate that marshmallow right away, right? And you say, yeah, but those are just kids. But I'm going to show you this morning that we are really no different than the kids in that situation. Of course, it's a funny test to talk about, but we're really no different because this is really human nature to not look beyond the present, to not look beyond what's right in front of us. And the title of the sermon this morning is The Long Game. That's the title of the sermon this morning. I want to show you from this story in Jeremiah chapter 32 how God in the Bible with all the instructions and everything that God is giving us in the Bible for everything in our lives, God's playing the long game. And we tend to think of the short game. We tend to think of that marshmallow sitting right in front of us in our lives, but that's not the game that God is playing. So hopefully I can just spark that in you this morning. Look at Jeremiah chapter 32. Let's look at this story and see if we can see what God is trying to do here with Jeremiah. Look at Jeremiah chapter 32. Look down at verse number six. So God tells Jeremiah. Let's get some context to the story. Who is Jeremiah? Jeremiah was a prophet to the lower kingdom of Judah. You know, the northern kingdom of Israel has already been taken. They've already been, you know, destroyed by the Assyrian army and just, you know, scattered, right? They're already been taken away. And in Jeremiah, you know, Jeremiah's life was dedicated to preaching to the lower kingdom of Judah on the coming invasion of Babylon. And this is where Jeremiah finds himself in Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah preached for over 40 years. Jeremiah preached from King Josiah all the way through the end. We're coming to the end of Jeremiah's ministry in Jeremiah chapter 32 here. He preached from Josiah all the way through to Zedekiah. And Zedekiah is the king where the Babylonian army actually took over at that point completely. So Jeremiah finds himself in prison in Jeremiah chapter 32. First of all, one thing you have to understand about Jeremiah is nobody listened to Jeremiah at all. You know, some prophets, you know, some kings listened to, some kings didn't. Nobody listened to Jeremiah. And as a matter of fact, in Jeremiah chapter 32, towards the end part of his ministry, he literally finds himself shut up. He finds himself in prison, you know, from King Zedekiah. That's what King Zedekiah thought of Jeremiah's message. I mean, literally think about this. The king is being invaded by the Babylonian army and Jeremiah had been saying, you're going to be invaded by Babylon. So instead, the king just gets mad, hardens his heart against the word of God and Jeremiah finds himself in prison. All right, so nobody listened to him. Here he's in prison and God tells him this. Look at verse 6. And Jeremiah said, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Behold, Hanami, son of Shalom, thine uncle, shall come unto thee saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanami, my uncle's son, came to me in court of prison according to the word of the Lord and said unto me, Buy my field I pray thee that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine, buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field of Hanami, my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth and weighed him the money, even the 17 shekels of silver. Think about this situation for a second. Jeremiah is in prison at this time and he's not only in prison, but the nation is being invaded. The nation is being invaded by this massive empire of Babylon. They're being invaded, they're being overrun. I wonder what housing prices are doing in that area. And here comes his cousin, his uncle's son, and says, Hey, you know, will you buy my land? Will you buy my land in this place that's being overrun by a foreign army? You know, this guy is probably not looking out for Jeremiah's best interest in this case, because values of everything I'm sure are pretty close to zero at this point. You think about if Fresno or California was being overrun by a foreign nation, what would it even matter who says they own what at that point when the nation is just literally being overrun? Yet here God tells him that this guy is going to come to me. God tells him, hey, spend your money and buy this field. Look at verse number 10. And look, I mean, the Bible says that they're being invaded. It's like it's going to be desolate. There's going to be no man. There's going to be no beast. What would that do to the values of everything? Think about that. Look at verse number 10. He says, and I subscribed the evidence and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open. I mean, he's doing all of the legal work to get this done. And I gave the evidence of the purchase under Baruch the son of Nariah, the son of Masea, in sight of Hanimeo, my uncle's son. And in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed to the book of the purchase before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged Baruch before them saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed and this evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel that they may continue many days. So he does it. God tells him to do this thing that seemingly makes no sense to Jeremiah, but he does it. Now, this is the application that I wanna make this morning. Sometimes God's directions, look, sometimes a lot of sermons that I'll preach, a lot of direct commands from the Bible on how to run your life and how to run your family as we're gonna talk about in a series coming up in a couple weeks, all of these things, you will see direct results of these things. Especially like getting sin out of your life. The Bible talks about specific sins everywhere. And it talks about, hey, if you're in this sin, here's what's gonna happen to you. If you get out of this sin, here's what's gonna happen to you. And look, those things are real. If you get those sins out of your life, you will see direct results from those things. But other times, as in this story with Jeremiah, we can miss the big picture with the story in Jeremiah. Look at verse 17 of this story. Look, Jeremiah couldn't see the big picture. What makes us think that we will always see the big picture that God has in mind. Look at how he starts out. Now, Jeremiah speaks, after he does this, he speaks in verse 17. And look how he starts out. He says, oh, Lord God! He just says, ah! He's like, ah! You know, Jeremiah starts out and then he goes into this great respectful conversation towards God. He says, behold, that was made the heaven and the earth by that great power and stretched out arm. There's nothing too hard for the, thou show us loving kindness. He's just, I mean, showing us how we should speak to the Lord, as we talked about in prayer. You know, but he just talks about, you know, in verse 21, it brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders and strong hand and stretched out arm and great terror. It has given them this land which thou did swear to their fathers to give them. And they came in and possessed it, verse 23. But they obeyed not thy voice. Now he's telling God, like, you know, these people didn't listen to you and this terrible thing is happening to them. Neither walked in thy law, they have done nothing of all that thou commandest them to do. He's like, Lord, I've been preaching for over 30 years to these people and they haven't listened to anything. They haven't listened to a single thing. He says, therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them, verse 24. He says, behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it. The city, I mean, he's saying they're taking everything. They're taking the mountains, they're taking the city. The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans as the Babylonians that fight against it because of the sword and of the famine and of the pestilence. And what thou hast spoken is come to pass and behold, thou seest it. He's basically saying to God, he's like, God, he's like, yeah, okay, but look at all that's happening. He's like, what, as if God doesn't know this. But he's saying to God, he's like, why buy this land? Why are you having me buy this land? He's saying, when all these things that you said are coming, are gonna come to pass are happening right now, he says. And look at verse 25. And then thou hast said unto me, oh Lord, God, buy the field for money and take witnesses. For the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. He's confused. He doesn't understand why God is, and then God responds and tells him. But first of all, I mean, just Jeremiah is a little bit, he's a little bit stressed out if you read the context of these verses where Jeremiah talks back to God. And in a very respectful way, he's telling God, I don't understand this. Look, I'm sure Jeremiah, somebody who is preaching that we're gonna be invaded and taken over and destroyed for 30 years, I'm sure he probably had some, you know, probably had some money put away. I'm sure he probably had, you know, money put away that he wanted to use to maybe take care of himself and, you know, just, you know, I'm sure he had a plan, you know, that didn't involve buying a bunch of worthless land, you know, from his cousin. But he knew what was coming. I mean, he knew what would come. He was preaching for decades about this invasion. But the point is, and the point is this morning is God sees the big picture. God is playing the long game. When we read the Bible, when you're reading through the New Testament and you read the Old Testament, you have to remember that God is playing the long game with us. And many times, we don't see it. Let me just give you the best example. There's so many different applications of this, but the best example that I can come up with today to show you today, turn to Genesis chapter three. Let's talk about the most important long game in our lives, turn to Genesis chapter three. There's something to need to understand, folks. You think about everything that's happening in the world around us today. You think about all the, all the perversion that's being taught today. You think about all the unnaturalness that's being taught today. You think about all the confusion that is being sown out there today. And let me ask you a question. Where is it all being focused? Is it being focused in City Hall? Is it being focused, is all this confusion over gender and what a man is and what a woman is and all these different things? Is it being talked about in Congress? No, it's not. You know where it's being talked about? It's being talked about, look, politicians are actually surprisingly silent about all these things. Where it's being talked about is in the schools. Where it's being talked about is with the children. Where the controversy is, is all these wicked people pushing books and philosophies and wickedness. Look, it's, according to the Bible, it's straight up child abuse. But it's being taught and it's being pushed on children, on K through 12 children. And it seems like the younger the better. And I'm gonna answer you that question of why that is right now. Look at Genesis chapter three, are you there? Look at Genesis chapter three and look at verse 14. The Bible says in the Lord, this is right after, you know, Satan, using the serpent, Satan convinced Eve, who convinced Adam to eat of the tree and to rebel against God. And this is what God, God is chastising Satan right here. He says in the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shall thou go and the dust shall thou eat all the day of thy life. But look at verse 15. He says, and I will put enmity between thee and the woman. So I'm gonna talk about Satan here. I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel. Now look, there's a dual meaning here. All right, there's a dual meaning here where this is an actual prophecy of the Messiah. When it says, you know, and her seed and then it says it, talking about a singular seed, we are talking about Jesus Christ defeating the devil here. Okay, but there is another meaning here. If you look at this verse in context and what this is talking about is that this battle between Satan and mankind will be going on for all generations is what the Bible is saying here. And if you look at Revelation chapter 12 in verse number 17, I'll just read it for you. The Bible says in the dragon, meaning Satan, was Roth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed. Talking about which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, meaning that Satan is gonna be at war with the seed of the woman, meaning the seed, the remnant of her seed, meaning those that are saved. Again, implying that this satanic battle against the woman's seed, this is a generational battle. The saved generations. So you look at, you know, why is it the schools? Why is it the schools that are wanting to harm the children and want to confuse the children? Because here's why, folks, because the battle is for the generations. That's why. I mean, Satan literally wants your kids. That's what I'm trying to get you to understand this morning. Satan understands that this is a generational battle. This is not some short game. Satan can't actually play the short game because he can't do anything to you. He can't take away your salvation. The only thing he can do is, you know, make you unprofitable, you know, pull you out of the Christian life. He can do those things. But really, the long game for Satan is to destroy the next generation. That's the long game. And that has always been the long game. So look, God's playing the long game, but so is Satan. That's what you need to understand. Let's get back. Let's get back to the land. Let's get back to the land. You see, many people today, folks, Jeremiah was told to buy this land, which in the short term, in the short term made literally no sense to him. He says to the, he says, oh, Lord God. He's like, it's worthless. All these things that you said were gonna come to pass are here now. As if God didn't know that that was happening now. He says, you know, he's like, it makes no sense. He couldn't see the long game. But look, see many people today. Many people today, these ideas, these ideas for the next generation that the Bible gives us, you know, I mean, I don't care, pick biblical ideas about your family from biblically disciplining your kids to just raising your own kids. To, you know, the idea of not giving your kids to some other person or some other system to raise. You know, the Bible says, raise them in the Lord. Protect them from the world. You know, those things in, you know, at putting those things into action could cause you hardship in the short term. Those things could, you know, they could bring persecution to you. They could bring tribulation upon your lives. If you do those things in the short term, it could be a painful thing for you as a Christian to do those things. People could doubt you. People could literally get angry at you. If you do these things. But look, you have to remember that Satan's plan is generational. Satan's plan is the long game. Turn to Psalm chapter 145. But guess what? God's results are also generational. Look at Psalm chapter 145. Look at Psalm chapter 145. Look at verse number four. God tells us again and again and again. We can't even go to all the verses on how my results and my plan is generational is what God says. Look at verse number four of Psalm chapter 145. The Bible says, One generation shall praise thy works to another and shall declare thy mighty acts. Talking about how, you know, one generation should say to the next generation all the wonderful things of God. Talking about how we as this generation should be teaching the next generation all the great things that God has done, but basically explaining the long game of God to the next generation. This is what the Bible is saying. Look at Psalm chapter 100. Look at Psalm chapter 100. Psalm chapter 100, look at verse number five. Psalm chapter 100, look at verse number five. The Bible says, For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting. Okay, I get that, we're saved. You know, look at this. And his truth endureth to all generations. You know what that means? That means that if you are that one generation that's going to teach God's truth to the next generation, it will endure with that generation. These are promises. You know, these are, you know, you can take these things as promises from the Lord. Turn to Proverbs chapter 17. So what you have to remember is even if it's hard right now, even if certain things that the Bible says don't make a lot of sense to you right now. See, because look, a lot of people can't imagine. A lot of people can't imagine just like buying land in an invaded country. Just like buying a piece of property that whoever you think is the worst, you know, have overrun, you know, and then trying to buy them and recording it, you know, just like that makes no sense to people. A lot of people, they can't even imagine taking the step of pulling their kids out of a public school and homeschooling. I mean, look, that is a very intimidating thing to people to think. A lot of people can't imagine that step. It's like buying a piece of land in a foreign invaded territory. A lot of people can't imagine it's very scary to people. It's like it's very scary to people thinking about raising a family on one income. I mean, that's scary. A lot of people do that today, and that is a scary thing. That's a foreign idea, just like, you know, purchasing this land. A lot of people can't just imagine like selling out for the Lord. They're like, I just, I can't imagine how that would look. I can't imagine what that would cost me. It's as foreign to them as a bad land deal is what I'm trying to get you to understand. But guess what, the other side, the other side of this, and not recognizing this, is kids grow up, they go their own way, they go with what the, you know, the world teaches because Satan's playing the long game. You know what the Bible says in Ephesians chapter six and verse number four, you know, raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Look, there's a lot of sacrifice in those two words. You know, when we talk about nurture and admonition, that's like throughout their whole lives that you have to do that. There's a lot of sacrifice there. Look at Proverbs chapter 17. Here's another promise. In Proverbs chapter 17, look at verse number six. But if you do do that and you do sacrifice, even though it might not, whatever you have to do at this moment may not make the most sense to you if you just forget about it and you're just like, okay, God said, buy the land. So I'm gonna buy the land. Then the Bible says, look at verse six of Proverbs 17. The Bible says, children's children are the crown of old men and the glory of their children are their fathers. There you have it. But for that result, you must buy the field today. You see what I'm saying? You must buy that field today, even though it might not make sense to you to buy that field today. Look, so many folks in our lives that the Bible says that we should do may not make sense to us. I'm using the example of the next generation, but so many things that the Bible tells us to do may not make sense to us at that moment. Not going places that you used to go, is it that bad? Is it really that bad? Following the Bible in this, we all grew up in a certain society. Before we got saved, we grew up and if you got saved later in life, especially you grew up in some kind of society, some kind of culture. Walking away from that may not make sense to you in every single aspect of your life, but you just have to buy the field. And then you'll understand what God is talking about eventually. But notice one thing. In verse number 17, go back to Jeremiah chapter 32. We'll back to Jeremiah chapter 32. One thing you need to understand about Jeremiah. Yeah, in verse 17 through verse 25, Jeremiah says, oh, Lord God. Like what are you telling me to do here? Look at this place. It's being destroyed, but you know what? Notice how Jeremiah laments. Laments and he's asking God. He's asking God, basically he's asking God why? Why? But he's asking him after he followed the command. Jeremiah heard the word from the Lord and he just did it. He just did it. Then he lamented. He lamented, but the point is we need to obey. We need to obey the Bible even when we can't see the big picture. Remember Acts 14, 22 that we talked about? You know, Paul was going around, what was he doing? He was confirming the disciples. He didn't just go preach the gospel and then just walk away. He preached the gospel, then he came back and he confirmed disciples. Then he came back and he expounded to them again and he confirmed disciples. And pretty soon there's a church there. Then you notice as he's going back through these areas that he visited the church there after he confirmed disciples. But he confirmed disciples in Acts chapter 14 in verse number 22, it says he confirmed that we must go through my tribulation to enter into the kingdom of God. Talking about he was confirming disciples. He was preaching the gospel, making sure they understood things and also making sure they understood that times could be tough because of being a disciple is what Paul said. But look, he was teaching them that hey, this is not about your pleasurable life right now. He's saying that God is playing the long game. And that's what we need to understand. God is playing the long game and I hope that you are too. You know, I hope that when we read the Bible, here's the thing folks, here's what you need to understand. This place, this place that we're living, I don't care where you're living in this country, in this world, especially this country, this is not, this place is not getting more biblical. I mean, you look at things today and you say, what's next? You ask yourself, what's next? Are people gonna start like pretending and surgically trying to turn themselves into animals next? Yes, they already are. I mean, then you just say, well, what's after that? What's after that? What's after that? I mean, you look at, that's why you have to listen to what God says and realize God has the long game in mind. Because things aren't getting better here. They're getting worse. Ask yourself this. Ask yourself this if you don't believe me. Remember that empire in history. I'm gonna describe an empire for you and you tell me if you can think of the empire in your head. Remember that empire in history that was super powerful and super successful where all the men thought that they were women and the women thought that they were men and then people thought that they were animals and all kinds of sickness and perversion was taught to kids and they were all just growing up. It doesn't exist. You're like, I can't think, because it doesn't exist. Because eventually when things get so bad, God just destroys it. So I mean, there's something to think about right there but the point is this place is getting worse. This place is getting worse every single day. So don't think that the next generation, don't think that the long game in your life, the next generation is suddenly just gonna be more spiritual than you like on accident. I mean, it's actually the opposite. It's actually the opposite. If you think about the children of Israel, you think about the children of Israel, you look at the pain and the suffering that the children, they eventually got into the Promised Land, didn't they? But because of their parents, it took them 40 years. You think about even the wickedness of their parents, they eventually got into the Promised Land but what did they do? They went into idolatry almost immediately once they got into the Promised Land. I mean, look, nobody says, I hope my kids are less spiritual than me. Nobody says that, right? My kids go soul winning once a year. Nobody would say that. But the point is, you must lead the way. And guess what? You have the way. That's the good news for us today is you have the way. All you have to do is follow it. Look at verse number 44. Look at verse number 44. God answers Jeremiah. God answers Jeremiah. And look, he tells Jeremiah in verse number 44. He says, look, he basically gives them the full answer before this, but he kind of sums it up. He says, men shall buy fields for money. He says, and subscribe evidences and see them and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in the places about Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and the cities of the mountains and the cities of the valley and the cities of the South for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord. God is saying to Jeremiah right now, he's like, right now you may not understand this. He's like, but I need you to put your money where your mouth is right now because I will cause men to buy land. He's using this as an example to show the children of Judah that there is a long game. He's using Jeremiah spending this money on this seemingly worthless piece of property to be an example and action to the children of Judah of the city of, or the nation of Judah saying, you know what, God's wrath will not last forever here. As a proof to show that, you know what, there's a bigger picture here. And then verse, you know, he just says, you know, it's all coming back, God says. That's my long game. God explains his long game to Jeremiah here. And, you know, he's basically saying to all the people that didn't listen to you, I need you to show them that my wrath will end and it's all coming back and men will buy and sell again one day. So look, we need to do what the Lord tells us right now is the point of this sermon. So the next generation can buy those fields. That's what the Bible is saying here because look, if we listen, God will not abandon them no matter how bad it gets. You say it's getting so bad, how is it even possible? Look at verse 27. How is it even possible that the next generation succeed? How is that even possible? Look at verse 27, or the front of your bulletin. Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? When Jeremiah, that's how we know that Jeremiah was really lamenting to the Lord because he's like, Lord, I don't see how this is a good idea. He's like, ah, Lord God. He's like, everything's a mess. Everything's taken over. And God says, is anything too hard for me, Jeremiah? Is there anything that I am not able to do? As you see, the world getting worse and everything getting worse and everybody being corrupted around you and people just have no interest in the Bible, no knowledge of the Bible. And it looks like you're standing out more and more and more with the way that you're doing things. Just remember what God says, there's nothing too hard for me. These promises are still for you even though it looks like it's not possible. Like, he's playing the long game and those promises are still yours. No matter how bad things get around you. So you don't have to, you know what, here's the thing. You don't even have to look around you and say, how's this gonna work out? You don't even have to do that. I mean, God says by the field, that's all we need to know. And that's the interesting thing about Jeremiah because even though he had that doubt, he bought the field immediately. That was such a great move by Jeremiah. He just listened to the Lord. So the point is folks, the point is this morning, the point is a simple one this morning. It's like, whether you understand, I don't care what part of the Bible that we're looking at, but whether you understand it or not, buy the field. You know, whether it's tithing or whether it's just commandments from the Lord or whether it's just things that you're struggling with in your life, just buy the field. You're like, but I don't like it. It doesn't matter whether you understand it or not, buy the field. You might find it pleasurable or not, but buy the field. You say, but money, but inconvenience, but all these different things. You might not find it your best life now to buy the field. That's what Jeremiah found out, but guess what folks? This is the long game. It's not about your life. This is a generational game that is being played by God, is being played by Satan, both things. You know, I think about, you know, I was writing this sermon, I think about the ministry. I think about the ministry. You know, I mean, there's been many times, you know, where I'm just like, you know, in the ministry, where, and I don't want to sound like a whiner, but I mean, there's been many times in the ministry where I'm just like, man, this is not my best life now. Where I'm just like, this is not a pleasurable thing right now in the ministry, but here's the thing. I have to remind myself about the long game. I have to remind myself that, you know, the ministry is not about me and my best life now. The ministry is about the long game. It is about other people. It is about serving, you know, the kingdom of God, not, you know, whatever personal feelings I have about it at that time. You know, think about, you know, this long game versus the short game thing. You know, if you're trying to win any kind of competition and you're playing a short game and the other guy's playing the long game, just think about this. Think about if you look at everything that the Bible says and you say, yeah, I don't know, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me right now and you just continue your short game when somebody else who's Satan is playing a long game against you. Think if we were playing chess together and I just got fixated on just taking your night and I wanted, I was, I just, I had to take that night. I got really close to taking your night and I missed it and I just become obsessed over getting your night and then you figure that out. You figure out that I'm just after your night. So you drag me all over the board and while I'm trying to chase down your night, you knock out my queen and you knock out my bishop and I'm still after that night. Every single focused energy and brain cell that I have is focused on taking your night and pretty soon you knock out my king. That's how it'll go. That's how it'll go if you're playing a short game and the other guy's playing the long game and essentially you will lose and God is playing the long game but here's the thing folks, we don't even have to come up with the strategy. We already have it. We already have the strategy. Yeah, Jeremiah asked God to explain things to him. Jeremiah asked God, you know, hey, why is this? But he asked him after he complied. In Proverbs 22, 6, the Bible says train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. That's another promise. That's another promise. So all we have to do at nurture and admonition, the Bible tells us, all you have to do is just buy every field I tell you to buy and then I promise you it will work out. No matter, doesn't say anything about he will not depart from it unless he's living in a bad area town. That doesn't say that. It says, no, you buy the fields that I tell you to buy and when he is old, he will not depart from it. It's just, I mean, these things are like, you should reverse it like that and be like, yeah. You should be like, yes, doesn't matter how sick everybody else is. All I have to do is just buy the fields. I don't even have to think. All I have to do is just like God says, buy this field, buy it. God says, do this, do it. And then I'll win. And guess what? I'll win the long game, whether or not, and guess what? You read the Bible again and again and again, you're gonna start to see the long game. But you don't really have to know what it is. You just have to do what it says. God has laid out the perfect strategy. All we, it's already there. All we have to do is follow it and then he promises us that we will win that game. It's very simple. Look at verse 44 again. The next generation, after we do that, we will win the long game. And look, the long game for us, the long game for us, because we're here for a short time. The long game for us is the next generation and then the next generation and then the next generation. What if your great, great, great grandchildren could say, oh yeah, you know, that we became Christians with my great, great grandfather, talking about you, and we teach our children to be Christians and we teach our children to follow, and we teach our children to buy the fields that God says to buy and all that could have started with you. That's the long game and all you have to do is just do what the Lord says. That's it. You know what? You look at verse 44, you just look at these things. We do these things. We listen to God and we buy the fields that God tells us to buy when it makes no sense to us. We just do it. And look, there's been many times in my Christian life, inside and outside the ministry. Well, it's just like, you know what? Things just aren't going that great. Things just are not going well and you just gotta just keep buying the fields. You just keep buying them. Just like, well, you know, I don't know. I don't know. But I'm just gonna buy it. God says to buy it. So I'm gonna buy the field and I'm gonna keep doing what I'm supposed to do no matter what's happening around me and guess what? If you keep doing that consistently, just look, that nurture and admonition and that training up a child and all those things, look, that is a consistent thing. And that's what's tough. It has to happen all the time. It has to be diligently followed. Teach them, you know, teach those laws as Deuteronomy chapter six says to them, you know, diligently is that word that it uses. And look, that's when you will receive the promises and then that next generation, look at verse 44, they will subscribe to the evidences and they will seal them and they will take witnesses, that next generation. And that's the promise that God gives us. We don't even have to have the plan. Jeremiah didn't have this plan. When you look at God telling him to buy that field, at the beginning of the chapter it doesn't make that much sense. Then you read the last 10 verses and you're like, oh, that's pretty brilliant. That God has his profit. Go out and just take action on something that people are looking at. Like, I'm sure that cousin was walking away going, but God had a brilliant plan to show people that you know what? I'm not just thinking about tomorrow and I'm gonna show these people that I'm not just thinking about tomorrow. I'm not just thinking about this invasion, but God plays the long game. And guess what, Satan is too. And we don't have to have the strategy. We just need to follow it. It's pretty good deal for us. It's a pretty good deal for us. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.