 Alright, so keep your place in Jeremiah 13 because we're going to be going back and forth. So put a bookmark there and we're going to be coming to Jeremiah 13 throughout the entire sermon. So tonight we're going to talk about, we started our Jeremiah series with the calling of Jeremiah. Tonight we're going to talk about the message of Jeremiah and it's a lot, you know, to cover in one sermon, you know, the message of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is an interesting book, it's one of the longest of the major prophets. In the Bible, Jeremiah has a lot to say in the chapters that are about Jeremiah. Jeremiah also wrote the book of Lamentations. We're going to talk about that a little bit more, Lamentations in Later Sermons on Jeremiah. But for tonight we're going to focus on the message of Jeremiah. So turn back to Jeremiah chapter one, if you would. Jeremiah chapter one. Now let's just look back at the beginning of what God told Jeremiah that he was going to be, because God kind of summarized Jeremiah's message. Let's look at what God's summary said and then let's just kind of step through, you know, why God gave that command and that summary of Jeremiah's message. Look at Jeremiah chapter one in verse number ten. This is of course Jeremiah chapter one is about the calling of Jeremiah when God calls him. And in Jeremiah one ten the Bible says, See I have this day set the over nations and over kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down and to build and to plant. So here we see that Jeremiah was to do all these things. This was what his, this is basically a nice little summary of what the purpose of Jeremiah's message was. Right here in Jeremiah chapter one in verse number ten. And most of it doesn't sound very pleasant, right? But look, it starts out with this idea that Jeremiah is to root out. He's to root out. So I mean, what does that, what does that mean? I mean, root out, root out what? Turn to Jeremiah chapter two. You know, I mean, did, you know, what, what's he, what's he looking for? What's he trying to dig up here? I mean, did God, you know, do something wrong? I mean, what's, what's the problem? Right? So look at Jeremiah two in verse number five to just come out and look at this idea of rooting out and what Jeremiah was to root out. Look at Jeremiah two in verse number, in verse number five where the Bible says, Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after vanity and are become vain? So God saying, what did I do wrong? Where your fathers, you know, they've gone away from me, they've gone far from me. And then look at verse number 13. God basically lays it out. He lays out the issue with these people with two problems. In verse 13, he says, For my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewn out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. So first of all, what did they do? They forsook the Lord. That's the first thing that they did wrong. They forsook God. They turned away from God. And then what is the next thing that they did? They did. It's not only that they turned away from God, but they replaced God, which is even worse. It's not like they just turned away from God into nothingness. It says that they hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns. Turn to Habakkuk chapter 2. If you go into the back of the Old Testament, you get into those minor prophets, you'll have Micah, Nahum, and you'll have Habakkuk. Go to Habakkuk and look at chapter number 2. So I mean, I like how God puts it in Jeremiah 2, 13, where he says, they hewed out cisterns. But these cisterns, they're broken cisterns. And they can't even, you know, a cistern, we actually had a cistern on the farm. It's basically an underground concrete tank. So the well, it pumps water into this underground tank. And it's water storage is what the cistern is. So it's like they hewed out these cisterns, but they're broken. So what good is a cistern that they can't hold water? It's worthless. It's no good at all. Look at Habakkuk chapter 2 in verse number 18, where the Bible says, what profit at the graven image that the maker thereof have graven it? The molten image and a teacher of lies that the maker of his work trusted therein to make dumb idols. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, awake to the dumb stone arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. So it's saying, you know, these idols, they're making these idols of wood, and gold, and silver, and they're just dumb idols. They're just, it can't teach you anything. It can't do any, it's just a piece of wood. It's just a piece of gold or silver or whatever. I mean, they're just, so like, God is like, he's watching this, and they've not only forsaken him, but they've forsaken him for all these dumb idols that are nothing. God, I mean, God just like, face-pull him, right? I mean, he's like, what are they doing? They're just, you know, they've forsook him for all these things that are, they're just nothingness. Okay, but what do we know about God from this morning? God is jealous, right? God is a jealous God. Go back to Jeremiah chapter two. Jeremiah chapter two, look at verse number 32 of Jeremiah chapter two. So we're rooting out the problem. We're finding out, you know, what's the issue here, right? Well, it gets even worse. So we see that, you know, they've forsook the Lord, and then they replace the, I mean, it's like trading in a Ferrari for like a broken down, you know, car that doesn't even run, right? I mean, it's not even a good comparison, but it's just, they made a bad trade here is what they did. Okay, look at Jeremiah two and verse 32. The Bible says, can a maid forget her ornaments or abride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number. So look, this is what he's saying. He's saying, this didn't just happen yesterday. This has been going on for days without number, he says. You know, the coming chapters talk about, you know, the nation compared to a woman who plays the harlot against her husband and all these different things. They basically just stab God in the back. They just, you know, they're, they're having, you know, an adulterous relationship with all these dumb idols is basically what the coming chapters talk about in Jeremiah. Okay, so next, so he roots out the problem. He, we see that that's the issue. They've abandoned God and they've abandoned him for all these false gods basically. Okay, they made a bad trade. So what's he supposed to do next? Jeremiah is supposed to pull down and destroy. The Bible says. So look, Jeremiah's message was, you know, go to Jeremiah 13. Let's talk about the girdle, the girdle of Jeremiah chapter 13. I love this, I love this analogy in the Bible that God uses here with Jeremiah. But basically Jeremiah's message was harsh. It was not a nice message for the, for the most part. In Jeremiah 13, we see this analogy of the girdle. And in Jeremiah 13, look at verse number seven. The Bible says, so God has him take this girdle, which is a belt, okay? It's a belt, it's something that's worn around your waist. I don't know what a girdle means today, but that's what it meant in the Bible. It's a belt that goes around your entire body. And God tells him, you know, take this girdle, go and bury it down by the river, which is like in the dirt and the mud. So he goes and he buries it under a rock for many days. And then verse seven, it says, then I went to Euphrates and digged and I took the girdle from the place where I had hid it. And behold, the girdle was marred and it was profitable for nothing. So imagine this nice, you know, velvet white belt or whatever that you take and you go and you bury it in the mud for, you know, weeks on end or whatever. And then you go and you just, you dig it up and it's ruined, right? It's ruined, it's good for nothing. In verse number eight, then the word of the Lord came under me saying, so God's giving an object lesson here. And I like object lessons, so I like these types of things in the Bible. But it says, thus saith the Lord, after this manner will I mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart and walk after other gods, we've already rooted that out, to serve them and to worship them shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing. Look at verse 11. Now we see why he uses the girdle as an example. For as the girdle cleaveth to the lines of a man, so I have caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah. Sayeth the Lord that they might be unto me for a people and for a name and for a praise and for a glory. So that's a positive statement right there. God wants the house of Israel and the house of Judah, who specifically is who we're talking about. He wants them to be around him like a belt. Now our belts like loosely, hey, I'm not talking about belts the way people wear them now. A normal human that wears a belt is supposed to be tight and snug around your whole body. So he's using this example of the kingdom of Judah, the house of Israel. This was the design. This was God's design is that his people would cleave to him like a belt, tightly to the Lord. The Lord is the person, not the belt. The girdle is the house of Israel, is the nation of Israel, is the nation of Judah. And they're supposed to cleave to him like a belt. And now they're just this worthless, dirt covered, rotted piece of whatever is why he's using this example. And in the last part of verse 11, he says, so he says this very positive statement. They're supposed to be to me like a girdle just cleaving around me. That shows how people should wear their belts today. They're pants, right? It's biblical, all right? But then he says what? He says, but they would not hear, he says. So look, Judah was the girdle and they were supposed to be cleaving to the Lord but instead they were good for nothing. They were as good as a marred belt. Now look, you have to understand some things about the history of Jeremiah. Jeremiah started out his ministry, his prophetic ministry during the time of Josiah. Turn to Jeremiah 13 where we started. He started out during the reign of King Josiah which he did some good things. Josiah, I mean there was a revival there. Josiah found the book of the law and he threw down some idols and he threw down the false prophets and he pulled the bones of the false prophets out of the graves and smashed them on the altars. I mean there was some revival that Josiah put into place but we get a little bit of vision of what actually happened with the nation in Jeremiah. Look at verse number 23 or look at your bulletin. It's the verse of the week. He says in Jeremiah 13, 23, can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may he also do good that are accustomed to evil. Look, remember in chapter two, it says that they left him and it's been days without number. So the revival of Josiah, it did not capture the heart of the nation is what Jeremiah is saying here. Turn to second Kings chapter 23. So Josiah did some good things. He enacted some good laws but the heart of the nation was already, it was gone. In Jeremiah he says the Ethiopian, I mean you can't change your skin color. I mean unless you get sunburned. I mean but that's not the point. He's saying that, hey certain people have certain skin colors and that's just the way they're born, that's the way they are, that's the way it is. The leopard, can the leopard make himself not have spots? No, I mean God is basically saying, you know what? I mean and that's a hard, is the harsh statement that God is saying because actually people could decide not to be evil. A nation could decide not to be evil but God is like, you know what? It's been so long, you've been serving other God so long that it's like, you know what? You're never gonna turn from your evil ways. It's done, is what he's saying. He's like, you're done. And here's another thing, even if they did turn from their evil ways, look at 2 Kings 23 and verse 26. The Bible says this, it says, look, here's another thing. 2 Kings 23, look at verse 26. Notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah. This is after Josiah did all these great things. He says nevertheless, you know, notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked with all. And the Lord said, I will remove Judah out of this site as I've removed Israel and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen in the house which I said, my name shall be here. All he said to Josiah, because Josiah did all those things, all he said to Josiah was, you know what? I'm not gonna do it in your lifetime. Because he did these great things, I'm not doing it in your lifetime, but the decision was already made. The decision was already made because what the nation had done already. Under Manasseh, which was, you know, the sacrifice of children. Under Manasseh amongst all sorts of other violence. Okay, so look, if I ever start my own nation, here's what people, and if you're ever planning on starting your own nation, here's a big one that you can't miss, okay? It doesn't matter, you gotta like write this in your constitution in like the top paragraph or something. If you go down a road and commit evil, you're going to pay for that evil. God's gonna judge it. It doesn't matter if there's a great revival and all these kinds, I mean, that's good. Revival is good. If we turn to the Lord, if Judah turned back to the Lord, that would be good, but they're still gonna pay for what they did. I mean, God's a perfect judge. And he's going to judge, so ultimately, you know, ultimately no matter what happens, not that I think that there will be some revival in this country, but we're in trouble in this country. I mean, we could have the revival of all times, but we can't undo what's already been done. That's the problem. We can't undo, you know, 60 million innocent lives that we've murdered legally in this country. I mean, that can't be undone. We're going to pay for that. We're gonna pay for that. Go back to Jeremiah chapter 13. Go back to Jeremiah chapter 13 and look at verse number 26. So when you go off and start your own nation, you gotta put that clause in there somewhere that you know what, hey, if we even mess up for a few years, we're gonna pay for that. Remember, asterisks, bold, footnote, something. Put that somewhere, okay? Jeremiah 13, look at verse number 26. Therefore, well, I discover thy skirts upon thy face that thy shame may appear. He's using this analogy of your skirt upon your face. You know, you're exposing your nakedness and it's a shameful thing. He said, you're gonna be shamed. I have seen thine adulteries, and thine names, the lewdness of thy hordom, and thine abominations on the hills and the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean, when shall it once be? Look, we cannot undo the lewdness that has already happened in this country that's been accepted and all this kind of stuff. Now, back to Jeremiah. So we see that this was coming. This was coming, no matter what. They could have listened to Jeremiah. They could have listened to Jeremiah and just, whoa, but look, it was coming because of the sins that had already been committed by the nation. Look at Jeremiah 13, verse 12. Just a few verses back. The Bible says this. It says, therefore, thou shalt speak unto them this word. Thus saith the Lord, God of Israel, every bottle shall be filled with wine, and they shall say unto thee, do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? Look, this is the nice neighborhood that you go soul-winning in, right here, okay? Then thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord, behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness, and I will dash them one against another. Even the fathers and the sons together say at the Lord, I will not pity nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them. Look, he's saying, I'm gonna give them, you know, I mean, we go and we talk to people and they're like, oh, this is great. Our bottles are filled with wine. Everything's wonderful. We have wine in abundance and we have all these things, and God says, I'm gonna give all that stuff to them and they're gonna be comfortable. They're gonna have all this liquid courage in them and then I'm gonna dash them to pieces. Father against son. They will think nothing is wrong and they certainly won't listen to somebody that's giving a message like Jeremiah was giving a message. And that's why, frankly, people that are very comfortable in nice neighborhoods and all this type of stuff and very comfortable in their American life are gonna have a very hard time listening to you when you go out and you give the gospel. We'll talk about that a little bit later. But now, let's talk about the last part of Jeremiah's message, which is this, which is to throw down. Now we're talking about taking it up a notch. To throw down. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 26. Jeremiah chapter 26. So he's preaching this message that they've left the Lord. They've left the Lord and they've worshiped other gods and God is gonna dash them one against another and he's preaching this very harsh message but then he takes it up a notch. You say, how could he take it up a notch? Well, I don't know. How about going in the temple, standing in the temple and saying that your enemies are gonna destroy this very place? How about that? Look at Jeremiah 26 in verse number one. Now this is under King Jehoiakim, which is the king, the very first king who got invaded by the Babylonian empire and this is talking about, this is basically the beginning of the end right here for the nation of Judah. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, King of Judah, came this word from the Lord saying, thus sayeth the Lord, stand in the court of the Lord's house and speak unto all the cities of Judah with come to worship in the Lord's house. So he's saying, go stand in the temple and speak these words. If so be that they hearken and turn every man from his evil way that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings and thou shalt say to them, thus sayeth the Lord, if ye will not hearken to me to walk in my law which I have said before you, to hearken to the words of the servants, the prophets whom I sent to you both rising up early and sending them but ye have not hearkened, then I will make this house like Shiloh and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. So the priests, I mean do you think that that made people happy? So Shiloh's been destroyed hundreds of years ago, hundreds of years ago and he's saying this house is gonna be made like this city that's been destroyed and this house is gonna be a curse unto the nations and then I will make and so the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now it came to pass when Jeremiah made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto the people that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him saying, thou shalt surely die. So look, he's basically standing in the temple saying God's gonna destroy this place and he makes people so mad that they literally wanna kill him for it. All right, now he's throwing it down. So look, we see that during Josiah's reign there was some good things that happened. Josiah knocked down some idols, he enacted some proffer laws but the nation did not change their heart towards the Lord, which is where Jeremiah comes in and ultimately I'll just read it for you in 2 Kings 23. The Bible says that notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah because of the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him with all. And the Lord said I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel. They're already gone. The nation of Israel's already gone. He's saying I'm gonna remove Judah and I will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house which I said my name shall be here. So I mean God said that he was gonna destroy the house in 2 Kings 23. Jeremiah is just repeating it to the people's faces in the house, all right? So God's mind was made up. He was gonna punish them for past sins. So you say what is the point of Jeremiah? If God's mind was made up like Josiah did some things but God had already decided then what's the point? If God was already gonna destroy Judah in 2 Kings 23, Babylon was gonna come in. They were gonna destroy the whole temple. You know, why send Jeremiah? Why the message? Why the prophets for that matter is the question and there's two reasons. And the first one is this. Number one, it's to explain to the people why it happened. To give the people an answer of why God did this. To be a witness to just explain, hey, this is why God is doing this, right? I mean, look, we can look at things and some people will disagree on, okay, is this the judgment of God? Is this the judgment of God? Was that fire or earthquake or whatever, the judgment of God? People can disagree on that but here's the thing. Looking back on things, we will all agree what the judgment of God was. Looking back, when they stood in the rubble of the temple, they could look back and they could say, remember that guy that stood in the temple and told us that this was gonna happen? I mean, that's the mark of a true prophet right there that the things actually come true. So that's the first thing. So people would understand looking back what had happened. And I mean, why is it important to look back and know what happened? That brings to the second point of the prophets and that's so people know how to rebuild. So people know how to rebuild. Turn to Jeremiah 26 and look at verse number 23. Because one thing that you'll notice about most of the harsh statements of Jeremiah is they all kind of come with this rebuild clause. If you look at chapter 26 and verse number 13, the Bible says, therefore now amend your ways in your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God. And the Lord will what? He will repent him of the evil that he pronounced against you. Turn to Jeremiah 33. Look, God not only tells them, He tells Jeremiah to throw down, to destroy and do all this. But look, he's also there to show them what they need to do to rebuild. Look at Jeremiah 33 and verse number four. And the Bible says this. It says, for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the house of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down. It's already done. They're already thrown down by the mounts and by the sword. They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men who I have slain in my anger and in my fury. And for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city. So God, he literally says here that when the Babylonians came in and they were killing all these people, God just hid his face from them. They did not have the protection of the Lord. God, I mean, all it takes is for, God doesn't have to send an angel to judge a nation. All he has to do is hide his face from a nation. And then all these wicked nations would just come in and they'll just run rough shot over everything. And that's what God did here. But look at verse number six. Verse number six, it says, behold, I will bring it health and cure and I will cure them and I will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return and we'll build them as at the first. So he's saying, repent and this is what I'll do. I will rebuild you. And after the captivity, this is what happened. They spiritually rebuilt themselves before they were allowed to physically rebuild. And that's what happened. And it came true after 70 years of captivity they had a spiritual revival and they went back and they physically built the city and they physically built the temple. That's Ezra and Nehemiah and Zerubbabel's temple. That's the whole story of those men is the return from exile and that spiritual revival. So Jeremiah's message, I mean, it was pretty simple. He was to root out the problem. He was to tear down, to destroy, you know, what was currently happening to throw down what was currently happening and then he was to show them how to rebuild. Now you say, what is the application for us today? You know, with this story of Jeremiah. But I mean, think about soul winning. Think about being out soul winning. You know, the first part, look, the first part of addressing any problem is identifying the fault. Identifying, look, the first part of addressing any issue is identifying the problem, right? So what are the, why do we ask these questions? You know, why do we go up to somebody and ask the question, hey, do you know for sure if you died today, if you would go to heaven? Because we're trying to root out what the issue is with them. We're trying to find out if there's a problem. Is there a problem? Do they not know? Do they think they know and they're trusting in something wrong? Are they trusting in a broken sister? We're trying to figure out what's going on with these people, right? So like, look, that's why I like to use when I'm out soul winning. That's why I've told you guys before. I like to use people's own words. I like to have people tell me what they would tell, you know, hey, if I was your friend, what would you tell me it takes to get to heaven? And then I just listen to what they say. Because now they'll tell you what, if their sister and holds water or not. So we can root out those answers. And then look, for 99% of people out there or whatever that percentage is, the vast majority of people, there's gonna have to be some tearing down involved in a nicer way than Jeremiah, hopefully. But we have to, it may be hard for people to hear. You have to understand that. It may be hard for people to hear that you know what their cistern is not, it's not gonna hold any water. But that's where we use God's word to show people what is true and what is not. And this can be challenging, especially today, with all these weird beliefs that are out there, with all this different twisting of doctrine that is out there, you need to have a little bit of command of the Bible to be good at this. The stranger things get, the more strange things you're gonna hear out soul winning. But we have to tear these things down. And look, this is the thing that you will notice, turn to 2 Timothy chapter four. This is the thing that you will notice about Jeremiah's message. Jeremiah was arguably one of the most negative profits out there. Look at Jeremiah, or I'm sorry, 2 Timothy chapter four, and look at verse number one. I mean, there wasn't a lot of positivity that he was saying. Anything that he said positive was basically gonna happen after they've already gone through all these bad things, right? Look at 2 Timothy chapter four, verse number one, the Bible says, I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, it is appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come, while they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers and having itching ears. They shall turn away their ears from the truth, and they shall be turned unto fables. Look, these are the people in Jeremiah's time, and these are the people that we're gonna deal with today. They don't, you know, a lot of, some people do wanna hear the truth. That's why we're out there, right? But a lot of people don't wanna hear the truth. Their cup is full, just go away, my cup is full. I mean, they literally wanted, I mean, they wanted to kill Jeremiah. I mean, they threw him in prison. They wanted to kill him. There's all kinds of people, you know, after his life. And, you know, I mean, imagine his message. If you think, you know, you had a bad day out soul winning ever, just think about Jeremiah's message. I mean, they're basically, they're being threatened by a foreign nation. And here's this guy going around, you know, they're pretty sure they're gonna get invaded. I mean, they've heard of Babylon. Hezekiah knew about Babylon, right? And look, they're pretty sure they're gonna get invaded at some point. And this guy's going around saying, hey, we're gonna lose. America, right? I mean, he's going around saying, it's like the North Koreans or the Chinese are threatening us. And we're thinking we might be invaded. It's like some guy running around the country saying, we're gonna lose. We're gonna lose. I mean, how popular do you think that guy would be? You know, they're gonna win. You know, look, but here's the thing. Negative messages will never be received well by the masses. Why do you think that the politician who promises the most gets elected? I mean, it's just a game. Who can promise the most stuff to people at this point? That's what it is. I mean, but that's why God told Jeremiah in chapter number one is like, be not afraid of their faces. Because God knew that they weren't gonna like what Jeremiah was gonna say. But look, with all the negative messaging also came this. Turn back to Jeremiah 29. With all the negative messaging of Jeremiah also came this. And it applies to us today. In Jeremiah 29, look at verse number 12. And this is just great because it explains, God's telling them what's going to happen. He's telling them what's gonna happen to them. And he says in verse 12, then ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. There's that spiritual revival right there. God's explaining to them that they're going to have a spiritual revival. And that was part of Jeremiah's message. This is the rebuilding. This is the building part. And ye shall seek me and find me. But what? He says you should seek me and find me no matter what? No, he says ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me what? With all your heart. So he says when this nation, when you as an individual, from this morning, when you search for the Lord with all your heart, will you find him? Is it maybe? No, for sure. You will find him. When you search for all your heart. I mean, do you want, I mean, are you starting to get a pattern in the Bible? Like, it's like all your heart. Trust on. Believe on. It's not 99 one. It's a hundred or nothing. I mean, that's what God, I mean, if I believe that 99% Jesus, 1% me, I'm going to hell. I mean, it's the same here. The spiritual revival needed to be trust with all your heart. And then you will find me. For sure. It's, I mean, that is a statement. You shall seek me and find me. 14, and I will be found of you. Sayeth the Lord. And I will turn away your captivity. So look, he's telling him, you're going into captivity, but I will turn it away. I'll turn it away. And I will gather you from all the nations and from the places where I've driven you, sayeth the Lord, and I will bring you again into the place when I caused you to be carried away captive. I mean, that all your heart, that's, I mean, that salvation right there, it's the same methodology. It's a picture here of physical salvation, of the nation of Judah, but it's also the exact same way someone is spiritually saved. You see, it's a picture for us. So like Jeremiah, we first, we root out. We tear down. I mean, there's going to be some negativity there. You're going to have to talk to people about hell. Turn to John chapter four. You know, there's some, I mean, there's some negativity there when you go through the gospel with somebody and you have to find out what they believe and then tear that down with the Bible. But look at John chapter four. This is the woman at the well. This is Jesus going up to the Samaritan woman at the well. This is verse 25. And Jesus is very brief with this lady. See, this lady, she knew that there was a Messiah coming and she tells Jesus here. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ. When he has come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. It's like, it's me. A pretty short gospel presentation right there. It's like, it's me. And upon this came his disciples and marveled that he talked with the woman, yet no man said, what seekest thou or why thou or why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city and saith to the men, come see a man which told me all things that I ever did is this, is not this the Christ. So this woman, you know, believed that Jesus was the Christ. So Jesus, you know, basically, he talked to her about a couple things and then he basically, she said, I know the Messiah's comeths. You know, he's talking to her about, you know, living water, basically, is all he really says to her. And then if you drink of this living water, and she doesn't really understand that, but she's like, I know the Messiah, he's like, it's me. There's this gospel presentation, it's me. But here's the thing. We need to root out. We need to tear down because we are not Jesus. So don't preach half the gospel to somebody is what the point I'm trying to make here. We have to start from the beginning because we're not Jesus. We don't know what people believe. We don't know what people believe and all we really know from what people believe is what they tell us. So that's why we have to root out. And then we have to tear down because, look, Jesus just knew where this lady was. He just knew that, you know, she knew there was a Messiah and that she understood what the Messiah was and he basically said, oh, by the way, you know, all that stuff that you believe that the Messiah's coming, it's me. And she was like, okay, I believe that done. We're not Jesus though. So we have to root out, do some tearing down, you know. But here's the thing. We don't just show people the error of their ways and then just walk away, right? We don't just be like, you know, okay, what do you believe? Okay, okay, all that, all that. Okay, here's what the Bible says. The Bible says that, you know, you're a sinner and that this is the wages for your sin and, you know, hell, and it's everlasting, you know. You burn forever, it's everlasting torment and I mean, it's terrible, right? I mean, so do you believe you're a sinner and you deserve to go to hell, right? You're like, oh, yeah? I mean, Jesus talked about hell a lot. I mean, Jesus was talking about hell all the time. And they're like, oh, yeah, okay, I don't, all right, see you later. Bye. Okay. And they're all like, no, we don't do that. Now we have some building to do. Right? But we have to tear down first, just like Jeremiah did, right? Turn to Ephesians chapter four. Turn to Ephesians chapter four. Look at verse number six. The Bible says, one God, so I mean, the Bible, I mean, the Bible says that, you know, the captivity will end, right? It doesn't say that there would be no captivity, but the captivity would end. Look at Ephesians four, six. One God, the father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. But unto everyone is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive. And he gave gifts unto men. Just as in Jeremiah when he says, I will turn away your captivity, we are showing people how they can get out of their captivity. It's the same thing. The actual message of Jeremiah is the exact same spiritual message that we carry. You carry the message of Jeremiah every single time that you go out soul-winning. You root out, you tear down, you throw down if you have to, in a nice polite way. But then we must build. And we must show them, look, so I mean, is negative messaging bad? No, sometimes there has to be negative message, even from the soul-winning tip. You know, even somebody who's not gonna accept, you know, Christ in that moment, you know, it's always good to show them that what the difference is that you're showing them from the Bible to what they currently believe is the difference between eternal life or eternal damnation. It's important that people know the truth. I mean, it's necessary because look, it leads to captivity being, you know, being led captive by Christ in people's lives. To salvation, to everlasting life. So once again, I mean, not only is the Old Testament not, not only is it relevant today, not only is it true and consistent, but it's a perfect, it's a miracle that it's a perfect reflection of the message that we carry today. Is it not? I mean, it's a miracle. It's exactly the same message. So that is the message of Jeremiah. It's the same message that you carry today. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.