 All right, so we're there in Luke chapter six. So we started off this series, and we talked about the calling of Jeremiah, and we talked about the message of Jeremiah. Tonight, what I want to preach to you tonight about is the heart of Jeremiah. And you say, well, why in the world will we start off a sermon about Jeremiah and Luke? This morning, my dad asked me the chapter, and I said, Luke six, and he's like, you know you're preaching on Jeremiah, right? But what I wanna, we're talking about the heart of Jeremiah, so what I wanna do is I wanna show you the importance of the heart. Why does the heart matter? I wanna make a point about it before we get started here. You're there in Luke six, look at verse 45, Luke six, 45, there the Bible says this, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good. So he's saying a good man is good because his heart is good. And it says likewise, an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil. And so an evil person is evil because their heart is evil. For the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. And you'll have to turn there, but Matthew 12, 34 says, a generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. So the idea is this, what's in your heart is gonna be manifested, obviously only God can see the heart. Obviously only God knows truly what's in someone's heart, but as far as we as people, how we can tell what's in someone's heart is by their actions, what they do, what they don't do, how they portray themselves. Go ahead and turn to Jeremiah chapter one. Now we mainly apply this to bad people, right? Whether it's a bad person in our life or maybe someone who comes into church, we apply it to bad people, right? Like what's in your heart will eventually come out of your mouth and that's definitely true. And we apply that a lot to bad people. But remember, it also said a good man or the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good. So this goes both ways. It's not just applied to bad people. So good or bad, people's hearts are going to be, we can see what's in someone's heart by what they did and by their actions. So real quickly tonight, the sermon is three attributes or three windows we have into Jeremiah's heart that show us the type of heart he had. The three things that we can see by his life and how he lived his life and the things he did and said and didn't do. And we can see the type of heart that he had. And he say, well, how are we gonna do that? Same way we tell if someone's bad by looking at their actions, by the way that they portray themselves and the things that result of the things in their heart. So either in Jeremiah one, let's just go ahead and start reading in verse number one for context. Verse number one, the words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, the priests that were at Anathroth and the land of Benjamin. So Jeremiah was not a Benjaminite. He was a Levite. He just lived in this area. To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon King of Judah, in the 13th year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah King of Judah, unto the end of the 11th year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah King of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou came as forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee. And I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, hear my Lord, send me. That's not what he said. He said, oh, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. Jeremiah says, I can't do that. Turn to Exodus chapter three. So did Jeremiah want to be a prophet? Initially, when God came to him and said, hey, I have this plan, and you're gonna be a prophet, and you're gonna speak before all these kings, Jeremiah did not want to do it. And because not everybody is like Elisha or Isaiah, where they just instantly stood up and wanted to serve God. Not everyone initially had that in them. Here they are in Exodus chapter three. Start reading verse one. It says, now Moses, we're talking about Moses here. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest and median, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he looked and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and he said, here am I. And he said, draw not, and I hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land, into a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Parasites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression, wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayst bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt. So God appears to Moses here, and keep in mind, the Bible says that Moses was warm, meek, than anyone on the face of the earth. And God comes to Moses here, and he says, I have this plan, it's this great plan, I'm gonna bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. They've been in bondage for a long time, and guess what, Moses? You are gonna be the one to do it. Verse number 11, and Moses said unto God, who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? Now, we're not gonna read the whole thing for sake of time, but as this story goes on, we just see Moses going back and forth with God over this, and all the excuses why he can't, and he doesn't want to. Go ahead and skip to Exodus 410. We're just gonna skip ahead a little bit in this conversation. Exodus 410, and Moses said unto the Lord, oh Lord, I am not eloquent, neither here to for, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, who hath made man's mouth, or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind, have not I, the Lord, now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. So, Moses did not want to go either, and notice he comes up with this excuse, and I'm not saying Moses didn't have a speaking problem, or this wasn't a real thing, but Moses says to God, he said, I'm not eloquent, I can't speak, I maybe stumble over his words, or whatever it was, and God didn't say to him, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that, let me find someone else. God almost laughs at him, you can see, and says, now therefore go. He's like, I'm the one who made your mouth. I'm the one who made the deaf and the blind. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, would later come and heal the blind, heal the deaf, and heal those who couldn't speak. Then God says go, because here's the point, a lot of people don't want to serve God, or a lot of people when they see something in the Bible, they don't want to do that, and that's just human nature. And like I said, I'm not saying it's not harder for some people, but here's the thing, I hate to break it to you, but God doesn't care about the reasons that you can't do what he wants you to do. Now, God does care about you, and God promises to give you what you need, but he doesn't care, when God commands something in the Bible, he doesn't care, when we're living this life down here and God comes and says, hey, change the plans, I want you to do this, God doesn't care about how that's gonna mess up our little thing we got going down here, right? Turn to Ezekiel 3, Ezekiel 310. Because look, God already promises to give you what you need, so why would he care about messing up your little plan for everything in addition to that? He's blessed you with, right? God promises to give you food and shelter, everything else above that is just what he has allowed you to have. Ezekiel 310, this is obviously God talking to Ezekiel, he says, moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee, receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears, and go, get thee to them of the captivity and to the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, thus say it, the Lord God, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. So God tells Ezekiel here, I said, I want you to go speak to my people, the words that I'm gonna tell you, and he puts this little thing at the end, he says, oh, and by the way, whether they listen or not, whether it even works or not, whether they hear or listen or not, that has nothing to do with it. You're just supposed to go anyway. A very, something that we can compare to ourselves is soul winning, for example, right? When we go soul winning, if we're in an unreceptive area, that doesn't mean that we're just supposed to not go there, right? Or if we go and we feel like it's just not receptive enough for us, we're supposed to go anyway, right? It has nothing to do, God, this is not the only time God said this to a prophet where he says, whether they will hear, whether they will forbear. Almost like he knows what mankind is inclined to do. When it gets hard, man, what do we want to do? We just want to quit. God says, no, no, no, no. It has nothing to do with whether they listen or not. That's between me and them. You're supposed to go anyway. This is God's command to Ezekiel and to anyone. He tells to do anything. If you could just turn me down a little bit. Thank you. Verse number 12, then the spirit took me up and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing saying, blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touch one another and the noise of the wheels over against them and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up and took me away and I went in joy. Is that what it says? It says, I went in bitterness and the heat of my spirit put the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. Turn to Jeremiah chapter seven. Ezekiel didn't want to go either. Because here's the thing, your heart's character isn't whether or not you want to do what God says. Because that's just human nature. When God, we don't want to do the commandments, right? Mankind is inclined towards sin and there's none to do with good. So your heart's character isn't dependent on whether or not you want to serve God. It's whether or not you actually do. All right? You're there in Jeremiah chapter number seven. Look at verse 20, verse 27. Jeremiah seven, 27. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them but they will not hearken to thee. Therefore thou shalt also call unto them but they will not answer thee. So God just straight up tells Jeremiah, oh, by the way, it's not gonna work. I want you to dedicate your life, Jeremiah, to this message and nobody's gonna listen to you. Just so you know right now. God still expected him to go. Didn't matter what the results were, God expected him to do what he told him to do. Verse 28, but thou shalt say unto them, this is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, no receive of correction, truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth, cut off thine herald Jerusalem, they cast it away and take up a lamentation on high places for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. Jeremiah's life was dedicated. Obviously he spoke about different things and he prophesied to the Gentiles and to the captives that were to different types of people. But mainly Jeremiah's life was dedicated to this one message of the destruction that was gonna come to Judah. This is what he prophesied, this is his main message that he spent his whole life prophesying and here God is telling him, in Jeremiah 7 I believe we're in the reign of Josiah. The book of Jeremiah is definitely not in chronological order, but he tells him, he's like, I want you to dedicate your life to this horrible message that everyone's going to hate you for, but they're not even gonna listen to you. He's still expecting him to do it. You don't have to turn there, but Hebrews 11, chapter 8, this is Hebrews 11 where we're talking about all the people and all the faith of Old Testament believers that they had and the great things they did. Verse 8, the Bible says, by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place but he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went. Here it says in Hebrews 11, 8, that Abraham obeyed God and he didn't even know where he was going. God just said, go that way and he's like, we're going this way. And that's how we need to be when God tells us. We don't, God doesn't need to give us a reason. God's right in everything he does. He doesn't need to say, okay, here's my plan. Here's how it's all gonna work out for you. Don't worry. It doesn't matter if we know where we're going or not. If God says to go somewhere, that's what we're supposed to do. Turn to Luke 22. Turn to Luke 22, 39. There in Luke 22, 39, we're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ here in the garden of Gethsemane. It says in verse 39, and he came out and went as he was want to the Mount of Olives and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, pray that he enter not into temptation. Verse 41. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast and kneeled down and prayed saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. Nose verse 44. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground. Here, Jesus Christ is asking God, the Father, do you think Jesus Christ wanted to pay for man's sin? Think about it, God creates man on this earth and man messes up and man becomes wicked and evil. So evil that at one point God had to destroy the entire earth because of man's sin and because how wicked they got. And man is, but yet God loved, for God so loved the world, right? God didn't want to see, because you see God is just judgment and God is a holy God and God has to be a just judge. But God, as we heard this morning, God is also love. So God went and he paid for the sins of the world. But do you think he wanted to go be crucified for man's sin? Do you think he wanted to die and go to hell for three days to pay for man's sin because they just messed up, because they turned against God, because there's none that doeth good? He didn't want to do it, but you know what? He did anyway. Notice verse 42, he said, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. He says, God, whatever you wanna do, if it's your will, please, please let this, please let me not go through this. But notice this, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. The reason that we're not, the reason that everyone in this room is not going to die and go straight to hell is because there was someone who obeyed God's will even when he didn't want to, and that's Jesus Christ. So if you think this isn't important or this is just some minor thing, it's not. All right, it doesn't matter what God says to do. If God commands us to do something, he expects it to be done, and we're just supposed to obey. Now there's nothing wrong with, as Jesus Christ did here, praying, you know, God, if it's your will, maybe I pray something else would work out, but if God clearly says to do something, we are to do it. I'll say it one more time, your heart's character, you say Jeremiah's not looking very good so far. Well, here's why this actually shows how great Jeremiah's heart was, because your heart's character has nothing to do with whether or not you want to go. Your heart's character is whether or not you actually do. Turn to Mark 4, Mark 4, 16. So first tonight, I said Jeremiah was faithful with God's will. Second tonight, Jeremiah was fervent with his mission. Jeremiah was fervent with his mission. You're there in Mark 4. We'll start reading in verse 16. So Jesus Christ here is explaining the parable, the soul, where he's explaining what everything is in that parable. He says in verse 16, and these are they, likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure, but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they are offended, and these are they, which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it become unfruitful. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 18, Jeremiah chapter 18. So we have two different categories here. We have the stony ground, and we have the thorns. One is something that others do to you, right? One's persecution. It's things that people do to you, how people attack you, and the thorns is different. That's something you do to yourself. Things you allow yourself to be attracted by the cares of this world, or the deceitfulness of riches, or the lusts of other things entering in. But here's what's similar about these two things, is they're both things that are going to stop you from serving God. Whether it's persecution that is coming at you from other people, or whether it's just, you know, ways you let yourself go, they're both things that will stop you from serving God. And that's why the devil uses these things to do that. You're there in Jeremiah 18, look at verse 18. Jeremiah 18, 18. Then said they, come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priests, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet, come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. So again, I believe this is, I believe chapters one through 20 are all during the reign of Josiah. It may change throughout there. But we're in what might be the beginning of Jeremiah's ministry. And people are already slandering him. And not only are they slandering him, but this is how it often goes. They're also trying to turn others against him. They're trying to turn people against him, turn people away from him. It's not they themselves that are attacking him. They're trying to get everybody to turn against him. Turn to Jeremiah 11. Jeremiah chapter 11. Jeremiah 11, beginning of verse 19, the Bible says, but I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter. And I knew not that they devised devices against me. This is Jeremiah speaking to God, saying let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof and let us cut him off from the land of the living that his name may be no more remembered. They wanted to kill him. Even in the beginning of his ministry, people already wanted to kill him. Because if you remember, during the reign of Josiah, Josiah was a great king. Probably you can make the argument, one of the greatest kings in Judah that had ever lived. But God made it clear that even during the reign of Josiah, God's judgment was still coming. Now he told Josiah that it would not come in his time, but it was still coming. This message was still being preached during the reign of a good king. Verse 20, but oh Lord of hosts, that judges righteously, that tries the reins in the heart. Let me see thy vengeance on them, for unto thee have I revealed my cause. Therefore thus saith the Lord of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that thou die not by your hand. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation. So just imagine this, if there were people who hated you so much, that they wanted to kill you, if we're trying to get other people to do the same exact thing. Turn to Jeremiah 20, Jeremiah 20. Jeremiah 20 in verse one says, now, pasher the son of Emma the priest. So later in the book of Jeremiah, like in chapter 21 and later chapters, you hear about pasher. This is a different pasher. This is pasher the son of Emma. This is not the pasher you hear about in other places in Jeremiah. Now pasher the son of Emma the priest, who is chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard the Jeremiah prophesy these things. And then pasher smoked Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. So pasher here is the governor of the house of the Lord. He's in charge of the house of the Lord. And you would think that if anybody would be on Jeremiah's side, it would be someone like him, someone with a spiritual role, someone who was in charge of something like the temple. Verse three, and it came to pass on the morrow that pasher brought forth Jeremiah out of the stock. So in the morning, he brings him out of prison and you would think that Jeremiah, if Jeremiah was anything like any preachers that are out there today, he would be like, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I didn't mean to condemn anybody. I didn't even, even if he did believe it, maybe he'd say, I didn't mean it that way. Well, let's see what Jeremiah said. Then said Jeremiah unto him, the Lord hath not called thy name pasher, but Magor Mishabib. Verse four, for thus saith the Lord, behold, I will make thee a tear to thyself and to all thy friends, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eye shall behold it, and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover, I will deliver all the strength of this city and all the labors thereof and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah, I will give into the hand of their enemies which shall spoil them and take them and carry them to Babylon. So he basically tells this guy who had just thrown them in prison and beat him. Oh, guess what? All your friends are going to die and your whole country is gonna be taken captive but he's not done. Verse six, and thou, pasher, in all that dwell on thine house shall go into captivity, and thou shall come to Babylon, and there thou shall die and be buried there, thou and all thy friends to whom thou has prophesied lies. So we have just the perfect response to persecution here. So you say, how was Jeremiah fervent in his mission? Jeremiah was fervent in his mission that every time he was persecuted, every time someone threatened his life, he just, his response was always, the saith the Lord God, the saith the Lord God. He never stopped. He kept going and going and going, even to the point where he's brought out of prison and the first thing he says is you're gonna die and all your friends are gonna die and you're all gonna die. He doesn't even shut up until he's released from prison and then keep preaching the word of God. His response was always, thus saith the Lord God. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 36. Jeremiah chapter 36. So the context here is we're no longer in the reign of Josiah. We're fast forwarding to the reign of Jehoiachim. So the book of Jeremiah doesn't mention, we don't see anything that took place in the reign of Jehoiachim. Probably because they only reign, they both only reign for three months. But this is, so after Josiah, Josiah reigned for 31 years, he died, Jehoiach has reigned for three months. And then Jehoiachim, who has a lot of, who's mentioned a lot in the book of Jeremiah, then reigned and this is taking place during the reign of Jehoiachim. Obviously a horrible king there. Every king after Josiah was a horrible king. Verse 23. So I just preached on this story, so I'm not gonna, we're not gonna read the whole thing, but basically God tells Jeremiah to write all the words that he's spoken to him in a book and go into the temple and to read all the words of the judgments. And so they bring it before the king. Some people tell the king about this. Verse 23. And it came to pass that when Jehudai had read three or four leaves, so they're reading this before the king, he, King Jehoiachim, cut it with a pen knife and cast it into the fire that was on the earth until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the earth. So they literally take the word of God and they throw it and they burn it in the fire. They say, why would they do that? Yet they were not afraid. That's why they did not fear the word of God, they didn't fear God, which is why they ultimately went to captivity. Nor rent their garments neither the king, nor any of the servants that heard all these words. So let's go ahead and skip to verse 27. So the king sends people to go try to take Jeremiah probably to kill him. Story of his life. Verse 27, then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after that the king had burned the roll and the words which Barak wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah saying, take the again another roll and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiachim, King of Judah, had burned. So he says, just do it all over again, don't stop, keep going. Skip to verse 32. Then took Jeremiah another roll and gave it to Barak, the son of Nariah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book, which Jehoiachim, King of Judah, had burned in the fire and they were added besides unto them many like words. So again, what made Jeremiah fervent with his message? It's the fact that he always kept going. Turn to Jeremiah 26. Jeremiah 26. I mean, the man just never stopped. He is thus sayeth the Lord God, thus sayeth the Lord God, thus sayeth the Lord God. We're there in Jeremiah chapter 26. We're still in the reign of Jehoiachim. Verse number seven, Jeremiah 26 verse seven. The Bible says this, so the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now came to pass when Jeremiah had made it end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and all the prophets and all the people took him saying, thou shalt surely die. Why is thou prophesied in the name of the Lord saying this house shall be like Shiloh and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant and all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house into the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house, then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people saying, this man is worthy to die for he have prophesied against this city as he have heard with your ears. Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and unto all the people saying, I'm sorry it was just a big mistake. The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that he have heard. No apology from Jeremiah. Verse 13, now therefore amend your ways in your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand. Do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and upon the inhabitants thereof for of a truth the Lord has sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears. Here again, he could be seconds away from dying in what could be his last words he's saying, nope, God told me to say this and I'm gonna say it. You can do whatever you want to me. Thus saith the Lord God, thus saith the Lord God. This was Jeremiah. In verse 24, nevertheless, the hand of a Hikim, the son of Shaffin, was with Jeremiah that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. And of course, God takes care of Jeremiah. And this isn't what I'm preaching on, but this name right here, Hikim, the son of Shaffin, I just noticed this when I was writing the sermon. It's a good reminder on when you're reading through random names in the Bible, you shouldn't pay attention to them. You should look into it a little more because there's a lot, there can be a lot more than just another random name. For example, this man, a Hikim, the son of Shaffin, years and years and years and years before, during the reign of Josiah, he was actually one of the priests that was helping Josiah carry out his revival. In later in Jeremiah, we hear about Getaliah, the governor, who the king of Babylon set up to rule after the captivity. Getaliah was actually a Hikim's son. So it's just interesting, random names in the Bible, actually a lot of them have a lot of significance. But anyway, God takes care of Jeremiah, but the idea is that he never stopped. Jeremiah, turn to Jeremiah 37. Jeremiah chapter 37. So now in Jeremiah chapter 37, we're during the reign of Zedekiah. So, Jehoiakim reigned for 11 years. Then the first Babylonian invasion happened. Jehoiakim reigned for three months. The second Babylonian invasion happened. And now we're talking about Zedekiah, who reigned for 11 years, again before the final invasion happened. Verse 37, so this is when the last and final invasion is beginning to happen, it's starting to happen. Things are building up. Jeremiah 37, verse 12, then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to separate himself thence in the midst of the people. So he's just trying to get away from all the mess. Verse 13, and when he was in the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the ward was there, whose name was Elijah, the son of Shalamiah, the son of Hananiah. And he took Jeremiah, the prophet saying, thou falls the way to the Chaldeans. He's saying, you're a spy. Then he said, Jeremiah, it is false. I fall not away to the Chaldeans, but he hearkened not to him. So, Elijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes, wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah and smote him and put him in the prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made that the prison. So Jeremiah is just trying to get away. The poor guy, just trying to take a break, go back to where he lives for a while, and someone sees him and they think that he is a spy and that he's gonna go to the Babylonians and tell them be a spy. And so he's falsely accused and they take him. They're just looking for Jared on Jeremiah, I'm sure. They're looking for a reason to throw him in prison. Verse 17, then Zedekiah the king sent. So Zedekiah was never really against Jeremiah. Personally, he didn't like everything he said, but he was just a weak leader and he kind of just bent to anything anyone asked him to do. Then Zedekiah the king said and took him out. And the king asked him secretly in his house and said, is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, there is four. Said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. So even when he's brought out of the prison by the king and someone who's not even really against Jeremiah and you would think this is his chance to try to appeal to King Zedekiah and hey, can you get me out of here? But the first thing he says is, thus sayeth the Lord God, you're gonna be delivered. You're gonna lose, just letting you know. Verse 18, moreover, Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah, what have I offended against thee or against thy servants or against this people that you've put me in prison? Where and now your prophets which prophesied unto you saying the king of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land. So he's kind of saying, I told you so. Verse 20, now here, therefore here now, I pray thee, O Lord the king, let my supplication I pray thee, be accepted before thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. Then Zedekiah the king commanded, they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the baker's street and to all the bread in the city were spent, lest Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. So he's brought out of prison again and he's still preaching. Go to look at chapter 38. Chapter 38, verse number one, when the story goes on, then Shephateiah the son of Maitan and Geteliah the son of Pashur and Jukul the son of Shemaliah and Pashur the son of Malachi. Again, these are different Pashurs. Heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto the people saying, they'll say it to the Lord, he that remaineth in this city shall die by the story, by the famine and the pestilence, but he that go forth to the Chaldeans shall live, for he shall have his life for a prey and shall live. Therefore thus saith the Lord, this city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it. Therefore the princes said unto the king, we beseech thee, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in the city in the hands of all the people in speaking such words unto them, for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the herd. And by the way, just as a note, isn't that what people want to say of us? We, when we have hard preaching and we preach what the Bible says about sin and how to get right in your life, what do people say? Oh, you just hate people. You just, you want, you just like to just hate people and just preach destruction and this horrible message upon people. But here's the thing, if someone truly loves, if Brother Jared truly loves this congregation and wants to tell you the truth, he's gonna tell you everything that's in the Word of God. The Joel Osteens out there and the false preachers of our day, they're just gonna say what they have to say to keep people in the church, right? If someone loves you, they're going to tell you what you need to hear, what they know, just like God is telling these people what they need to hear. God knows they didn't want to hear this, but God told them because he was trying to give them another chance, even when the judgment was already coming. Verse number five, then Zedekiah the king said, behold, he is in your hand, for the king is not he that can do anything against you. So he's like, do whatever you want. Then took the Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Melchiah, the son of Hamalek, that was in the court of the prison and they let down Jeremiah with cords and in the dungeon there was no water but mire. So Jeremiah sunk in the mire. So he's in this dungeon where there's no food, there's no water, he's accused again, Zedekiah betrays him and he's in this horrible place. Jeremiah chapter 38, verse number seven. Now when Emilec the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, which was in the king's house, heard that they put Jeremiah in the dungeon, the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin, Ebed Melch went forth out of the king's house and spanked into the king saying, my Lord the king, these men have done evil and all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon and he is like to die for a hunger in the place where he is for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebed Melch the Ethiopian saying, take from this 30 men with thee and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies. So he's like, okay, whatever, do whatever you want. Seems like a real strong leader here. Verse number 11. So Ebed Melch took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury and took this old cast clouds and rotten rags and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. So this man is interceding for Jeremiah and he goes to the king and he's saying, Jeremiah's gonna die. He hasn't done anything wrong and he intercedes for Jeremiah the king and the king says, all right, you can let him out. Verse 12. And Ebed Melch the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, put now these old cast clouds and rotten rags under them armholes under the cords. Jeremiah did so. And they drew up Jeremiah with cords and took him up out of the dungeon and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. And Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing, hide nothing from me. So he just betrayed the man to the point where he almost starved to death. This is like, this is the second time that Jeremiah's almost died because of King Zedekiah. And now while he, someone else convinces the king to bring him out and he's like, hey, I want your help. He has the gall to ask this guy for help. Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, if I declared unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? And if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me? So Zedekiah the king swear secretly unto Jeremiah saying, as the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death. Neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. Verse 17, then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts. He just doesn't stop. It's as he keeps going and going and going. If he, to the point where on numerous occasions he almost dies and with what could be his last words, it's here's what God says, here's what God says, here's what God said. Turn to Jeremiah 42. Jeremiah 42. So Jeremiah stays here until the final invasion happens, until the judgment that he has been preaching about, his whole life happens. And then basically what happens is the king of, the captain of the guard of the king of Babylon takes Jeremiah and he says, you know, you can go wherever you want, you can go into Judah or you can come to Babylon, we'll take care of you. And he shows Jeremiah a lot of mercy. And Jeremiah has the choice of going into Judah or just living, retiring from his horrible life in Babylon. But still he decides to go back with his people into Judah. And then we have the story of the governor and that's a whole other story. But verse 42, so there's a remnant left in Judah. The king of Babylon took everybody out but God left a remnant. Verse number one, Jeremiah 42, one, then all the captains of the forces and Johanin, the son of Kariah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshiah and all the people from the least even unto the greatest came near and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, let we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many as thine eyes to behold us, that the Lord thy God may show us the way where we may walk in the thing that we may do. So they come before him, they're all humble and they're like, God just brought this judgment upon us, just ask God what he wants us to do and we'll do it. Just go and pray to God and we'll just tell us what God wants from us at this point. Verse four, the Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you, behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words and it shall come to pass and whatsoever things the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto you, I will keep nothing back from you. I mean, can you imagine how excited Jeremiah must have been, his whole life, decades and decades of his life, people just were trying to kill him or after him and finally they're coming to him and they're like, just tell us, like shooting fish in a barrel, just tell us what God wants us to do and we will do it. Then they said to Jeremiah, the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us if we do not even, if we do not even according to all things for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us. Whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send thee that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God. So they ask him to ask God what he wants them to do and we're not gonna read the whole thing but basically the one thing that God tells this remnant it's a very clear message, don't go into Egypt. He says, stay here and I'll take care of you, don't go into Egypt because these people were going to go into Egypt and God told them don't go into Egypt. Look at verse Jeremiah 42, 19. So here's Jeremiah kind of wrapping up this message to them, the Lord have said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, go ye not into Egypt. Know certainly that I have admonished you this day, for ye dissembled in your hearts when he sent me into the Lord your God saying, pray for us into the Lord our God and according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us and we will do it. And now I have this day declared it unto you but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God nor anything for the witch he has sent me unto you. He's like, I've been preaching to you for 30, 40 years and you haven't listened to anything. But he tells them, here's this one thing God wants you to do, don't go into Egypt. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence and the place where there ye desire to go, sojourn. And let's see their response. And it came to pass. And Jeremiah 43, one, and it came to pass that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people, all the words of the Lord their God for the witch, the Lord their God had sent him unto them, even all these words, then speak, Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah and Johanna and the son of Korea and all the proud men, that's not a good sign, saying unto Jeremiah, thou speakest falsely, the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, go not into Egypt to sojourn there. It's like face palm, like are you kidding me? They finally, you think this would be the most humble point they were ever at and they come to Jeremiah and they say, whether it's good or bad, we're gonna roll harken unto you, what does God want us to do? And he's like, just don't go into Egypt, just stay here and they're like, no, you're lying. First five, but Johanna and the son of Korea and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah that were returned from all nations, whether they had been to dwell in the land of Judah. So he's telling it, so they went into Egypt and he took all the remnant with him, they took all the people left with him and here's who they took, even men and women and children and the king's daughters and every person that Nebusar ate and the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah, the son of Hikim, the son of Shafen and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch, the son of Nariah. So they kidnapped Jeremiah and they take him to Egypt with them and then we're, you say, what happens next? We're seven, so they came into the land of Egypt for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, they came, thus came they even to Taphne. So they go into Egypt, they kidnapped Jeremiah and take him with them. Can you imagine how devastating the man's life has been? Jeremiah's life never had that inspirational, they shall mount up on his wings as eagles moment. It never had that, obviously Jeremiah is gonna have some amazing rewards in heaven, but his life on this earth just, it was just, it was a, he really had just had a horrible life on this earth. It was just a horrible disastrous life on this earth. So what does he do? Jeremiah 43, 8, then came the word of the Lord into Jeremiah and Taphne, he's saying, so skipped to Jeremiah 44, 1, Jeremiah 44, verse 1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews was dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell to Migdol and the Taphne's and the Naph and in the country of Pathos saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. He just didn't stop, he just kept going. And to the very end of his life, and now we have this message here is, because remember the book's not in chronological order, this message here is the last recorded message we ever hear from Jeremiah. That's it, we don't know how his life ended up or I mean as far as we're concerned or as far as we know, he just died in Egypt because of these horrible people that he was sent to preach to. He never stopped. And you read it and it turned to Jeremiah 20, 20 verse 7. You read it and it almost sounds like he's some sort of super human. Like how in the world could you do that? How in the world could you get through a life like that and still go? Jeremiah 20 verse 7. Oh Lord, Jeremiah 20 verse 7. Oh Lord, that was deceived me. And I was deceived, that was stronger than I and as prevailed I am in derision daily. Everyone mocketh me. For since I spake I cried out, I cried violence and spoil because the word of the Lord has made a reproach unto me in a derision daily. Jeremiah kept going but he didn't ever have doubts. And he didn't ever, I mean this just shows how horrible his life was, just these words that we see in Jeremiah. And here in verse 9, we have the answer to why he kept going and how he did it. It's Jeremiah 29 is my favorite verse in the whole Bible. Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name. He said, I'm done. It's too hard. I can't do it. I can't get through this. There's too much persecution. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones. And I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay. He's like, I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. It was Jeremiah's love for the word of God that got him through his life. He loved the word of God. I mean, would we be able to say that? That we love the word of God so much that no matter what happened, we just, we couldn't stop even if we wanted to. Even if our flesh wanted us to quit and wanted us to stop, we just, we couldn't. You know the term there, but Jeremiah 15, 16 says, thy words were found and I did eat them. And thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by that name, O Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah, I love the word of God so much. It was the joy of his heart. It was what gave him the most happiness. Remember this morning we talked about not just temporary happiness, but that joy, that peace, the past of all understanding. It was this peace that he had and his love for the word of God that he had that got him through this horrible life that he had to go through. Turn to Lamentations 2, 11. So first tonight we said Jeremiah was faithful with God's will. Second we said Jeremiah was fervent with his mission. He never stopped. Third tonight, Jeremiah was forbearing with his people. I think this is really the greatest window we have into Jeremiah's heart. Because you're there in Lamentations 2, 11. Sorry, Lamentations 2, 11. The Bible says this. This is Jeremiah speaking. My eyes do fail with tears. My bowels are troubled. My liver is poured upon the earth. Why? Because of your sufferings, because of your horrible life and your trials and what you went through Jeremiah? No, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. Because the children and the suckling swoon in the streets of the city. Let's rewind to that story about when the people came to him and asked him, tell us what God's will is and we'll do it and he said, don't go into Egypt. Obviously, that's an amazing story that really just, it's just another story that shows that he never stopped and he ends what we know of his life with thus sayeth the Lord God, thus sayeth the Lord God. But you know what else that shows? I don't know about you, but if I dedicated my whole life to preaching, if I was just this lone prophet preaching to this wicked nation, this judgment, and they try to kill me and they try over and over and over and I almost died on numerous occasions and I had a life like this. Like this isn't just stuff that happened occasionally. This was my life I lived. If the judgment happened, I think a lot of us would be doing is we'd be like, I told you so, burn that city down. I told you so, I told you it happened. But we have in the book of Lamentations, if you're just wondering in a sentence what the book of Lamentations is, it is Jeremiah mourning for those people as if it happened to him. He wasn't gloating in it. And even with this story where they came to him, even he's still, when they come to him for help that last time he's still, even though it didn't even end up listening, he's still, it's like, okay, I'll ask God, I'll preach the word of God to you still. He never gave up on those people. He was always forbearing with them even to the end. He knew the judgment was coming. He knew they deserved it. You can kind of apply that to today, right? We know a judgment's coming to America, right? You'd be a fool to say it's not. We know God's judgment's coming and we know it's going to happen and we preach it and we warn people. But when judgment happens on America, do you think a lot of people would be mourning with America? Do you think we would be mourning with America? You think we would be mourning with these people of Fresno? He knew I think a lot of people just wanted to happen and so they're waiting just to say, I totally so, go to hell all of you. This wasn't Jeremiah. Jeremiah knew they deserved it and he knew it was coming. But when it happened, he was heartbroken. He was mourning. Think about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says when he came to this earth and he looked at all these unsaved, miserable people, he knew they deserve hell. He knew they were going there but he had compassion on them. That's why you're saved tonight. That's why I am saved tonight because someone was able to look past what we deserved and what's coming and had compassion on us. A lot of people like to call out the judgment of God. Oh, this is the judgment of God and this is the judgment of God. It doesn't matter. You see, it doesn't matter what's the judgment of God or not. You say, why doesn't it matter? Because if something happens, whether it's the judgment of God or not, all response doesn't change. We're supposed to still have compassion. It doesn't matter whether it's God's judgment or not or it comes or not. All response does not change. You don't have to turn there. Jeremiah 9.1. You can turn to Jeremiah 12. Turn to Jeremiah 12. Jeremiah 9.1 says this. Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. Jeremiah was heartbroken when the judgment happened. He wasn't gloating in it. He didn't want it to come. That's why he, that's why he, that's why God warns, it's the same reason God warns us about hell. Yes, he doesn't want us to go there. He doesn't want us to go to hell. And Jeremiah had compassion on them. You're there in Jeremiah 12, look at verse 10. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard and have trod in my portion underfoot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate. And being desolate, it mourneth unto me. The whole land is made desolate. Why? Because no man layeth it to heart. He just got done saying the pastors have destroyed my vineyard and all these people, they're wickedness, they've destroyed this nation because they're wickedness. But when it comes down to it, why is the land made desolate? Because no one layeth to heart. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares enough to get right and the people who have gotten right don't care enough to do anything about it. Turn to Lamentations chapter one. You know what the turn there? Lamentations 348 says, Mine I runeth down with ravers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. Their Lamentations one will end here. The adversary, this is of course Jeremiah speaking, the adversary has spread out his hand upon her pleasant things. You would think that when Jeremiah was set free by the king of Babylon, even when he went back into Judah, you think that he would just be relieved. Like it's over. It happened. God told me to learn them and it happened. I'm done. My work here is done. I have finished my course. I've done what God has told me to do. But where was Jeremiah at when the captivity happened? Let's keep reading. For she hath seen that he hath entered into her sanctuary whom thou dost command that they should not enter into thy congregation. All her people sigh. They seek bread. They have given their pleasant things for me to relieve the soul. See, O Lord, consider for I am become vile. Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which has done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of this fierce anger. Nobody cared. And that's why the land was destroyed. Look, judgment's coming to America. Is it not? But maybe if God looked down and instead of seeing a bunch of people who were just waiting for it to come and wanted to come and want everyone just to go to hell and for the whole nation just to burn down, we're just waiting for that. Like Jonah, when Jonah just wanted and he had to be destroyed, there was a lot of people like that today. Who just want America to be destroyed? Does America deserve the coming judgment? Yes. But should we be mourning with them? Should we just want it to happen? No. We should be doing what we can to try to get God to intercede and say, maybe I'll just wait a little bit. Let these people get some more people saved. Let them try to turn more people back to God. Maybe I'll just let them try to prolong it just a little longer. If you remember it, Josiah, Josiah's reign, he followed to some of the worst kings that had ever reigned. And God told Josiah. He said, the judgment's coming. Either way, it is coming. But because of what you've done, I'm going to prolong it a little longer. It won't happen in your life. It's still coming. But because of your actions, I'm going to prolong it a little longer. And like I said, that's the book of Lamentations. It's a prophet who lived a miserable life. And yet, his heart was, he never, ever gave up on those people who were really the reason for that horrible life. And I wonder what happened in America today. Obviously, the judgment's coming. Either way, don't get me wrong. But I wonder what would happen in Fresno here if we cared enough to, instead of just throwing up our hands and say, it's coming anyway. The whole country, the whole city can go to hell. California can just go to hell. I wonder if God would prolong it just a little longer if we actually had a little bit of compassion. You know, if God prolonged the judgment of America one day, that's more souls that would be saved. We should be on our knees begging God. Just God, just wait. Just a little longer, just a little longer, just a little longer. Just another Saturday to go out with more people to Christ. Just another Saturday. You know, we hear a sermon like this and having compassion. And maybe for the next Saturday or two, we're like, yeah, we need to have compassion. We need to have compassion on people. But Jeremiah kept that mentality his whole life. And that's what we need to do. If we want God to allow us just to fulfill our mission of winning more people to Christ and leading more people to Christ just a little longer, we need to be like Jeremiah. We're faithful with his will. We're fervent with our mission, whatever happens. And where we are forbearing with these people, even though we know the judgment is coming. Let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer.