Sunday Morning, July 26, 2020, AM

It's good to have everyone here, good to have you here if you're visiting with us, especially to worship with us here this morning.

A few announcements as we get started this morning, some opportunities this week. Come back this evening at 5 .30

for our evening service. Josiah DeForest will be sharing with us out of Hebrews tonight, so come this evening.

Also Wednesday at 6 .30 Bible study and prayer time, no nursery still. Then looking ahead,

Sunday evenings again, Michael is continuing a new series, looking at the sons of Issachar, he'll be looking specifically at Deuteronomy 16, that's next

Sunday evening. Our fighter verse for this week comes from the Psalms, Psalm 34, verses 12 through 14.

What man is there who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil, and do good.

Seek peace, and pursue it. So meditate on that verse this week. If you're visiting with us, we do have an offering plate, but that's at the back of the auditorium, so if you have tithes or offerings that you would like to give, give those back there on your way out of the service this morning.

Also, we do have nursery available, it's through those doors and then back and down the hallway to your left.

Operation Christmas Child, not too early necessarily to think about that, particularly since there are some school supplies sales that are going on right now, so if you want to give towards Operation Christmas Child, those are good gifts to think of.

If you want to see Patty or Barbara, if you have questions regarding that, they can answer those for you.

Any other announcements that I'm missing this morning? All right, it's good to be together this morning.

We're going to prepare our hearts for worship, and then after, Randy will open us at prayer. Father, we just want to thank you so much for the opportunity to come and meet and assemble together today.

What a privilege it is. I thank you for each one here. Thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And Father, I pray that you would just encourage our hearts today as we meet together. Prepare our hearts,

Father, just to hear from you, from your word. Father, I pray that you just give

Michael freedom to share what you put on his heart, and we pray that your Holy Spirit would just speak to us.

And I pray that throughout this week, Father, all the things going on in so many people's lives, that we would stand for you, that we would be a faithful witness, that we'd be a comfort, but we'd also be salt and light.

Father, just thank you for Jesus. Thank you so much for our precious Savior that was willing to die in our place.

And I pray that you would receive glory and honor from all that we do today, and we ask it in Jesus' name.

Good morning, Sonic Side. As we read our call to worship, and if you would stand, please,

I want you to consider the depth and the power and the authority and the eternalness of God's word.

It is truly a gift that we are able to be here and to read it.

So if you would follow along with me as we read. My heart overflows with a pleasing theme.

I address my verses to the King. My tongue is like the tongue of many slaves.

You are the most handsome of the sons of men. Grace it poured upon your lips.

Therefore God has blessed you forever. Thank you.

We could read scripture all day, I'll be just fine. Our first song is going to be 76, and your hymn notes are going to be the first, the second, the third, and the fifth verses.

Oh, who can tongues to sing my great

Redeemer's praise? The glories of my

God and King, the triumphs of His grace.

Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease.

Tis music in the sinner's ears, tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free.

His name is stirred, and my heart rushes me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name.

And then, think about His love. This is in 102, your

Hymns Modern and Ancient. Think about His love. Pardon?

Scripture. Oh, yes. We have scripture reading from Ryan. So I'm filling in for Jay, who's on assignment, out of town, and I'm rusty, so you hang with me.

We're flexible here, right? Our scripture reading this morning is from the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 12.

We'll be giving our attention to verses 19 to the end of the chapter. Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the

Levite as long as you live in your land. When the Lord your God enlarges your border, as He has promised you, and you say, let me eat meat, because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires.

If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far for you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock, which the

Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires.

Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them. The unclean and the clean alike may eat them.

Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life.

You may not eat the life with the meat. You shall not eat it. You shall pour it on the earth like water.

You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the

Lord. Only the holy things which you have and your vowed offerings you shall take and go to the place which the

Lord chooses, and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the

Lord your God, and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the

Lord your God, and you shall eat the meat. Observe and obey all these words which

I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the

Lord your God. When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,

How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise. You shall not worship the

Lord your God in that way, for every abomination to the Lord which he hates they have done to their gods, for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it nor take away from it.

Would you pray with me? Lord God, your commandments are altogether holy and just.

What a blessing it is that in your majesty and your glory you saw fit to stoop down and to speak to the likes of us, sinners and rebels.

Lord, you have made us glad in your word as your

Holy Spirit reveals to us through it the one who has done all things well, who has kept every righteous requirement of the law, the one in whom is life, who has authority to lay down his life and to take it up again, and the one who says to us,

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Incline our hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might see him rightly as deserving all honor and glory and praise.

Amen. You may be seated. All right.

These next three songs have to do with his love. So we're going to start in 102, and then in your hymns,

Modern Ancient, 47, and then Amazing Grace will be last, and the words will be on the screen, and if you choose, sing it from the heart.

You should sing it from the heart anyways, but focus on that. This first one is

Think About His Love. Think about his love.

Think about his love.

So great is the measure of his love.

That's the last verse in the chorus.

♪♪♪ Hear his love, wide as the ends of life are ransomed, shed for us his precious blood.

Who can call it? Let it remember. Who can cease to sing his praise?

He can never be forgotten. Fountains o 'er the floodgates of God's mercy flow the vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love like mighty rivers poured incessant from above.

Rest in peace and perfect justice, kiss the guilty world in love.

He is my Savior's for me.

Of your full love on me anew, without bed to you, you alone be nothing in the world

I see. You have cleansed and satisfied me.

You yourself have set me free.

O how marvelous, O how close is my

Savior's love for me.

O how marvelous,

O how glorious is my

Savior's love for me.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now

I see. The Lord has promised good to me.

His word my hope secure shall be, as long as He bears witness those days to sing

God's praise. Then when we first begun.

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Father, I thank you for gathering us together this day.

What a joy it is to gather on the first day of the week and celebrate that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, that He is alive forevermore, that He has ascended to your right hand, where He has been seated as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And to Him we owe all of our praise. I ask today, Father, that you would help us to keep our gaze, to keep our minds fixed upon Christ, that we would truly be a people for your praise.

That Christ would have our attention, that Christ would have our affection, that Christ would have our allegiance.

As we look at your word today, I ask that you would give us a clear view of your Son, Jesus Christ. As we look at Him in this word, we will look like Him in this world.

This would be to your fame, this would be to your glory. We pray these things for the sake of Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased.

Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to chapter 51 of Jeremiah.

We'll be working our way through all of chapter 50 and the first ten verses of chapter 51 as we are just looking at the first half of the oracle of judgment against Babylon here near the very end of Jeremiah.

Over the last four chapters, we've been surveying human conflict, human conflict on a massive scale.

But it's not only human conflict, it's also cosmic conflict. As we see

Egypt and Philistia, Moab and Ammon, Damascus, Kadar, Hazor, Elam, all of these nations, not to mention

Judah herself and Jerusalem, are systematically conquered by God's instrument of judgment named

Babylon. Babylon is the vile swill steaming in the righteous cup of God's wrath, and He forces all of these nations to drink it.

Babylon herself, however, will also come under the wrath of God. You've heard of the handwriting on the wall.

It comes from the book of Daniel, and this is what was written on the wall. Mene, mene, tekel ufarsin.

That's what was written on the wall, and this was the signal that Babylon had come to an end.

Babylon was ultimately judged, and God had numbered the kingdom at 70 years.

Jeremiah 25 said that the clock was ticking for Babylon, and they had 70 years from the moment of Babylon's seminal victory over Assyria at Carchemish, wherein they took the scepter of world power from their overlord

Assyria. They did that in 609 B .C. To the moment that the Medes and the Persians overran the

Babylonians in a very embarrassing and anticlimactic route, 539 B .C.,

70 years. What do you know? The word of God, it's true. God said, Babylon, you get 70 years, and they got 70 years of world dominance.

And at the end of it, mene, mene, tekel ufarsin, Babylon was weighed in the balances and was found wanting, and God brought it down like a condemned skyscraper.

And when the dust settled, what would remain for his people who had been taken captive by the

Babylonians, who had had their city destroyed by the Babylonians, who had been judged by this world empire that God just brought down?

What would remain for his people? And that's what our passage explores this morning.

So if you will stand with me, I'm going to read the last six verses of our passage today.

Jeremiah 51, verses 5 through 10. This is the word of the

Lord. For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his

God, the Lord of hosts, although their land is full of guilt, before the Holy One of Israel.

Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life. Do not be destroyed in her punishment, for this is the

Lord's time of vengeance. He is going to render recompense to her. Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the

Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are going mad.

Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken. Wail over her, bring balm for her pain.

Perhaps she may be healed. We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed.

Forsake her, and let us each go to his own country, for her judgment has reached to heaven and towers up to the very skies.

The Lord has brought about our vindication. Come, and let us recount in Zion the work of the

Lord our God. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51 started off as a single scroll.

All 110 verses on a scroll. It was written in the fourth year of the last king of Judah, Zedekiah.

Just prior to Zedekiah's journey out to Babylon to check in with his overlords.

That was in 593 BC. Now a copy of this scroll was entrusted to Baruch's brother.

Baruch is Jeremiah's scribe who has been busily writing everything down. Baruch's brother was part of the royal entourage heading out to Babylon.

So a copy of this scroll was given to him, and he was to read it out loud, probably to the exiles there, the

Jewish exiles who had been taken there four years earlier, to read it aloud declaring the judgment that would come upon Babylon and the hope of the deliverance of God's people.

He was then to take the scroll, tie it to a rock, and throw it into the Euphrates. If you're interested to why he did that, come back next week.

What God declared thus in 593 BC comes to pass over 50 years later.

So what is written down here in this scroll and was carried to Babylon and read out loud, it would be over 50 years until it came to pass.

50 years. And during those five decades, kings would rise and fall.

Jerusalem would be destroyed. The nations we read about in chapters 46 -49, all of them would be destroyed.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they would face lions, they would walk through fire, and they would live through tumultuous political transitions until finally

Babylon would fall. Arrows from the

Medes and the Persians. God's word would be proven true.

All his promises would have come to pass, and his people were full of praise. Now, in chapters 50 and 51, the redemption of God's people is interwoven with the destruction, the judgment that came upon Babylon.

And this pattern of salvation through judgment is a theme as deep as the

Exodus, the flood, and even the garden. The scenes set before us here at the end of Jeremiah are already prophesied in Isaiah 13 and 14, and we find them all again in the book of Revelation.

The point is this. When Babylon falls, it is to the deliverance and the praise of God's people.

It's good news. When Babylon goes down, it is good news.

When the dust of Babylon's demise settles, hope remains for God's people.

When the dust settles, the promise of the new covenant, forgiveness of sins, the justice of God, and the city of Zion are all still standing.

And why is that? When the dust of conflict settles, when the dust of human conflict settles, when the dust of cosmic conflict settles,

Christ remains standing. That's what we're taught here in Jeremiah 50 and 51.

Let's begin with the first five verses of chapter 50, where we see the new covenant remains standing.

It's important to recognize the significance of the fall of Babylon, the dominating political reality for seven decades.

Babylon will fall in a cloud of dust. The world empire who had organized everybody into a series of political covenants, suzerain treaties wherein

Babylon says, we're top dog, you're not. Here's what you owe us, and here's how you're going to get along with your neighbors, because if you don't, we'll come kill you.

That whole network of political agreements disappeared like a spider web under a falling branch when

Babylon went down. All of these Babylonian vassals all of a sudden just spun free from their orbits.

They careened into new chaotic courses. And when the dust settled, when Babylon lay shattered, guess what agreement, guess what promise didn't go down with it?

God's promise of the new covenant remains standing. We see that in verses 1 through 5. Babylon's scattered in shame, but Israel will be gathered in hope.

The first three verses, we see Babylon's scattered in shame. The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the

Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet, declare and proclaim among the nations, proclaim it and lift up a standard, do not conceal but say,

Babylon has been captured. Bel has been put to shame. Marduk has been shattered.

Her images have been put to shame. Her idols have been shattered. For a nation has come up against her out of the north, and it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it.

Both man and beast have wandered off. They have gone away. Interesting to remember the nations, the families of the earth, the nations from Babel once scattered, now hear that Babylon has been shattered.

Tell all the nations, Babylon just went down. Let the flag of her shame fly high, planted in the heaps of her broken idols.

The Medes and the Persians have descended upon her from the north and have scattered from that great city both man and beast.

It is laid waste. In contrast, we have Israel gathered in hope in verses 4 through 5.

In those days and at that time declares the Lord, the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well, and they will go along weeping as they go.

And it will be that the Lord their God they will seek. They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction.

They will come that they may join themselves to the Lord in everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

So what's the pattern? It's very interesting. The nations from Babel once scattered, Genesis 11. The nations from Babel once scattered, now hear that Babylon is shattered.

And remember that when the families from Babel were dispersed, who also left? Chaldee now cursed.

Abram. Remember? Just after we read about the nations, the families of the earth scattered from Babel, what was one of those families that were scattered from the land of Ur, from the land of the

Chaldeans? Who left as part of that dispersion? Who was it? It was Abram.

And where did he go? He headed back to the promised land for the very first time. Babel gets judged.

Abram goes to the promised land. Babylon gets judged. Abraham's descendants go to the promised land.

They go back home, take the very same route that their ancestor did. Very interesting.

God promises that the shattering of Babylon will precipitate the gathering of Israel. They will gather together there in Judah, even there in Jerusalem, for what?

For the establishment of a new covenant. Not like the old, Jeremiah 31 and 32 say.

God is gathering the remnants of his old covenant people, and there will be a spirit of godly sorrow among them.

There will be a spirit of repentance among them. They are going to return to God by way of Zion. They're going to be gathered there in the ruins of Jerusalem.

We read about this in Ezra and Nehemiah. There they purge the idols from their homes. They rebuild the temple and the walls.

There they tend the vineyard and wait for the vine dresser to come, and to make all things new, an everlasting covenant which will never be forgotten.

Other empires would rise and fall. Many battles would be fought in and around Jerusalem. But when the dust settled,

Christ was born of Mary in David's hometown. He was raised in Nazareth.

He ministered in Galilee. He died in Jerusalem, and he was raised to rule the whole earth.

The new covenant, the everlasting, unbreakable covenant, was purchased by Christ's blood.

It was cut in his broken flesh, and it was inaugurated by his resurrection and sealed by his

Holy Spirit. Babylon lay shattered, but when the dust settled, the promise of the new covenant remained standing.

And God's people would be gathered back to be readied for that moment. When the dust of national conflict settles, the new covenant in Christ remains standing.

I think that's something we need to hear. In the current tension, whether it's revolutionaries waging an insurgency domestic or Chinese Communist Party ramping up a

Cold War international, I think it would do well for us to remember that Rome fell, but the new covenant in Christ remained standing.

That European states rose and warred and fell, but the new covenant in Christ remained standing.

The Third Reich rose and fell, the Soviet bloc formed and dissipated, but the new covenant in Christ remained standing.

And should our domestic insurgents and the international communists prove to be the hammer and tongs of God's judgment upon us, and should they achieve their most desired goals in the smashing of Western society and the destruction of European culture and the genocide of liberty, the new covenant in Christ will remain standing.

And He will plant His feet upon the ashes of all who refuse to do

Him homage. No 250 -year empire's rise and fall ever caused the slightest tremble in the pillars of Christ's kingdom.

When the dust settles, the new covenant in Christ remains standing. And that is no cause to passive inaction.

Well, I guess it'll be all right. I'll fold my hands and rest. No? What do the exiles do?

In godly sorrow and in repentance, they return to Zion, because they pin their hopes on this everlasting covenant.

So let us, in godly sorrow, fear God, confess His judgments upon our land, return to a wholehearted following of our

King Jesus, who has made the everlasting covenant. Have we forgotten which way it is to Zion?

Jesus Christ has not forgotten. He has not forgotten His shed blood and His broken body.

He has not forgotten the cost that He bore for the forgiveness of our sins upon the cross. And that, of course, too, remains when the dust settles.

The forgiveness of sins remains standing, even after accusatory conflict is resolved.

This is in verses 6 through 20 of chapter 50. And I think there's a sense in which some in Babylon might be surprised to discover that she will be judged, that Babylon will be judged for her assault on Judah.

I mean, if they're going to be listening to the prophets, if they're going to listen to Daniel and Ezekiel, and if they're going to hear the readings of Isaiah and the readings of Jeremiah, Babylonians might be kind of interested to learn that, oh, we were prophesied to do this.

They're saying that the God of the Jews, He was the one who gave us the power to defeat the

Jews and defeat all these nations? Oh, that's a very interesting thing. Oh, this was prophesied many years before.

And now, the scroll arrives, and Baruch's brother's reading it, and he's saying,

Babylon, you're going down. And they go, hey, hey, hey, we're not the ones targeted here.

We're the ones doing the work of judging other nations. We can hear this going on in verses 6 and 7.

But then we also hear that there's judgment coming for Babylon. Verse 6, my people have become lost sheep.

Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside on the mountains. They have gone along from mountain to hill and have forgotten their resting place.

All who came upon them have devoured them, and their adversaries have said, we are not guilty, inasmuch they have sinned against the

Lord, who is the habitation of righteousness, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers. So we hear them saying, well, look, it wasn't us.

It was somebody else. It's not our fault. Well, these adversaries,

Babylon is wrong about their justification of arrogant cruelty towards those who came under God's judgment.

And this is the indictment that God brings in verses 8 through 16. He indicts them for their arrogant cruelty against the nations whom

God judged through their military might.

Not us. But the fact of the matter is that God can plow righteous furrows with a wicked bull.

So Jeremiah calls for the evacuation of the city of Babylon. He calls for the evacuation of the land of Chaldea.

After detailing Babylon's judgment, he explains why God has sentenced her in this way. Verses 8 through 16.

Wander away from the midst of Babylon and go forth from the land of the Chaldeans. Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.

For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon a horde of great nations from the land of the north.

And they will draw up their battle lines against her. From there she will be taken captive.

Their arrows will be like an expert warrior who does not. Her will have enough, declares the

Lord, because you are glad because you are jubilant. Oh, you who pillage my heritage.

Because you skip about like the threshing heifer and neigh like stallions. Your mother will be greatly ashamed.

She who gave you birth will be humiliated. Behold, she will be least of the nations. A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert.

Because of the indignation of the Lord, she will not be inhabited. But she will be completely desolate.

Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified and will hiss because of all her wounds.

Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side. All you who bend the bow, shoot at her.

Do not be sparing with your arrows. For she has sinned against the Lord. Raise your battle cry against her.

Her walls have been torn down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord. Others, so do to her.

Cut off the sower from Babylon and the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest. From before the sword of the oppressor, they will each turn back to his own people.

And they will each flee to his own land. Babylon might protest,

I was just giving them what they deserved. I was under the power and the authority of God himself.

I'm not the one under judgment here. But God affirms his indignation on Babylon.

He promises his vengeance upon that city and that nation.

He isolates Babylon and brings his wrath.

Now notice that Babylon is pointing at them. They deserved it. We're innocent.

But God is pointing at Babylon saying, you are guilty.

You also have sinned. I will take responsibility. Notice verses 17 -20 where the forgiveness of God's people is verified.

It is verified, and willingly so, by their evil shepherds.

Wicked, unfaithful, lying shepherds. They were led astray, but they wanted it that way.

We've heard that already in Jeremiah several times. The northern kingdom,

Israel, was the first to fall by the violence of Assyria. The southern kingdom was then laid waste by Babylon.

And Jeremiah envisions the old covenant people of God scattered like a shepherdless flock.

They are chased and slaughtered by two lions. The first devoured the flesh.

The second gnawed on the bones. But all is not lost, for God would pardon and God would forgive.

Verses 17 -20. Israel is a scattered flock.

The lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria. And this last one who was broken in his bones is

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria.

And I will bring Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan. And his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

In those days and at that time, declares the Lord, Search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none.

And for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found. For I will pardon those whom

I leave as a remnant. So God would not only bring his people back to their land, but he would establish them in a way that they would be satisfied in him and satisfied in his provision.

The wicked shepherds led them astray and abandoned them. God is the good shepherd who leads his flock back to lush pasture.

The Babylonians would be scattered, but Judah would be gathered. The Babylonians would be condemned, but Judah, but God's people would be forgiven.

Forgiven. A search would be made for their iniquities. An examination would be performed for their transgressions and for their sin.

But nothing would be left on the record. Even though many would even claim their guilt from only 55 years ago, still clung to them like the stench of a sewer,

God saw it differently. You see, when God forgives sin, when

God forgives sin, that forgiveness remains no matter the dust cloud blown up in protest.

So if you have a batter and a manager from one team and a catcher and a pitcher from the other team, and they're all yelling and fussing and complaining and pointing the finger, they can kick dust all over the place and pointing out how everyone else is guilty of breaking all the rules, but when the dust settles, the umpire is still standing.

And the fit -throwing, dust -kicking, bearded babies are all ejected. When the judge of the universe points at a group of people and says,

Not guilty! Pardoned! Forgiven!

It does not matter how the crowd howls in protest, or how many times the accusing critics cycle the slow -motion replay of their egregious sins.

Here's the good news, the blessed hope of the new covenant. When God points at His remnant in Christ and He says,

Pardoned, not guilty. They're pardoned! They're not guilty! They're justified!

They're forgiven! Amen? When the dust of accusatory conflict settles, the forgiveness of sins in Christ remains standing.

We live in a day and an age where everybody is pointing the finger at everybody else.

What a great day to believe the gospel and to proclaim it. Forgiveness of sins.

Pardon. Righteousness. The forgiveness of our sins is entirely based on the relationship of God the

Father and God the Son in redemption, applied to us by God the

Spirit in our new birth and regeneration. Romans 8, 33 -34 needs some serious consideration.

Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.

Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died.

It is rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

It is popular today. It is popular today to point at the bride of Jesus Christ and call her all sorts of awful names.

I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do that. Jesus knows better than anybody that His bride is in need of washing with the water of the

Word. He knows it better than anybody else does. But I wouldn't want to be the one pointing at the bride of Jesus, at the remnant of God, and casting condemnation.

If we believe the good news of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, we are justified, we are uncondemned.

Do you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ? Jesus died upon the cross. He has been raised and He reigns at God's right hand.

If you have Christ as your Savior, you have Him as your sovereign. You have Him as your personal advocate at the right hand of God.

And you can rest in Him. And you can follow Him. And you should trust in Him as one uncondemned.

I emphasize this because without this anchor, you will flail in every whirling dust storm of doctrine that gets stirred up.

Today's and tomorrow's. Thirdly, the justice of God remains standing. When it comes to judicial conflict.

When accusations seem to be unsatisfied. And it seems that justice is lacking. And the conflict rages.

When the dust settles from that, the justice of God remains standing. The question is asked in the

Word of God. Will not the judge of all the earth deal justly?

Will not the judge of all the earth deal justly? Yes. Yes, indeed, he will.

He uses one nation to bring down another. One arrogance to despoil another.

One sinner to punish another. But justice is not found in the means.

Justice is not found in the creature. But justice is found in God.

Justice is found in the Creator. Consider how God dealt with Babylon. He brought down the hammer, verses 21 -27.

Against the land of Merathiam, go up against it. And against the inhabitants of Picard.

Merathiam means land of bitterness. Picard means those who have been visited. Slay and utterly destroy them, declares the

Lord. And do according to all that I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land.

And great destruction. How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut off and broken.

How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations. I set a snare for you.

And you also were caught, oh Babylon. While you yourself were not aware. You have been found and also seized.

Because you have engaged in conflict with the Lord. The Lord has opened his armory.

And has brought forth the weapons of his indignation. For it is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the

Chaldeans. Come to her from the farthest border. Open up her barns. Pile her up like heaps.

And utterly destroy her. Let nothing be left to her. But all her young bulls to the sword.

Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe be upon them. For their day has come. The time of their punishment.

Jeremiah calls forth the Medes and the Persians. He calls them to a land of bitterness.

And against those whom God is visiting. God had forged

Babylon into a fine hammer. And he had used that hammer for 70 years.

And now he brings down the hammer on his hammer. He snaps his hammer with the force of the

Medes and the Persians. That doesn't seem right. God can't do that, can he?

Does not the potter have a right over the clay? Will the thing molded say to the molder,

Why have you made me like this? Who is like God? And who will summon him into court?

God brought down the hammer on his hammer. Why? Because Babylon contended with God. And so God brought forth his weapons of indignation.

The Lord of hosts commands the marauding Medes and the prevailing Persians. And what he does with them against Babylon he describes as punishment.

It was punishment. He apportioned to the Babylonians what was their due.

And that's called justice. He gave the

Babylonians what they deserved. What was their due. And that's called justice.

God's basis for justice is his own character. His impartiality as creator is expressed in his justice.

And we know that justice system in the Old Testament as eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.

That's what happens here. When we read verses 28 -34 it will be interesting to note how the things that Babylon did is done exactly back to her.

The things that were said about the other nations whom Babylon conquered are now exactly being said about Babylon.

So we'll see how God's justice remains standing. Verses 28 -34.

There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon.

To declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God. Vengeance for his temple.

Summon many against Babylon. All those who bend the bow. And camp against her on every side.

Let there be no escape. Repay her according to her work. According to all that she has done. So do to her.

For she has become arrogant against the Lord. Against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore her young men will fall in her streets.

And all her men of war will be silenced in that day. Declares the Lord. Behold I am against you,

O arrogant one. Declares the Lord God of hosts. For your day has come. The time when

I will punish you. The arrogant one will stumble and fall with no one to raise him up. I will set fire to his cities.

And it will devour all his environs. Thus says the Lord of hosts. The sons of Israel are oppressed.

And the sons of Judah as well. And all who took them captive have held them fast. They have refused to let them go.

Their redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is his name. He will vigorously plead their case.

So that he may bring rest to the earth. But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

So the fugitives, the refugees of Zion. They are held fast by their captors in Babylon. Babylon is the new

Pharaoh. They won't let God's people go. And they are holding on to them. And they can't go back to the land in Zion.

But they have got to go back. Because they have got to rebuild things. And plant deep there in the land. And get ready for the new covenant to come.

But Babylon doesn't want to let them go. Holding on to them. And so God says.

Well I am going to capture you in a snare. So that you won't be allowed to go.

So eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth. God avenges his temple.

By destroying the temples of Bel and Marduk there in Babylon. Babylon is arrogant against the

Lord. As we remember the final hours of Babylon. Her leaders were using the holy vessels from his temple.

As cups for their wine. To get drunk at their parties. So indeed God says you will stumble and fall like a drunk.

And your empire will fall with you. And so we see how God vigorously pleads the case for his people.

And it says he will bring rest to the earth. Translated also. Bring rest to their land. He will bring rest to their land.

Although Babylon will only have turmoil. Rest for his people. But turmoil for their enemies.

So we see that God gives to Babylon exactly what they deserve. Eye for an eye.

Tooth for a tooth. Babylon had been the stick. God used to beat out the dust from a tapestry of wicked nations.

Including Judah. But many decades later God would use the Medes and the Persians. To beat the dust out of Babylon.

God does that as the redeemer of his people. For he is strong. And so when we see when all the dust settles.

The justice of God remains standing unassailable and unquestionable. When the dust of judicial conflict settles.

The justice of God in Christ remains standing. There will be no successful redefinition of justice in God's book.

God does not keep his dictionary online. As an open source crowdfunded collaborative effort.

And all the back and forth about what is just or unjust. Has already been defined for us in the plain teachings of the

Bible. And here's the news. Here's the good news for those who are very, very concerned about justice.

Here's some good news. Jesus Christ will sift all the tares from all the wheat.

He will sort all the bad fish from all the good. And he will separate all of the goats from the sheep.

On that day when he comes to judge the quick and the dead. The ruler of the kings of the earth.

Who has received the nations as his inheritance. Whom he rules with a rod of iron. He is enthroned on God's holy hill,

Mount Zion. Jesus Christ will see justice done. God's justice is satisfied in two places.

The cross of Jesus Christ. And the coming of Jesus Christ. And God's justice is satisfied at the cross of Jesus Christ.

For all those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus as their savior. And when

God's justice is satisfied for them upon Christ. Then they will know nothing but mercy.

And God's justice is also satisfied against those who are outside of Christ.

At the coming of Christ. And although God had been showing great mercy. And will have shown great mercy to a countless number of people.

At that point the mercy stops. And justice is all that remains. So for what will we cry out?

What will it be? Fourthly the city of Zion remains standing.

The city of Babylon was thought to be the mightiest city of them all. It was true that no other city in the ancient near east could compare with her.

In wealth or in might or in authority or in beauty. Jerusalem at this point in time.

When considering the destruction of Babylon. At that time Jerusalem will be in ruins. Her walls were broken down.

Her inhabitants only the jackals. Surprisingly though the sword and the famine which

God brought on all those who opposed Babylon. He brings on Babylon herself.

And just like Babylon used to be the army from the north that came down and terrorized everybody. Well now an army from the north will terrorize

Babylon. And what was said of nations like Edom will be said precisely of her.

And in the end when the dust settles. It will not be the city of Babylon left standing. But Zion the city of our

God. The remainder of chapter 50 tells us about Babylon a city without comfort.

And at the beginning of chapter 51 we will see in contrast Zion. A city not forsaken.

First of all the city without comfort. Jeremiah 50 verse 35 and following.

A sword against the Chaldeans declares the Lord. And against the inhabitants of Babylon and against her officials and her wise men.

A sword against the Oracle priests. And they will become fools. A sword against her mighty men and they will be shattered.

A sword against their horses and against their chariots. And against all the foreigners who are in the midst of her.

And they will become women. A sword against her treasurers and they will be plundered.

A drought on her waters and they will be dried up. For it is a land of idols.

And they are mad over fearsome idols. Meaning they are losing their minds.

They are going crazy trying to get their idols to deliver them.

Therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals. The ostriches will also live in it. And it will never again be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation.

As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors declares the Lord. No man will live there nor will any son of man reside in it.

Behold the people is coming from the north. And a great nation with many kings will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

They seize their bow and javelin. They are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea.

And they ride on horses marshaled like a man for the battle. Against you oh daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard the report about them.

And his hands hang limp. Distress has gripped him. Agony like a woman in childbirth.

Behold one will come up like a line from the thicket of the Jordan. To a perennially watered pasture.

For in an instant I will make them run away from it. And whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like me?

And who will summon me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before me? Therefore hear the plan of the

Lord which he has planned against Babylon. And his purposes which he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely they will drag them off.

Even the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their pasture desolate because of them. At the shout

Babylon has been seized. The earth is shaken. And an outcry is heard among the nations.

And much the same is said in Revelation 18. It is clear here and there that the fall of Babylon is good news for the saints.

Good news for the saints. In the judgment of God upon his enemies we find the salvation of his people all to his glory.

In great contrast to the city without comfort is a city not forsaken in verses 1 -10.

And we hear of chapter 51. And here there's a picture of a wind of destruction.

God sends a ruach of destruction. A wind that blasts the city and the empire of Babylon.

And as the wind blows God sends his hired workers, his hired laborers, the

Medes and the Persians to do some winnowing. You know what winnowing is? Harvest your grain.

You throw it on the threshing floor. You thresh it with your ox. And so the grain and the stalks and the husks are all separated.

Then you take your winnowing fork. And you're on top of the hill. There's a nice little breeze going. And so you toss the mess up into the air.

And the heavy grain comes down. And the chaff blows away. But on this day

God sends his hired laborers to winnow Babylon. When there's a good old hundred mile an hour straight line

Oklahoma wind blowing. In which the winnowing will have the effect of tossing everything into the air.

And everything, including the grain, is entirely blown away. This will happen so swiftly that the

Babylonian archer won't have time to bend the bow. And the Babylonian soldier will not even have time to get his armor on.

Jeremiah 51, 1 through 10. Thus says the Lord. Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Lebchami, the spirit of a destroyer or a wind of destruction.

I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her and may devastate her land.

For on every side they will be opposed to her in the day of her calamity. Let not him who bends his bow bend it, nor him who rise up in his skill armor.

So do not spare her young men. Devote all her army to destruction. And they will fall down slain in the land of the

Chaldeans and pierced through in their streets. For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his

God, the Lord of hosts. Although their land is full of guilt. Before the Holy One of Israel.

Flee from the midst of Babylon and each of you save his life. Do not be destroyed in her punishment for this is the

Lord's time of vengeance. He is going to render recompense to her. Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the

Lord intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine. Therefore the nations are going mad.

Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken. Wail over her. Bring balm for her pain.

Perhaps she may be healed. We applied healing to Babylon but she was not healed. Forsake her and let us each go to his own country.

For her judgment has reached to heaven and towers up to the very skies. The Lord has brought about our vindication.

Come and let us recount in Zion the work of the Lord our

God. So we hear that although Babylon will be abandoned,

Israel and Judah are not forsaken. They're not forsaken. While the nations try to piece

Babylon back together, cobbling together some kind of life support. And then they wail as they watch her slip away.

The towering smoke of her ruin testifying to the Lord's sovereign vengeance.

What is the truth of it? As the dust settles. By the judgment of his enemies

God has vindicated his people. Through the bringing down of the arrogant wicked, God is raising up his humbled worshippers.

When the dust settles, the cities of man all tumble, but the city of Zion remains.

And God's people return to Zion to recount there to one another the work of the

Lord our God. Look what God has done. Praise be to God.

When the dust of mortal conflict settles, the city of Zion in Christ remains standing.

That is joy and peace and hope for us. What have we done here today but gather in Zion, gather in Christ that we may praise

God for his works and recount his ways and his power. And will not that be heaven for us?

When the thief comes for us and robs us of our lives and our loved ones, and we're gathered to the city of our God, to Jesus Christ and there among his saints at rest, what will we have to talk about?

We're going to recount the work of the Lord our God. And there

Isaiah 62 .12 says, We will be called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out a city not forsaken, not forsaken.

Come back to this interesting story about Babylon.

When God judged Babel the first time, the nations were scattered and the Messianic family was thereby distinguished.

The hope of Messiah was made more manifest by the judgment on Babel as the families of the earth were scattered.

And in fact that family of Messiah left Ur of the Chaldeans for Canaan. When God judged

Babylon the second time, the people of Messiah were released to go back to the land of promise.

And once again Messiah's family left the Chaldeans for Canaan. And as God judged

Babylon the third time, Revelation, the nations once scattered are gathered to the reigning

Messiah on his mountain. Isaiah 25, Revelation 18 -19.

So it is that there were scattered nations, but Messianic family is distinguished, leaving for the promised land.

And then the Messianic family again, after Babylon's judgment, left Chaldea for Canaan.

And then finally we see the hope of the gathered nations. Right after Babylon is judged in Revelation 18,

Revelation 19, people of the earth are gathered to rejoice in Christ. Isaiah 26, 1 -4 says,

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. He sets up walls and ramparts for security.

Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the one that remains faithful. The steadfast of mind you will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting rock. When the dust of human conflict settles, when the dust of cosmic conflict settles, the rock who is

Christ remains standing. When Christ got done wrestling

Jacob, Jacob was on the ground, but Christ was still standing. When Jesus got done with Pharaoh, Pharaoh was not the one standing.

When Christ got done with Jezebel, she was not the one standing. When Christ got done with Haman, he wasn't the one standing.

When Christ got done with Herod, who got eaten by worms, he was not the one left standing.

When Christ got done with Saul of Tarsus, he wasn't the one standing.

And, of course, the central conflict, the biggest dust up in the history of history, came down to when the principalities and powers and the rulers of darkness conspired together to crucify the

Lord of glory. And when the dust finally settled on that account, whether we're talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day or His coming in judgment upon Jerusalem 37 years later, here's the truth of it.

All those who opposed Christ in this conflict, the guards at the tomb were not left standing,

Pilate was not left standing, the priests and the scribes and the Pharisees were not left standing, that generation of the

Jews who gladly accepted the blood guiltiness of the murder of Messiah upon them, they were not left standing,

Jerusalem was not left standing, and the devil was not left standing, stomped as he was in the head by our

Savior with the bruised heel. The fact of the matter is that when the dust settles, not one of us, not one of us will be left standing.

For every knee will bow, for every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Let's pray. Father, we give

You the glory. We thank You that You show Yourself strong as our Redeemer, that as the judge of all the earth

You do what is right. And we thank You that You have given us hope today from Your Word, as we consider the glories of Your Son.

We pray all of these things, giving You the glory. Amen. Amen and amen.

Will you stand as we sing our benediction? This is

Christ, our hope in life and death. The second verse in the chorus twice.

When fears arise, who stands above the stormy trial, who sends the waves that bring us nigh unto the shore, the rock of Christ?

O sing alleluia, our hope springs eternal.

O sing alleluia, now and ever more.

We confess Christ, our hope in life and death.

O sing alleluia, our hope springs eternal.

O sing alleluia, now and ever more.

We confess Christ, our hope in life and death. We confess

Christ, our hope in life and death.

May the love of the Father and the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. We are dismissed.