"Promises, Promises"

Christ as the Fulfillment of God’s Promises

You would favor us with this opportunity to come and behold the wondrous mystery of Christ, that you would give us a clear view of your Son in whom you are well pleased here in Jeremiah chapter 12. Lord, it is our great hope, it is our singular hope, that you would fix our attention upon your Son, our Savior, the mediator, the only mediator between you and us, and that as we focus upon Christ and cling to him by faith and follow him, that by your grace you'll be renewing us into your image, creating us anew and refreshed and fit to bring you glory.

Lord, I pray that today you would give us what we desperately need, the gift of faith, that we would hold fast to your promises and be instructed and encouraged and guarded by them. And I pray these things for the sake of Jesus Christ with whom you are well pleased.

Please open your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 12, and we're going to be looking at verses 14 through 17 this morning. Jeremiah chapter 12 verses 14 through 17. This chapter is structured around questions and answers, questions for God and answers from God.

Jeremiah is frustrated with the prosperity of the wicked, with the ease of the treacherous, and he wants to know how long the land must suffer until God takes action and brings justice to bear on these wicked idolaters.

God answers Jeremiah in perhaps surprising ways. The first answer that God gives to Jeremiah in verses 5 and 6 is a reproof, telling Jeremiah that there's more to come. Buckle up, Jeremiah, beware who you listen to.

He also answers with a lament. God tells Jeremiah, speaks to Jeremiah and through Jeremiah his lament about the wickedness and the consequences in the land. That although Jeremiah is frustrated and godly people are frustrated and concerned about wickedness and the consequences for the land, God is far more.

He knows more and cares more about these things than we do or we can. And so God's answer of reproof must be submitted to, his answer of lament must be confessed and amen in our heart. And then for the third answer, God gives Jeremiah promises.

Promises. Jeremiah says, I would speak with you about matters of justice. Why? How long? And God answers Jeremiah by giving him promises. If you would please stand with me, we'll be reading from Jeremiah 12 verses 14 through 17.

This is the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord concerning all my wicked neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed my people Israel. Behold, I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will again have compassion on them and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance, each one to his land. Then if they will really learn the ways of my people to swear by my name as the Lord lives, even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of my people.

But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it, declares the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. One of my favorite things about traveling to the country is to look at the stars at night and to see them much brighter and much clearer than in the city where there's a bunch of lights that seem to dim the stars.

We were down with Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Sherry for Thanksgiving near Allen and Ada and in the middle of nowhere, not very many lights, we could really see the stars. Playing with the kids, we're playing flashlight tag in the dark and you could really see the stars.

And that's the way it is. David Nicholas writes, God's promises are like the stars. The darker the night, the brighter they shine. God's promises. Jeremiah is in a dark night. He's going through some very difficult times.

And in God's response, he not only reproves Jeremiah for his good, not only does God lament to Jeremiah to change his perspective, but he also gives Jeremiah promises that he can cling to. Promises. When we are in trials and tribulations, when we are entangled by questions, when we know that we need wisdom and ask by faith to receive the wisdom of God, very often he will give us promises to which we must hold fast.

And I think that's a good opportunity here as we finish up chapter 12 of Jeremiah to prepare our heart for the that are fulfilled in Christ. If any of us lack wisdom, let us ask of God in faith. Faith in what?

Faith in who? Faith in God's word, in his revelation, faith in God's promises. In other words, faith in Jesus Christ. He is the word of God. He's the only begotten God of the father who is in the bosom of the father, and only he has revealed him.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 20 says, for as many as are the promises of God, for as many as are the promises of God in Christ, in him, they are yes. Which means you go find the promises of God. As many as there are, go find them.

Search the scriptures for the promises of God, and you will find them fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For as many as are the promises of God in Christ, they are yes. Therefore also through him, through Christ, is our amen to the glory of God through us.

So when we look at the promises of God, we should be looking to Christ. Doesn't that prepare us for Christmas? So we think about the promises that God made concerning his son, how they are fulfilled. Promises, promises.

Jeremiah’s Calling and the Promise of God’s Presence

What will sustain Jeremiah in his most difficult calling? Promises will. God told Jeremiah it would be difficult. Back in chapter 1 of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

And before you were born, I consecrated you. I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations. What a calling. What a task. A prophet to the nations. Jeremiah would have to preach to Moab and to Edom.

He would have to preach to Babylon. He must preach to Judah. Who is he? He's a young man. He says, the last Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak because of my youth. But the Lord said to me, do not say I'm a youth, because everywhere I see you, you shall go.

And all that I command you, you shall be speak. Do not be afraid of them. Okay, but that's a really tall task. And there's a lot of fearful things. So what's going to sustain Jeremiah in this calling?

God says, do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you. Do you hear the promise? That's what sustains Jeremiah. It's the promise. I am with you to deliver you. And what about this word that Jeremiah preaches?

Is it a sure word? Will it come to pass? Verse 11, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, what do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. And the Lord said to me, you have seen well, for I'm watching over my word to perform it.

That doesn't mean much to us, but we don't speak Hebrew. Almond is pronounced shaked in the Hebrew, and watching is shaked as well. Spelling's barely different. The almond tree was the first to bloom.

And so when you saw the almond tree bloom, you knew that spring was just about to come. And in the same way, God was saying to Jeremiah, I am watching over my word. When I give you the word and you preach the word, it's just like the almond tree blooming, spring is just around the corner.

So when you preach the word, the fulfillment of that word is just around the corner. It's sure to happen. It gives them a promise. What if it gets difficult? Verse 19, they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.

Yes, Jeremiah, it's going to be difficult, but Jeremiah, I'm going to be with you. The promises are what sustains Jeremiah. And Jeremiah is in a very difficult time. He's questioning God. It's confessional questioning, but he's still having a difficult time.

What does God respond with? He responds with promises in verses 14 through 17. That's what we need to look at this morning because we need to live according to the promises of God. When we see things and experience things that we know they're not right, when we hear about things and come into the knowledge of things that we know are not right and they burden us and they hurt us, we ask God about them.

His answers include promises that we are to hold to. Now, you may have noticed that when I read verses 14 through 17, that verse 14 and verse 17 talk about judgment and verses 15 and 16 talk about salvation.

The outer two verses talk about judgment and the inner two verses talk about salvation. Did you see that pattern? So, we're going to talk about the judgment first and then talk about the salvation. Many times the Hebrew authors will organize their thoughts in this way, and they will layer them, outer layers and inner layers, and the most inner layer is the most important thought that they have.

But we need to think about salvation bracketed by judgment and think about how this answers questions concerning righteousness. Look at this judgment in verses 14 and 17. Thus says the Lord concerning all my wicked neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed my people Israel.

Behold, I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. This judgment is personal. Do you hear God? He takes it personally. My wicked neighbors. Do you see it?

My wicked neighbors. Why are they his neighbors? Do you have any wicked neighbors, by the way? I do, and many times I'm wondering why doesn't God move them away? I'm tired of their wickedness. I'm tired of the things that they do.

They cause disruption in my neighborhood. God looks at his wicked neighbors and says, Jeremiah, you may be concerned about the wickedness, but these are ultimately my wicked neighbors. Why are they his neighbors?

Because this is his people. This is his people Judah. He has put his name among them. He has put his temple among them. He has invested his name among them, his glory among them, and the neighbors, the nations around him strike at his people, and God takes it personally.

God takes it personally when anyone strikes at his people. Ask Saul of Tarsus. Jesus confronts him on the road to Damascus and says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And Saul says, I don't know who you are, but Saul persecutes Christ insofar as he persecutes the church.

Do you realize that as upset as we might be about the ways in which the secular left is persecuting Christianity in our nation, and the way that radical Islam is persecuting the church around the world, and radical Hindus are persecuting the church around the world, as much as we are concerned about that, do you realize it's not really ultimately about us or against us?

And do you realize that as upset as you might get from time to time, do you realize that Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, sitting at the right hand of the Father, takes it personally? And don't you think he's going to take care of it in his good power, in his good time, in his good way?

God says, my wicked neighbors are striking at my people, at the inheritance that I have given them. This is an answer to Jeremiah, because God says, yeah, I noticed Jeremiah, I've noticed, and I take it personal.

You can give it over to God. This is an answer. This is an essential answer to Jeremiah's questions, and our questions about justice, about injustice. God says, I'm going to take care of it. I'm going to judge.

I'm going to make things right. That's a promise. Judgment is a promise. It's an answer to our concerns, our questions, our deep disquietude at the injustice, at the heinous crimes that we hear of and encounter in our world.

But I also want you to notice about this judgment, that it comes in a different, a couple of different ways. In verse 14, we hear that God is going to uproot all these wicked neighbors from their land, as much as he's going to uproot Judah from their land, because they're all idolatrous.

They're all wicked. And yet, in verses 15 and 16, we find out that this temporal judgment of removing them from their land is all for the opportunity for them to repent of their sins, to swear by the name of the Lord, to come back to their land at the right time, and to live by faith in the one true God.

This temporal judgment gives opportunity for repentance and faith. I think we've heard about situations like this. We see that temporal, sometimes we say natural, sometimes national judgment is very often an opportunity for repentance, very often an opportunity for a call back to God.

And that this is part of the answer, that God says, my judgment will come in this way first, to provide opportunity for faith and repentance. Disaster is not merely the lightning storm, which makes us question justice.

It is also the fertilizing, refreshing providence of God for salvation opportunity. But we also find a different kind of judgment. In verse 17, if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it, declares the Lord.

There's a sense of finality there, isn't it? At first, there's a sense of opportunity, but at the end, it's a sense of finality, an eternal kind of judgment, that the one who hardens his neck after much reproof will be suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy, Proverbs 29 .1 says.

We must look at judgment as an opportunity to call for repentance and faith, and even the judgment of others, even the disaster that we see around the world. In Luke chapter 13, verses one through five, Jesus is addressed by the crowd, and they want him to comment on the fact that there were some Gentiles that Pilate was seeking with his soldiers, and he found them offering up their pagan offerings or pagan sacrifices, and he killed them and mixed their blood in with those sacrifices.

And these Jewish people, telling Jesus, obviously indicated they got what they deserved, those idolaters. And Jesus says, no, you missed the point. No, unless you repent, you will likewise perish, he says to them.

Meaning, unless you repent, you will perish unprepared for eternity. When we see judgment, when we see disaster, when we see that God and his providence brings natural disasters in our world and disasters in people's lives as a form of judgment, what lesson should we take?

Oh, they deserve that. Didn't they have that coming? People talked about New Orleans that way when the Hurricane Katrina. Yeah, that sinful city got exactly what it deserved. They're not listening to Jesus very well, are they?

Jesus said, no, you missed the point. Unless you repent, you will likewise perish unprepared. And then Jesus goes on to say, what about the 18 men from Jerusalem? Oh, holy Jerusalem. The people who live in Jerusalem are so much higher and closer to God than us.

The 18 men from Jerusalem upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, killing them. It's the same lesson. Unless you repent, you will likewise perish unprepared to die. That's the lesson we should take from all of the forms of judgment that we see in the here and now.

The temporal, natural, national forms of judgment that we see now offer opportunity to prepare us to get our minds right about the fact that an eternal judgment is coming. One that is absolutely final.

One that is final. Do you realize that that final judgment is overseen, administrated by our Savior Jesus Christ? Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2. Begin reading in verse 7. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord.

He said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a Who is this that judges the nations?

It is Christ. It is the anointed one of God. Because he is king of kings, Lord of lords, and all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth. He is a name which is above every name and all authority to judge.

Now therefore, O kings, take discernment in light of the final judgment. Kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence. Rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son that he not become angry as you perish in the way.

For his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in him. Sometimes skeptics will look in the Old Testament and they will see themes of judgment. And they will belittle Christians for believing the Old Testament.

But the skeptics who are more well-versed, who have actually read the Bible a little bit more, recognize that there is a unity about the message of judgment from old to new. In Revelation chapter 14 verses 10 and 11, speaking of those who reject God, speaking of the person who rejects God and follows Satan, he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength, in the cup of his anger.

And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast at his image and whoever receives the mark of his name.

Revelation 19 .3, hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. It says, this is the judgment of God. This is an answer to Jeremiah. God, why? Why do the wicked prosper? How long? God says, Jeremiah, these are my wicked neighbors.

They're waiting for salvation. And then I will bring final judgment. And we see in the full witness of Scripture, it is Christ who brings it to bear. Now, how do we use this promise of judgment? We don't like to talk about judgment normally.

I haven't noticed at Lifeway or Mardell, small group Bible studies on judgment, you know, judgment and its pictures, you know, those kinds of things. I don't really find that anywhere, do we? Sure is a whole lot of it in the Scriptures, though.

A whole lot of it in the Scriptures. And I think part of our challenge is we don't know how to use passages like this. What do we do with that? First of all, I think just taking our cues from the Scriptures themselves, if you just pay attention to the Scriptures themselves, you will be guided by the Holy Spirit, by the text itself, how we're supposed to apply these things, how we're supposed to understand them, and what impact they may make on our lives.

First of all, it should lead us to repentance. The fact that God is holy, holy, holy, that he takes sin so seriously should lead us to repentance. It's far too much don't ask, don't tell in our churches.

Don't ask me how I'm doing. Don't ask me about my sin. And I'm not going to tell you anything either. We're all going to pretend like there's no problems in any of our lives. And as long as we don't ever talk about judgment from the Scripture, we won't ever have a problem.

I'm good, you're good, we're all good. But the Scriptures, the truth of God, is meant for our sanctification. And we hear about the judgment of God, how he feels about sin, it should lead us to repentance.

It should also lead us to reverence. Rejoice in trembling, Psalm 2 says. Rejoice in trembling, Peter says, seeing how these things are so in reverence, live with Godly fear, live in holiness. It should lead us to reverence, a healthy, honoring fear of God that we know with whom we have to do.

That it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of a living God, the preacher of the Hebrews says. That these things are so. Do we know who we worship? Do we know to whom we sing? Do we know to whom we pray?

Are we actually dealing with the God of the Bible or the little God of our imagination? When we deal with passages about judgment, it should also lead us to compassion. If we really believe the truth about judgment in the scriptures, it should lead us to compassion on those, to have compassion on those who reject God, deny God, who live without God.

Shouldn't it? This is why it's healthy for us to pay attention to passages about judgment, to listen to Jesus when he says things about the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, and not just move on to the next parable.

Because we need to have a compassion developed in us for the lost, for those who don't know Christ, for those who are living without him. Passages about judgment should also lead us to comfort. And then this is not the sinful kind of attitude where we rejoice when our enemy falls, that we are warned against, but to take comfort in the fact in God's sovereign power, all injustice and all evil and all sin will be dealt with appropriately and rightly and fully.

That we have comfort in ultimate righteousness because of God's judgment. Promises for Jeremiah. An answer to Jeremiah. You want to speak about matters of justice with me, Jeremiah? Well, God says to him, I will judge.

I promise it will happen. Also, he promises to save. He promises to save, verses 15 and 16. He says, it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will again have compassion on them. And I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance, each one to his land.

Then, if they will really learn the ways of my people to swear by my name as the Lord lives, even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of my people. And we hear the expressions of salvation here.

Compassion, rather than hatred. There is a bringing back, rather than exile. There is being built up, rather than desolation. The expressions of salvation here. And we see in this, God's sovereignty. Did you notice?

I uproot them. After I have uprooted, I will have compassion. I will bring them back. Do you hear it? Who's doing this? Who's in charge of this? Who's orchestrating this? It's God. God in his sovereignty saves.

And that the fact that God's temporal judgments turn out to be severe mercies, the frame for the painting of deliverance, all of that testifies to God's sovereign goodness. It's his sovereignty that saves.

It's his sovereignty that backs the promise, that backs the promise to Jeremiah that indeed, I will do this. God is clearly in charge of this. And he focuses matters around his servant, his servant. In this case, at this stage in Revelation, we have God's people, Judah.

Notice that there's compassion on these pagan nations, compassion on the Gentiles. There's a return of the Gentiles to their own inheritance, their own lands. The Gentiles are being brought to their own lands again.

The Gentiles are supposed to learn how to swear by the name of God as the Lord lives, as Yahweh lives. From whom will they learn this? They will learn it from my people, God says. These Gentile nations taught my people how to be idolatrous, how to swear by Baal.

But in the course of my saving these Gentiles and bringing them back to their lands, they will learn from my people to say, as the Lord lives. And if this is the case, that this is what will happen, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.

So just take note there in verse 16, my people, my people, my people. So he's talking about his servant. God had called the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to glorify him as the image of God.

They were to live as the corporate image of God and they were to show God's image. They were to show the truth of God and call the nations around them to God, to the one true God in repentance and faith.

They did not do this well. In fact, if you turn back to Jeremiah chapter 4, it is to this role as a mediator, it is to this role as those who are to lead the pagans to salvation, it is back to that role that God calls Israel, chapter 4 verses 1 and 2.

If you will return, O Israel, declares the Lord, then you should return to me. And if you will put away your detested things from my presence and will not waver, and you will swear as the Lord lives, sound familiar, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations, then the Gentiles will bless themselves in him, in the Lord, and in him, in the Lord, they will glory.

Do you hear the purpose? Do you hear the role of God's people, God's servant Israel? They were to be fixated upon God and worship God and not turn aside to the detestable things. And as they worshiped God and praised God, they would be the light for the nations to also come to God and worship him alone.

They weren't doing that. They were idolatrous. And so God says, Israel, repent, repent, return to me, and in sincerity call on my name as the Lord lives. And then you will teach the nations to do that as well.

And this is how God was calling them back to what God told Abram, in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. But Israel was not doing that, were they? They weren't doing that. But there's a promise of salvation.

God promises that if the nations will come to him and swear by his name to truly believe in him, repenting away from their idolatry, no more they swear by Baal, but swear by the Lord, the land will be restored.

They will no longer be at war with one another because they're all going to be built up together in the people of God. And they're going to know the one true God. They would love God supremely, love each other rightly, and steward their land responsibly.

And the image of God is restored. This is the great hope. But I'm curious about the spatial terms in the text. How is it that these Gentile nations are going to be brought back, each one to their own inheritance, all where they're supposed to be?

Look at the back of your Bible, you'll find the maps. How is that supposed to be when it says that they're going to be built up, but they're going to be built up in the midst of my people? Judah comes back to their land, Moab comes back to their land, Eden comes back to their land, but how are they going to be built up if they have to be built up in the midst of my people?

How does that work? Kind of curious. It's kind of like that street of gold in the New Jerusalem that has a river running through it and a tree on either side of the same street. Prophetic images stacked on top of one another.

I think what's going on here, and I think it's what's always going on in the text, is that we're looking forward to something, a promise that is fulfilled in Christ. As many as are the promises of God, they are yes in Christ.

So, who is the servant of God? Ultimately, it's Jesus Christ. And this is all the more clearly revealed when Zechariah begins to reflect on Jeremiah and starts prophesying about the good news. Here's a good reading for you this afternoon, Zechariah chapter 2, verses 1 through 12.

When was the last time you read Zechariah? In your yearly Bible reading, probably. But here's the story. Zechariah lifts his eyes up and he sees a man, a young man going along, and he's got a measuring line in his hand.

He's going to measure some cubits and some stadia. He's going to go figure out how big we're going to rebuild Jerusalem. He's going to go out and plot the walls. This is how big Jerusalem is going to be.

It's rebuilt. And the angel says, go stop him. Run, talk to that young man. Saying, no, no, no, stop. Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls, without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle within it.

So the angel says, Zechariah, go stop him. We're not going to measure for new walls. This new Jerusalem is going to have no walls because there's going to be so many people in it. And God says, I will be a wall of fire around her and I will be the glory in her midst.

A lot of people. Well, it's only less than 50 ,000 came back with Ezra. Where are all these people coming from? You keep on reading. Sing for joy, verse 10, and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.

The glory in your midst. Many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become my people. And then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.

The Lord will possess Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and I will again choose Jerusalem. There's a whole lot there, I think, but here's the point. The Lord says, the Lord sends me. When the Lord says, the Lord sends me, it's the Son saying, the Father sends me.

He sends me to dwell amongst you, to dwell in your midst in this new Jerusalem. And in this day, when I come to dwell in your midst, many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that time, in that day.

And that's why there's going to be such a big multitude that you shouldn't build walls around Jerusalem because there's going to be too many of them. And the Lord will be the wall about her, the wall of fire about this Jerusalem.

Further reflection. What is this new Jerusalem? Aren't we told by the Bible? Do not the apostles tell us? Does not Christ tell us? But you have come to Mount Zion, Hebrews 12, 22, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly in the church of the firstborn who were enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

I think here in Jeremiah chapter 12, when God says, even the Gentiles will be taught to swear by my name, and they will each be given their inheritance back, and they will be built up in the midst of my people, that he is saying they will be built up in Jesus Christ, who is the representative head of the people of God.

So how does that help us? I think it helps us understand the connection between judgment and salvation. Why, Lord? Why do the wicked prosper? How long are we going to have to endure this? And God says, all in my good timing, until the Gentiles are brought in, until the full weight of all the people are brought in.

Isn't this what Peter says in 2 Peter 3, 3 through 13, in the last days, scoffers say, where is the day of his coming? It's not going to happen. God is patient, he's long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The full, the full wealth of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross. Maximal salvation for all whom Christ died upon the cross will be brought in to the new Jerusalem. It will not be an empty chair. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 13, 24 through 30.

You remember the story of the wheat and the tares? Now normally that story is told, this is what the church is like, there's the wheat and the tares in the church. Jesus says, the field is the world. Read it for yourself.

He says, the field is the world. And he says, there are the wheat and there are the tares. The tares were sown by an enemy, but the wheat, obviously what the owner of the field wants to gather in. As the wheat and the tares come up, they look the same, but when they get full grown, it's obvious which is which.

The servants want to tear out all of the tares, all of the weeds and get rid of them, but the owner says, not until the day of harvest, lest you uproot the wheat. On the day of the harvest, what happens?