FBC Morning Light (8/31/2024)

Faith Baptist Church

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Good Saturday morning, people of faith. This weekend's reading is from Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51, as well as Ezekiel chapters 26 through 28.

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The primary thrust of chapters 50 and 51 of Jeremiah have to do with judgment against Babylon, and then 26 through 28 of the book of Ezekiel is judgment against Tyre and Sidon.

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In the midst of that, there's this fascinating little passage in chapter 50 of the book of Jeremiah, and we're going to look at verses 18 through 20.

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It says, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, God of Israel.

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So this is the Lord talking, this is him speaking directly through Jeremiah to the people of Israel.

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He says, behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I have punished the king of Assyria.

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Now the timeframe we're dealing with here is the nation of Israel has been, the northern kingdom has been wiped out by the

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Assyrians already. And several, over a hundred years later now, the

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Babylonians have started dismantling the southern kingdom.

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They've taken some into exile into Babylon, and there are some left in Jerusalem.

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And so when he says, as I have punished the king of Assyria, the

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Lord had raised up Assyria as a punishment for the northern tribe, and then in their pride, the

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Assyrians' pride, they went too far and the Lord punished the

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Assyrians. And that's what's happening to Babylon. So they have this historical precedent of, look, this is what's happened to Assyria.

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This is going to happen to you, Babylon. Then in verse 19, it says, but I will bring back

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Israel to his home and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan.

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His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and in that time, says the

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Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none.

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And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found. All right. So this is a picture of the new covenant, that the forgiveness of sins that the

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Lord says that he will separate us from our sins as the

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East is from the West. And that's East and West on the globe never meet.

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And notice that it doesn't say North and South, because North and South do sort of meet.

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If you're at the North Pole, every direction you go from the North Pole is South.

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And if you're at the South Pole, every direction you go is North. So, but this is the separation.

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The iniquity shall be of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none. And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found.

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And there was a time, I believe that when

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Christ was alive on this earth, during his earthly ministry, that the nation thought that they had may have achieved this, but I don't think so.

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This is a picture of the new covenant. And it's at the end of verse 20, it says something even more profound.

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It says, for I will pardon those whom I preserve.

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Notice who is the primary actor in all of these verses.

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It's God who's going to punish the Babylonians. It's God who has punished the

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Assyrians. And it is God who will bring back the nation to the land.

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And it is God who will preserve and pardon.

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All right, from this, this idea hearkens strongly to that principle of preservation or perseverance of the saints.

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And so where this doctrine oftentimes gets confused is we forget who it is that does the preserving.

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Because oftentimes we think the story is about us.

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And so if we think that this salvation story is about what we have done and not

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God choosing to pardon, then it's very likely that we will think that our preservation is based upon our faithfulness rather than on what

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God is doing and what God has done.

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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your pardoning us and your preserving us and the relationship that you have created in us and giving us a new heart and letting us trust in you for our salvation.

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It's in your son's name, Jesus, we pray, amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.