Sunday Morning, November 10, 2019 AM

Prayer for Grace and Thanksgiving

Concerning your son whatever it is that you want to do father. We ask that you would do it help us to trust you help us to Really grow into The shape that you have for us in Christ. Let's do grow into it to be built up into it To flesh it out fill it out and really live and love.

And speak as your son in this world would have us to speak and live. You pray all these things. Asking for these graces seeking these mercies knowing that It's your son with whom you are well-pleased pray these things in his name.

Amen. Oh, well Thank you again. That was very kind of you. I will I will share this with Becca. I promise. That's a very touching thank you very much. You know people keep on asking me well, how's the church going that's what you're supposed to ask a pastor, you know.

Well, how's the church going? And And I just have nothing but Thanksgiving really just honest to goodness is a joy to be your shepherd to work with the other elders and To shepherd this flock you all are a joy.

And it's a great blessing for my wife and I to be here. Thank you for praying for Sophia she's in the hospital several days this week and You know, it's not been easy not been easy but thank you for praying for us.

You know God was good at answering the prayers and that's why she's home Feeling better and the kids are on the mend. So and just keep praying. Thank you so much. That's the greatest greatest gift you could give to to me and to my family that you be in prayer for us.

Jeremiah’s Promise of the Righteous Branch

Thank you very much. I Invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Jeremiah 33 and We'll be reading verses 14 through 26 again this morning. We are to keep in mind the need for Jeremiah to walk by faith and not by sight.

That was his need as he was in prison for preaching the Word of God. It was the need of the exiles. The Jews living in Babylon away from their homeland and about to receive some very bad news about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

It's our need as well to walk by faith and not by sight whatever the news is. That is on the horizon or in our hearts, whatever it is we have the need to walk by faith and not by sight and we've been given this promise that The Lord says call to me and I will answer call to me and I will answer.

This is what he says Jeremiah. This is what he says to the exiles. This is our promise that we Capture in Christ we would call to God and he will answer us. Now as I read verses 14 through 26 of Jeremiah 33 Let's remember what we began to talk about last week that as we focus in on Our true righteousness.

It is the Lord who is our righteousness. This means two things first that our righteousness is personal. It's all about who this Lord is this branch of David this reigning branch From David the righteous King Jesus Christ.

Not only is our righteousness personal, but it is also Permanent we're gonna see that this morning From our passage if you please stand with me as we hear the word of the Lord through his through the Spirit Christ speaks to the prophet.

Here is the words of our King Jesus Christ Jeremiah 33 beginning in verse 14. Behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will fulfill the good word, which I have spoken Concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah in those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch of David to spring forth and he shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety and this is the name by which you shall be called.

The Lord is our righteousness for that says the Lord David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man Before me to offer burnt offerings to burn great to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying thus says the Lord if you can break my covenant for the day and my covenant for the night so that the day and night will not be at their appointed time then my covenant may also be broken with David my servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne and with The Levitical priests my ministers as the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying have you not observed what this people have spoken saying the two Families which the Lord chose he has rejected them thus they despise my people no longer.

Are they as a nation in their sight thus says the Lord if my covenant for day and night stand not and The fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established. Then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, but I Will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on Them this is the word of the Lord may be seated.

The Stain of Reputation and the Fear of Failure

I know it's no surprise to you that a child would fixate on their favorite shirt or pajamas or blanket and never bear to let it out of their sight or off their person and in short order this treasured object becomes very dingy and stained and It is incumbent upon parents who are wise and knowing to buy an exact copy of The treasured item maybe two or three and To have them on hand So that the child always has their favorite shirt.

It's hard to keep something unstained it's hard to keep it fresh and clean when it's always being worn. I think you probably have a Familiarity a story or two about your favorite shirt and as soon as you realize it was your favorite shirt the washer ate it.

Or it's a moths ate it or something happened to your favorite dress shirt something always is staining and it's difficult enough to keep our Clothes unstained. What about our reputations? Something you can't ever take off you can never get rid of it you you have your reputation that others believe about you your family your friends your co-workers what they believe about you and We know the stress and strain of keeping that unspotted.

We want others to think well of us and some of those motives are good we also have a different type of stress and strain the The the thoughts we have of our own selves our self assessment. That is Incredibly difficult to keep clean unless we are Some sort of sociopath and have no guilt at all.

That we have this internal understanding of our reputation to how we view ourselves and it can be very very stained and We have a stress and a strain of keeping that right. I think this is why we feel such frustration when another person Has a new holy passion When they have a new righteous zeal and they begin to share all about Their new holiness their new endeavor in holiness their new Understanding of living in a righteous way and they when they talk about it with all sorts of zeal we want to change the subject or Change our particular location.

We want to go somewhere else. We don't want to hear about it because immediately it is it is Interpreted it is gathered up by ourselves as something that is yet another blemish on us another mark against us because we don't have the same zeal as this other Holy person we don't have the same Intensity about this righteous way of living and so we don't want to hear about it because it just adds to The strain of how we feel about ourselves and every time we try something new anyway.

That zeal is very often Sometimes a covering for the fear that we have this new endeavor and this new act of obedience this new Attempt to do something good for Christ something good for God. Either for our own persons or our families or our church, whatever it is.

We begin to We begin to wonder if it's going to end up in failure like so many of the other new endeavors that we had and The great zeal and the energy that we have at the beginning Covers up and tries to hide that fear that maybe we're not going to get it done.

Maybe this is going to end up like with failure just like the last time. Why did it fall apart? Maybe we just didn't follow Christ well enough. We didn't pray enough. Maybe we didn't have the right attitude.

We we weren't kind and Unselfish. Perhaps it was just short-sightedness just a mistake and Then there's the situation where you're and this is going to happen because it's Thanksgiving Coming up and Christmas is going to come up and you're going to be hanging out with your relatives and for the 15th time.

You're gonna hear a story from one of your relatives and it will be one of their achievement stories. It will be it will be about how they achieved something how they alone in the situation. Understood what was really going on how they alone? knew the answers and took the right actions and how so many people didn't listen to them and Therefore they ended up in the way that they ended up obviously and what is so carefully airbrushed out of that story.

What is so progressively edited about that story that the 15th time? You've heard it. Is that that person's own? Failings that person's selfishness that person's Cutting tongue that person's failures that that's all taken away.

And so the achievement story comes out again now listen. Our justification is not in our reputations our justification is not in our records and. Any new passion any new investment any new achievement all of these will fail to confirm us before God.

Our righteousness is Personal in that it is in the person of Jesus Christ. Talked about last week that Christ saves seats at his table from his throne. We only have our acceptance with God as we are in Christ Jesus through faith.

Alone, it is the personal righteousness of Jesus Christ, which imputed to us reckoned to our accounts by faith. It is only that which covers us and brings us into acceptance Before God and that righteousness never fails.

Not only is this righteousness personal because it's in Christ, but because of who Christ is. That righteousness never fails. Christ's glory as our righteous robes. Never frays Christ's glory as our righteous robes never frays.

Where is our Savior Christ? He is at the right hand of the Father. He has a name which is above every name. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. He has been given the highest exalted position. He is all-glorious now.

Where are? we. By faith, what does the scripture say? We are seated with him at the right hand. So we look at the text in verses 17 through 18. We have this connection. That is stunning. It says the Lord that says the Lord.

David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel and the Levitical priests. Shall never lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices Continually and this this man who sits upon the throne that was promised to David.

Those he gathers to his place. By what name will they be called? The Lord is our righteousness. Because the king from David eternally reigns Those he reigns over Those who are with him in his place. They are forever Accepted to the before the face of God.

They are welcome before him in all of their worship. Christ's glory is our standing the exaltedness of the righteous branch from David that Exaltedness that glory is what assures that those who are with him in him for him.

His glory is what assures that his people are forever accepted Before God forever righteous in God's sight forever known by this name. The Lord is our righteousness. Jeremiah is in prison. The Jews are in exile.

They have a pressing need to know that their standing with God does not depend on whether or not Jerusalem stands for another day because it might not. They need to know that their Relationship to God is not dependent on whether or not the temple remains Unspoiled because it's about to get burned down.

So, how are they going to understand their relationship to God in? The wake of the temple's destruction and the burning of the Holy City and the toppling of David's throne and the loss of the promised Land, what do these Jews have to look forward to?

I Left why continue. Why obey the instructions sent by Jeremiah to be fruitful and multiply to pray for the prosperity of their oppressors? Why not just give up? Why not just you know close the book on their culture that well that was that was a good ride.

We're done. Why not just intermingle with the nations and go out quietly into the brutal night of an uncaring history? Because God promises them a new covenant. He just promised them a new covenant. He says this new covenant will be forged in your land To which you're gonna go back.

It will be birthed From their people. It will be birthed from their people and they will continue Pray for me. And they will be marked by his ruler. Something remained for this people in that land. In God's plan the new covenant.

They had that to look forward to. This new covenant was not a betrayal of the old, but it was a fulfillment. All the other covenant pinnacles that you could think of from Noah and Abraham and Israel and David these were the foothills of the mountain.

They were the lead-in to the mountain the new covenant. So when the city when the temple when the throne when the land were all cut down by the acts of God's judgment and burned in his holy wrath God's covenant remained standing Unsinged Undamaged without even the smell of fire on it just like Jeremiah and the Jews.

We need assurances that the seats that Christ saves for us from his throne will never be revoked. In our suffering in our doubt when we sin when we obey. We need to know that the glory of Christ, which clothes us as our righteousness will never fray in this text.

There are three reasons why our Righteousness is permanent in the new covenant. These three reasons are not exhaustive. This is just what this text says first Christ's glory as our righteous raiment is interwoven with God's created order.

Second Christ's glory as our righteousness is sown with God's covenant guarantees. Third Christ's glory as our righteousness is fitted by God's unfailing mercies. First the glory of Christ which we wear as our righteousness the Merits of Christ the perfections of Christ which cover us by faith by which God accepts us.

That glory is Interwoven with God's created order and notice verse 19 the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying this says the Lord if you can break my covenant before the day and my Covenant for the night so that day and night will not be at their appointed time then My covenant may also be broken with David my servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne.

And with Levitical priests my ministers that imagery. Can you stop the day? Can you stop the night? Can you interrupt the cycle of? Sun moon and stars from day to day the month the year. Can you interrupt that can you stop that?

Well, then good luck stopping my promises to David. Now that is those are some reinforcing pillars to our faith. When we hear words like that about God's promises the oncoming destruction of Jerusalem.

Sped toward the Jews like a freight train with no brakes on a steep downgrade. They're not going to avoid the collision. It's coming. So here's what they need to know. When their world comes completely undone.

When the lights go out God's promises have not failed. The world will come undone for them. The lights are going to go out. Those that's the language that Jeremiah used of the destruction of Jerusalem in chapter 4 of Jeremiah verse 23.

He says I looked on the earth and behold. It was formless and void. And to the heavens and they had no light. So when you read Jeremiah chapter 4 your he will say thus says the Lord I'm bringing judgment upon Jerusalem upon Judea and all these things will come about and they will be destroyed.

What does Jeremiah see? What is the visual expression of that judgment that destruction? The world will come undone formless and void the lights are going to go out. Now when that happens what happens to God's promises.

What Does it mean for God's promises to Abraham Israel and David. What about his promise to Noah that the lights wouldn't go out. I Mean, how does this all fit together? Well at the very least consider the comforting reinforcing nature of these terms.

God tells Jeremiah in the exiles of his day that the cycle of day and night which God commanded from the beginning of time. This steady on never ceasing routine which have been clicking along for about 1 .25 million days by Jeremiah's time.

That was as soon fail as God's promise to David. What God had promised 400 years ago to David was as infallible as what he had established 3 ,400 years ago in the creation week. So as expectant as we are that the Sun will come up and the stars will shine.

So certain we ought to be about God keeping his promises. That's reinforcing to us. It's also humbling to us because man can be very arrogant. Currently all sorts of people in our culture are all into confession.

Confession is good for the soul even in these confessions. Arrogance Just permeates. Man is so arrogant. He thinks we can destroy life on earth in ten years. Man is so arrogant. He thinks that we can actually burn the whole Amazon rainforest.

Why. Because man is a god. Man thinks he is a god. Man thinks he is a god who can save humanity and the planet or he thinks he's a god. Who can destroy humanity in the planet? Now the Jews failed to keep covenant with God.

But they ought not think they're so powerful that they can keep God from bringing to pass his promises. They're not going to cause God to fail even if they do. So who do we think we are? Right. Who do we think we are?

Can we keep the Sun from rising? Can we hold back the night? Then how in the world do we think that by some failure or by some mistake on our part that we could ever keep God from doing exactly what he promised to do.

In that kind of humbling language our faith is reinforced by these pillars, but these pillars are established upon the doctrinal bedrock of the preeminence of Christ. We make this connection that God's covenant promises to David and his covenant promises today about the day and the night and These are Connected by the sovereign Word of God.

Yes, but it's more thorough than that God's goes so far as to say in verses 25 and 26 Thou says the Lord if my covenant for day and night stand not and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth. I have not established.

Then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham Isaac And Jacob, but I will restore their fortunes and I'll have mercy on them so God says to Jeremiah in the exiles.

Let's do a thought experiment. Can you imagine if I had not? Established The cycle of day and night. Can we even go there with our minds? Can we even envision a world in which we live where? There is no Lunar cycle to know what day of the month it is where there is no Movement of the stars to know what day of the year it is.

Can't can we really do that? He says if it were possible that I had not even established the created order. Then it would be possible that I won't keep my promises what God promised to David he brings about through David's seed.

As you read in your text the word descendants descendants descendants there at the end of the passage that's the word seed every time. What what God promised to David he brings about through his promised seed the son of David Jesus Christ the righteous branch.

So God is saying this created order Will not fail. My promises will not fail concerning Christ concerning the son of David why? Well the created order cannot fail because all of its revolutions all of its cycles all of its rhythm and dance.

Make up a ceaseless spinning festival honoring Christ. Creation can't stop spinning. Because it's all about Christ and Christ is never going to stop reigning in glory. The heavens are telling of the glory of Christ their expanse is Declaring the work of Christ's hands.

Day and today pours forth Christ's glorifying speech night into night reveals Christ honoring Knowledge, how is it that all of creation is about Christ? Colossians 1 15 Christ is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation.

First rank highest position. What first 16 for by him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth? Visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created through him and for Him he is before all things and in him all things hold together.

He's also the head of the body the church, and he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead so that He himself will come to have the first place in everything preeminence in all things. So our Jeremiah and the Jews worried that God's promise to David concerning his eternally reigning son might fail.

Well the whole of the whirling universe would as soon fail. Day and night will stay on the dance floor. Sun and Moon will keep in step and on time. Until when? Until Christ has the preeminence in all things.

Until he comes to have the first place in everything having utterly Reconciled all things to himself whether things on earth or things in heaven. That's what the Hebrews evangelist said. Hebrews 10 11 through 17.

He quotes Jeremiah 31 the new covenant. And he says that after he having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time. Where is Christ he sat down at the right hand of God? Waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.

And as Hebrews said earlier We don't see all things subjected to him yet, Dewey. But we know that they will. We know that they will. The glory of Christ is interwoven with God's created order. Why? Does the earth spin?

Why do we have day and night? Why do we have? Seasons. Why do we know the day on the calendar the day of the year? Why do we watch for Haley's Comet on its? Many decade orbit. What is it all about? It's about Jesus Christ.

He has preeminence in all things. He holds it all together. He made it. It's all for him. Let me ask you a question.