God Centered Bible Study - The Soul That Is Ready To Repent - Lamentations 1:16-18

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Hello and welcome back to God -Centered Bible Study. This is Andy Cain, and it's a joy to be back with you once again.

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We are continuing in the book of Lamentations, and in the book of Lamentations, we have made it to chapter six, excuse me, verse 16 of chapter one, and today we're going to look at verses 16 through 18 of chapter one and talk about the fact, or talk about the soul that is ready to repent.

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So far we've looked at the great reversal of fortune that Jerusalem has had, how they've gone from great among the nations, now they are despised and their adversaries have taken them over, and they are not what they once was, and certainly are not what they should be, and there's been a bunch of sorrow and lamenting over the fact that they find themselves in the place in which they are.

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And so we've gone through all this, we've seen how God has brought judgment on them, it is

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God that brings judgment, it is Yahweh that is worthy of bringing judgment, and we see the results of the sin of the people, and then here in verse 16 we see

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Jeremiah say, for these things I, this is the author,

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I am weeping. Now, we still have this running metaphor where it's, you know, it'll say, you know, he has spread it out, he has turned me back, he has made me desolate when we're talking about God.

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When we're talking about the city and the people, it's, she is this, her people fell, her uncleanness, she did not remember, she has no comforter.

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And so when he says here, I am weeping, yes, literally Jeremiah himself was weeping over this, but also

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Jerusalem mourns over this, and it will have to be Jerusalem and the people that will have to repent in order to be restored and revived.

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And so the soul that is ready to repent must first start with a genuine sorrow over sin.

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You cannot just be sad about what you did because you got caught, or because of the consequences that are coming your way.

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There must be a genuine sorrow over the fact that you have broken God's law, you have disobeyed him, you have brought disrepute on the name of God because of your actions on yourself, and you're genuinely sorry that you have disobeyed your

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Savior and your Creator. And you see this in this morning, this sorrow, and we're going to see verse 18 when we get there, the starting place in this book of Lamentations for repentance, for revival, for restoration, because while there is a great focus on sin and what sin has caused in this book, ultimately the goal and the purpose of this book is about restoration and about repentance and about God's grace and mercy and who he is.

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It's ultimately a God -centered book. Yes, it involves the people, it talks about the people, it talks about Jeremiah and the things that he did and the things that the people did and the changes they went through, the changes they endured, but ultimately this book is

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God -centered. It's about who God is, it's about how God interacts, it's about how God brings judgment, it's about how

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God rightfully rules and reigns over his people and over his creation.

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And so he says, my eyes are weeping, my eyes run down with water because far from me is a comforter.

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This is how they felt. They felt there was no one to comfort them. They felt there was no one to help them.

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They felt that there was just no way out of this and sin will make you feel that way. You'll get so consumed with where you're at, you'll get so consumed with what has happened and you can get into these patterns and addictions and rotations in your life where you perform this sin and you feel bad and you want to make a change and you cry and you weep and moan and you make a change probably for a while and then before you know it you're right back doing it again and the cycle continues.

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And so you can feel in those moments that there's no comfort or there's no way out, there's no way to break the cycle or break this circle of sin.

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So you can feel very much how they felt here. He says, I'm looking for the one who can restore my soul.

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That's the goal, to be restored, to be revived, to be brought back to the place in which you should be.

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And Jeremiah is saying here, I feel and I'm weeping and mourning because I feel there is no comforter.

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We feel at this point that there is none who can restore our soul and it doesn't mean that there isn't. God's still very much real here and there and available.

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The issue is how sin makes you feel. It lies to you, it gaslights you, it makes you feel emotionally that there is none close to you that can comfort you, that there's none there that can restore your soul.

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He says, my children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed. The enemy has prevailed because of their sin.

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It isn't because God has failed them. It isn't because somehow God's law has failed.

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And it says here in verse 17, Zion stretches out her hands. There is no one there to comfort her.

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Not abandoned in the moment of judgment, it leaves you comfortless.

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This moment of judgment has come where the children of the city are desolate.

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The city is destroyed. The enemy has prevailed. Zion now stretches out her hands.

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She will not find the comforter because they're in judgment. They're paying for their sins. There's no one to comfort them.

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And notice here it says in verse 17, Yahweh, God, has commanded concerning Jacob that ones round about him should be his adversaries.

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Jerusalem has become an impure thing among them. Notice that God gives the charge.

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God gives the command. The nations of the world, while they are certainly evil and seem like they're running amuck and doing whatever it is they want to do,

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I can assure you based on the command of the word of God that they only do what they do because God gives the charge.

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God gives the command. God has put Jerusalem in this situation because of what they did because of their sin.

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And now they're being judged for it. They're in captivity with Babylon. And it's because of that that they've become impure among their adversaries.

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They're living in a foreign land. They're living in this place where they're surrounded and been taken captive and being ruled over by enemies.

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They become impure. They become unclean. They're everything they shouldn't have been.

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There's a cross -reference I want to read for you, two of them, in the book of Jeremiah because you really need to be reading

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Jeremiah alongside Lamentations to get the full picture of what's going on here because Jeremiah is very directly related to the events of Lamentations.

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And so in Jeremiah chapter 13, verse 16 and 17, it says,

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Give glory to Yahweh your God before he brings darkness and before your feet stumble or let's see, smite.

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They've been smited, stumbled, things like that. On the dusky mountains while you are hoping for light, he makes it into the shadow of death, turns it into dense gloom.

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But if you will not listen to it, so if you will not listen to what Yahweh has spoken, if you not listen to the command of God, if you not listen to what

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God has said, now I say this all the time and, you know, it gets me in trouble in some churches, but I don't know why, but it's true.

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It really matters not what man thinks, but what God has said. Now, what we mean by that is it doesn't mean that what we think can't be profitable or good, but if what we think is in contradiction to what

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God has said, what we think matters not. It does not take precedence. You say, if you're not going to listen, if you're not going to listen to what it said, my soul will cry in secret for such pride.

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Notice my soul will cry in secret, ashamed of that pride that says,

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I know better. I don't need to listen. I can figure this out. I've got it.

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It's all good. I don't need God. I don't need what God has said. I just need to listen to myself.

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Oh, how mighty and smart I am. Look at me. My soul cries in secret for such pride, and my eyes will bitterly weep and flow down with tears because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.

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Notice the prophetic measure here, saying that I'm going to cry bitterly. It'll run down my cheeks because Jerusalem has been taken captive.

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Now, notice here in Lamentations, he says, for these things I am weeping, my eyes running down with water.

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I'm not comforted. Why? Because Yahweh has commanded concerning Jacob that they would be taken captive.

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So we have here in Lamentations a description of Jeremiah doing exactly what was prophesied would happen.

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The other reference we want to look at is Jeremiah chapter 14, verse 13 through 17.

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It says, but ah, Lord Yahweh, behold, the prophets are saying to them, you will not see the sword, nor will you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.

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This was a huge issue. The prophets, quote unquote, the so -called prophets that God dealt with, they so often would say, you know, everything's great, peace, safety, nothing to worry about, nothing to see here.

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Everything's just fine and dandy. And God says, no, these prophets are saying to them, you will not see sword, you will not see famine.

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Jeremiah's like, yeah, you are. Then Yahweh said to me, the prophets are prophesying lies in my name.

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Let me tell you something. God takes everything seriously. He takes everything seriously, all disobedience, all sin, all that goes without saying.

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But there are certain things that God takes a little bit more personally. And one of those things is he does not like anyone speaking for him, taking his name, invoking his name, saying this is what

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God has said. If he didn't say it, that's why all those out there that want to say,

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I have a word from the Lord. The Lord has spoken to me.

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I have new revelation. You might want to tread very carefully because God does not like people claiming to speak for him if he has not said it.

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And so he says here, these prophets are prophesying lies that are doing it in my name. I would not want to be them.

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He says, I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them.

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They are prophesying to you a vision of lies, divination, futility, and the deception of their own hearts.

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And my friends, those that go out and claim to be able to speak for God, to have some kind of special revelation, some kind of special word for the

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Lord. You talk to people like that and they always say, no, that's not really what we're saying. This is just a tradition for us.

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We know what we mean. We don't really mean a new word. It's just what we call it. I'm sorry, but if I had a tradition of something

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I said or did that was so confusing or the plain sense of it pointed one way when you're trying to say it's something else,

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I would change what I'm doing. You're saying you have a word from the Lord. The natural interpretation of that is, well, are they saying the word of God, revelation?

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Maybe say something like the spirit impressed upon my heart. I feel like I ought to talk to you about this or I have some advice

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I think might can help you. Really what it comes down to is people want to come off as looking as, look at me.

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I'm special. I have great insights. It's almost really gnostic when you think about it.

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I have this great knowledge that you need. I'm going to point you to the word of God.

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Now, yes, there are times where I do believe the Lord really impresses on us to go talk to people, or we may be in a moment where we need something that we really need to be said or said a certain way.

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God will impress on us to use certain words and things like that. I do believe that the spirit can be a very good guide in those situations, but there's no new revelation.

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There's no new word from the Lord. No one today is speaking for God in the way prophets did the

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Old Testament. No one can speak today for God in the same way on the same level that the

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Holy Scriptures speak for God. So let's just get that out of the way. He says, they haven't sent me.

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It's the deception of their own hearts. They think they are, but they're not.

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Therefore, thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my name, although it was not

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I who sent them, yet they keep saying there will be no sword or famine in the land.

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By that sword and famine, those prophets shall meet their end or be finished.

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So it is prophesied in the book of Jeremiah that the lying prophets would meet their end by the same sword and the same famine that they said was incoming.

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Well, notice, and we see this when we move on, when we get down past verse 18, and there'll be some talk about this, and there's been some talk in other places in Lamentations 1 about the prophets and the princes and priests and different people being slain in the street and things like that.

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So there was both historical evidence of this happening, but also notations and evidence in the word of God itself.

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It goes on and says, the people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and there will be no one to bury them, neither them nor their wives nor their sons nor their daughters, for I will pour out their own evil on them.

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When it says the children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed, that's what's in view here.

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He's saying, you're saying there's going to be no sword or famine, okay? I'm telling you by that sword and famine that you say is not coming, not only are you going to die, lying prophets, but all the people are going to be drug out.

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They're going to be desolate and taken over by that same sword and famine. Zion will stretch out her hands.

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There'll be no one to comfort her because Yahweh has given this charge. Verse 17, you will say this word to them.

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Little ironic here that, you know, just like the ones today that claim to have a word for the Lord or revelation from the

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Lord, these prophets would possibly, oh no, we're not really saying, we're just predicting, we think.

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They were claiming to speak in the name of the Lord, to speak for God. And it's interesting that he tells

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Jeremiah, you're going to say right back to them, I have a word for you. And this word is that, let my eyes flow down with tears night and day and let them not cease.

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For the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered with a mighty shattering, with a sorely sick wound.

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I'm telling you, God takes it very seriously if you're going to say that you speak for him and it does not come from what he has said.

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I urge you, if you're one of those that wants to pretend that you have a special revelation or word for the

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Lord, that God has somehow spoken directly to you in the same way in which he has spoken in his word, meaning it is inerrant without error.

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It's God breathed. It's inspired and you want to pretend like somehow you have a word that's on par with that.

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Just know that you will be judged for that. You will answer for it. And so that's a good cross -reference there.

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God brings this judgment. God commands this judgment. But remember, we're talking about the soul that is ready to repent.

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God does this to lead us to repentance, which includes using the pain and suffering and sorrow of judgment.

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Now, yes, it's true that pain and sorrow and all these things is a just consequence.

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And sometimes God's graceful and merciful. We don't ever see consequences for many of the sins that we commit.

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And sometimes we do, but it's not just a consequence, but it is the goodness of God leading you to repentance.

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You say, oh, well, why don't we just make us perfect righteous? Whatever. You're not. Come on. Let's stop.

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You know, it's not a great example, but I use the sum to capacity. You talk about watching a movie.

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If all the movie was was perfection and goodness and nothing bad ever happened. I mean, it was boring thing ever.

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There's so much more from our experience and our finite understanding. We know that so much more is gained and learned and experienced from having good and evil, bad and good, hard times and good times.

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But then we want to shake our fist in God's face and say, how dare you let this happen to me? The goodness of God leads you to repentance.

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Is he using something in your life to bring you to repentance? The city here is going to have to get to the place city, meaning

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God's people to where they are mourning their sin, mourning over what they have done, seeing that it is their fault that they're in this predicament that they need to change.

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And when the soul is ready to repent our minds, our soul, our spirit, who we are, we've seen the error of our ways.

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We know we have disobeyed. We know we have sinned. The first thing you will see from a soul that is ready to repent is what we find in verse 18.

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The proper response to sin begins with Yahweh is righteous.

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Translated a different way. A lot of translations will translate it. The Lord is righteous, meaning he is just, innocent, blameless.

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You cannot blame God with any sin. You cannot charge any sin to God's account.

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You can, however, charge sin to our account. So we, in our pride, think that somehow we are self -righteous, that we haven't sinned, and we must recognize we have sinned.

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We are not righteous, but by contrast, God is righteous. He is just and innocent and blameless.

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Notice the proper response to sin begins with a declaration of who God is.

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Yes, it's important to recognize that we are sinners, but it begins with the fact that God is the one who's righteous.

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Notice it begins and goes on with, for I have rebelled against his command.

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I am the one that have rebelled, meaning contentious, rebellious, disobedient. Yahweh didn't do that.

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God's word didn't do that. I did that. Jerusalem did that.

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Sinners, lying prophets did that. Notice Yahweh being the one who's righteous, the creature being the one that rebels, and it's against the command of the righteous one, the command of God.

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Hear now all peoples, and behold my pain, my sorrow. My virgins, my young men have gone into captivity.

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That's the state in which we find ourselves. Everybody's gone into captivity. Everything's gone.

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Everything's done, and it's not God's fault. It's our fault.

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It's not the righteous one, but the sinful one, the disobedient one, the rebellious one.

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We are the ones that need to repent. We are the ones that need the righteous one,

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Yahweh himself, and we do. We have a mediator between God and man. We're going to talk about him on the episode of Adventures with Calvinist Man this week.

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We have a mediator between God and man, a go -between, someone to mediate, arbitrate for us. His name is Jesus Christ, the righteous

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God taken on human flesh, the one who saves rebellious, contentious, disobedient sinners, and oh the grace of God and the mercy of God that we see when we have sinned and we are a soul that's ready to repent.

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And then we see the same pattern with each sinner that comes to the righteous one, Yahweh himself.

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The proper response begins with a declaration of who God is, a declaration of who we are and what we have done, that it's his command we've sinned against, and then falling on your face before the grace and mercy of God, being fully justified in his sight by faith.

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And we become, we take on, have the righteousness of God credited to us where we are treated as if we are as righteous as Yahweh when we're not.

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Oh the beauty of the grace and mercy of God. So we will pick this up back, pick this back up next time.

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We will carry on picking up verse 19, looking at some of the more, some more of the things that are going on here.

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But I hope this is showing you how we're starting to take that turn from sin to restoration and we see it begin here with the recognition of who

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God is, meaning that ultimately Lamentations, Jeremiah, and all scripture is

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God -centered. Amen. Well, thank you for joining me on this God -centered