Series: Changed
Sermon 3: Listen, Learn and Live!
Thesis: Jeremiah is telling the people of God to Listen to God’s warning, Learn to live right by others mistakes and then love abundantly in Him no matter where you find yourself.
Scripture Texts:
Jeremiah 7:1-11:
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2“Stand at the gate of the LORD’S house and there proclaim this message: “‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD.
3This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.
4Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”
5If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,
6if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,
7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers forever and ever.
8But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
9“‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known,
10and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?
11Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD
Jeremiah 29:11-12:
11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
Summary of Change part 1, 2
We have been exploring The Temple Sermon delivered by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 7-10.
He is speaking a prophetic word from the Lord to the people of Judah addressing the subject of their Temple worship and their sinful lifestyles. He tells them that God is watching how they are living a life of sin during the week then coming into the Temple to offer sacrifices to God. He tells them that their sacrifice is meaningless and worthless because their lives do not follow his teachings or Commandments or righteous ways. God speaks through our young reluctant prophet in the Temple gate and basically says “Change” your actions, your life, your thinking and serve God with your whole heart and get rid of your manmade idols and unthinkable worship of other gods. If you do you will stay in the Promised Land if you do not then you will be removed from this land as I promised in Deut. 6 when I gave you the Promised Land.
T.S. - We have been in Jeremiah for three weeks and I can now summarize the three main points of Jeremiahs book to the people of Judah and to us today 2,600 years later.
I. Listen!
a. Listen – the art of listening: adapted from http://www.infoplease.com/homework/listeningskills1.html
i. In college I was taught that to be a good student you had to become a good listener. I then learned through my counseling classes that the essential skill needed to help others was these three: listen-listen-listen!
1. For the majority of us we spend more time listening than we do using other skills in our lives.
2. Listening is an essential part of our life and we need to do it well.
3. Listening is the crucial skill we need to have good healthy relationships in this life.
ii. Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a really good listener?
1. Once again I was taught in my Social Work degree that most marriages breakdown when communication breaks down. The main part of this breakdown in a relationship is when the two quit listening to the other. They start to tune them out of their lives and thoughts. The result deterioration of the relationship!
a. When this happens over an extended period of time then there is a separation and eventually a breaking of the relationship.
iii. Real effective listening is an active process that has three basic steps to it according to this article I found. These three steps paralleled what I learned in college in my counseling classes on listening skills.
1. Hearing the message of the words.
a. Do you hear what God was saying to the people of Judah from my last three messages and from observing Jeremiahs thoughts and words.
b. Hearing just means listening enough to catch what the speaker is saying. For example, say you were listening to a report on zebras, and the speaker mentioned that no two are alike. If you can repeat the fact, then you have heard what has been said.
2. Understanding.
a. The next part of listening happens when you take what you have heard and understand it. Let's go back to that report on zebras. When you hear that no two are alike, think about what that might mean. You might think, "Maybe this means that the pattern of stripes is different for each zebra."
b. This has to do with processing the spoken message comprehending the intended message.
c. What did the nation of Israel need to understand from jeremiahs message – what do we today need to understand about jeremiahs message.
3. Judging – assessing the message – to buy into it.
a. After you are sure you understand what the speaker has said, think about whether it makes sense. Do you believe what you have heard? You might think, "How could the stripes to be different for every zebra? But then again, the fingerprints are different for every person. I think this seems believable."
b. Here are some Tips for being a good listener to sermons, messages, speeches, and others conversation with you.
i. Give your full attention on the person who is speaking.
1. Don't look out the window or at what else is going on in the room.
2. Center in on the message and block out distractions!
ii. Make sure your mind is focused, too.
1. It can be easy to let your mind wander if you think you know what the person is going to say next, but you might be wrong! If you feel your mind wandering, change the position of your body and try to concentrate on the speaker's words.
iii. Let the speaker finish before you begin to talk.
1. Speakers appreciate having the chance to say everything they would like to say without being interrupted. When you interrupt, it looks like you aren't listening, even if you really are.
iv. Let yourself finish listening before you begin to speak! You can't really listen if you are busy thinking about what you want say next.
v. Listen for main ideas.
1. The main ideas are the most important points the speaker wants to get across. They may be mentioned at the start or end of a talk, and repeated a number of times. Pay special attention to statements that begin with phrases such as "My point is..." or "The thing to remember is..."
vi. Ask questions.
1. If you are not sure you understand what the speaker has said, just ask. It is a good idea to repeat in your own words what the speaker said so that you can be sure your understanding is correct. For example, you might say, "When you said that no two zebras are alike, did you mean that the stripes are different on each one?"
2. Here is my challenge to all of you listening today – if you need to ask questions about my sermon e-mail me at pastormm@christianhills.org and I will be happy to try to answer your questions.
a. I want my messages to be understandable and relevant to your life.
vii. Give feedback.
1. Sit up straight and look directly at the speaker. Now and then, nod to show that you understand. At appropriate points you may also smile, frown, laugh, or be silent. These are all ways to let the speaker know that you are really listening. Remember, you listen with your face as well as your ears!
a. Read more: Speaking & Listening Skills | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/homework/listeningskills1.html#ixzz2ZJBib0ZY
c. So let’s go back one more time from our message in Jeremiah and see what you heard the last 3 weeks:
i. The subjects covered by our young prophet for the people to “Listen too are as follows from what I have said over these last three weeks:
1. God calls people even in the womb to do specific tasks for Him like Jeremiah.
2. God enables us to achieve the tasks He gives us to do for Him.
3. God will protect us and preserve us even in dangerous situations as long as we do what He tells us to do.
4. God expects us to follow His direction and His commands and not fear what men may do to us.
5. God will hold us all accountable for our lives and our actions – Yes, He is watching how we live our life every day.
6. God desires obedience to His words not just sacrificial offerings with no changed life or heart.
7. God is not into religion He is into relationship. A religion is a manmade way to God and a relationship is based on God’s way to us.
8. God will listen to our hearts as we pray and intercede for our people but there is a limit to how long God will put up with sin.
9. Religion can give you a false sense of security.
10. Religion can hinder you from hearing the voice of the Lord.
11. Do not place you faith in a place but in the person of Jesus.
12. Do not be deceived by meaningless words that lead to death not life.
13. Do not believe that you can worship God and other manmade idols and he will be okay with is.
14. Obedience to God’s word and ways is better than offering any sacrifice to Him.
ii. So how well have you done that last few weeks hearing these important points from God’s Words to you?
T.S. – We need to make sure we do not just listen to the Words of God but we have to learn from them because this is what facilitates change in our lives.
II. Learn!
a. In point one of my message today we heard the importance of listening to what is being communicated to us by others, and especially by God.
i. I find it interesting that when Jeremiah finished his Temple Sermon that the response of the people revealed if they listened to his message and if they learned from his message or not.
ii. Jeremiah 11:18-23:
1. 18Because the LORD revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. 19I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.” 20 But, O LORD Almighty, you who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. 21“Therefore this is what the LORD says about the men of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, ‘Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD or you will die by our hands’—22therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. 23Not even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.’”
a. Jeremaih was considered a fanatic by the people who listened to him Jer. 12:6.
b. He was rejected by his home town of Anathoth and endured severe hostility from the people of Israel - Judah. But God looked out for our man of faith and obedience.
c. Jeremiah was banned from the Temple as a result of this message from God.
d. Jeremiah discovered that the men of Anathoth wanted him executed as a false prophet.
e. The princes intervened to stop this but the priests wanted him tortured for sharing this kind of a doomsday message against Judah and it’s people to teach him a lesson.
i. I can honestly say that the people of Judah listened to his message from God but they did not learn from it!
ii. God warned our priest and prophet this would happened when he called him in Jeremiah
1. Jeremiah 1:17-19
f. International Bible Encyclopedia: The priests for this reason determined to have the prophet put to death (Jer. 26). However, influential elders interceded for him, and the princes yet showed some justice. He was, however, abused by the authorities at the appeal of the priests (Jer. 20). According to 36:1ff, he was no longer permitted to enter the place of the temple. For this reason the Lord commanded him to collect his prophecies in a book-roll, and to have them read to the people by his faithful pupil Baruch (Jer. 36; compare Jer. 45). The book fell into the hands of the king, who burned it. However, Jeremiah dictated the book a second time to Baruch, together with new additions.
b. What does it mean to learn something?
i. It actually means it changes the way you think – it changes your actions and your life – it was obvious Judah had not learned their lesson because they did not change their actions, their lives, their religious practices or their hearts.
1. This point also reminds me of what I talked about last week about learning from the past.
a. If you recall I talked about led to the decline and fall of Roman Empire and how we as a nation need to learn from their mistake.
b. I also talked how we as a nation need to learn from the nation of Israel.
i. Old saying: “Those who ignore history, are doomed to repeat it” It looks like our future is staring us right in the face, but Americans refuse to see it.
ii.
2. The famous quote I heard in Bible College from my professors was: “When you are through learning you are through!”
c. Learning Skills:
i. How do you learn? (This information taken from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/how-do-you-learn.htm
1. Do you ever wonder why some people are known as "straight A students" while other people struggle in school - even though they're smart? Do you know people who didn't finish high school, and have found great success in their careers?
a. People learn in different ways. And no one has a better learning style than anyone else. Some experts say there are as many as seven different learning styles; but it's easier to narrow it down to three types of learning . . . we'll call them”
i. Listening learners
ii. Seeing learners
iii. Touch / experience learner
b. It's simple really. Think about one of life's earliest lessons - often taught by our mothers: The Stove Can Burn You.
i. Listening learners heard their mother, believed the information, and never touched a stove.
ii. Seeing learners watched their brother touch the stove, and never touched it.
iii. Experience learners touched the stove; but only once!
d. Did you know God uses all three of these styles of learning to get his message of truth across to His people?
i. He delivers His message – some listen some do not!
ii. He shows through various divine judgments that His message is true.
1. This could be in the form of miracles like He did with the Israelites coming out of Egypt.
2. It could be through judgment by another nation like with Judah and Israel and the example of Shiloh.
3. It could be by literally going through the lesson by God in person like when he used Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to take down the Temple and the nation of Judah.
4. It could be through you doing something that burns you then seeing that God was telling you the truth before don’t touch that sin it will burn you.
III. Live!
a. Jeremiah 29:1-32: Jeremiah’s letter to the dispersed Israelites.
i. 1This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2(This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)
3He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
4This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
6Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.
7Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
8Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
9They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD.
10This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.
11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
14I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.£ I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
15You may say, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,”
16but this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile—
17yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.
18I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them.
19For they have not listened to my words,” declares the LORD, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the LORD.
20Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes.
22Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘The LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’
23For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and in my name have spoken lies, which I did not tell them to do. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the LORD.
24Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite,
25“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah,
26‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the LORD; you should put any madman who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons.
27So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?
28He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”
29Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet.
30Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
31“Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has led you to believe a lie,
32this is what the LORD says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the LORD, because he has preached rebellion against me.’”
ii. Jeremiah’ s letter to the dispersed nation of Judah clearly told them to keep living.
1. Even in the midst of tragedy and the destruction of the Temple and their nation they were to know live for God.
a. They were to repent change and live for God.
i. This was the essential lesson he was teaching his people.
b. The Lord desired obedience to His words and commandments and He took away the Temple and Temple sacrifice because it’s not about sacrifice it’s not about religion but about a relationship with Him.
i. It’s not about religion but about serving Him no matter where you live or even in a foreign country that has captured you.
ii. See the book of Daniel for insight into this.
iii. To live really live for the Lord is to change our selfish ways and actions and live for Him wherever He has us.
1. Jeremiah told the people of Israel that the Lord wanted them to live in exile.
a. They were to build houses
b. They were to plant gardens
c. They were to increase in number
d. They were to marry
e. They were to live at peace in their new country
f. They were and would prosper if they followed the commandments of the Lord.
i. Example of this is Daniel.
2. In other words they were to go on living – they were to change their ways and live only for God – and if they did they would prosper if they did not they would die off.
a. In our chapter we have Jeremiah telling the people to live while another tells people not to listen to Him.
i. But in the end three people opposed him two were executed by Neb and the other was put in his place and lucky to be allowed to live.
b. To live means:
i. God calls us all to live not just exist. In our passage of Scripture the Lord is telling the people of Judah to change their ways and really live.
1. Too many people just exist day after day and they do not really live. We should not be like that and learn the lesson to live each day to its fullest!
2. Each day is a gift – enjoy it and live it.
ii. Here are some suggestions you can apply to your life to really live:
1. Love God and Love others
2. Get out of the house and do something for the others and for the Lord.
3. Take risks for the Lord (step out in faith).
4. Find your passion and do it for the Lord.
5. Enjoy the little things in life like food, fellowship, and friends.
6. Turn off the TV!
7. Travel to different places.
8. Rediscover what is important in life.
9. Turn off the internet!
10. Exercise!
11. Be positive!
12. Volunteer and help others
13. Face you fears
14. Play with your children or grandchildren.
15. Enjoy nature
16. Put away the video games
17. Laugh till you cry
18. Try something new every week
19. Stop being addicted to the news
20. Be alive in each moment of the day
21. Experience the presence of the Lord
Illustration Video Clip: Living out our faith by bluefishtv.com
Conclusion:
If we choose to follow the Lord and His Word He will always make a way and we will really start living out our faith:
The miraculous story of the Kids Center in Burkina:
Joel and Heidi had been praying for a faith center for six years. Four years ago they found some land and went home to raise some money. They didn't raise enough money. Then during the flood year they found the land flooded so they thanked God that it hasn't worked out to buy the land. Ten six months ago an organization talked to Joel. They had a building they wanted to sell for 200,000. They couldn't sell it so they offered it to Joel for. 100,000. It needs a lot of work but has so much potential.
The bottom line of my series of messages:
What does God desire from us? We find the answer in Jeremiah 7:23. "But this is what I commanded them, saying, `Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ (NKJV)
God wanted His people to be obedient and to focus on a relationship with Him. He still desires the same today. Sometimes we substitute a cold, dead, formal religion for a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ. There is no comparison of the two.
