OPEN: As the crowded airliner was about to take off, the peace was shattered by a five-year-old boy who picked that moment to throw a wild temper tantrum. No matter what his frustrated, embarrassed mother did to try to calm him down, the boy continued to scream furiously and kick the seats around him.
Suddenly, from the rear of the plane, an elderly man in the uniform of an Air Force General was seen slowly walking forward up the aisle. Stopping the flustered mother with an upraised hand, the white-haired, courtly, soft-spoken General leaned down and, motioning toward his chest, whispered something into the boy’s ear. Instantly, the boy calmed down, gently took his mother’s hand and quietly fastened his seat belt.
All the other passengers burst into spontaneous applause. As the General slowly made his way back to his seat, one of the cabin attendants touched his sleeve. "Excuse me, General," she asked quietly, "but could I ask you what magic words you used on that little boy?"
The old man smiled serenely and gently confided,
"I showed him my pilot’s wings, service stars and battle ribbons and explained that they entitle me to throw one passenger out the plane door, on any flight I choose."
APPLY: Why did that boy settle down?
I mean, he had to know he was upsetting the other passengers… but he didn’t change for them!
He knew how important it was to his mama… but he wouldn’t do it her either!
So… why did the boy change his behavior?
Because there was the threat of judgment.
I. The book of Jeremiah is a book of judgment.
The Nation of Judah had been in existence for approximately 300 years. And the Jews who lived there had fallen into such wickedness that God sent Jeremiah to warn them to warn them that He would severely punish them if they didn’t repent.
These wicked people were engaged in worshipping idols,
Drunkenness
Sexual Impurity
Moral Corruption
And the abuse and misuse of widows and orphans
God was so upset, that he sent Jeremiah with one basic message (repeated all the way thru the book of Jeremiah) Repent… or be destroyed! Repent… or be destroyed!
Jeremiah repeated warned them
He did it eloquently, and inventively…
But the people stubbornly refused to listen to him.
They just turned their backs and ignored him.
And if they didn’t ignore him, laughed at him
And when they didn’t laugh at him, they mistreated him… or worse.
And now, here in chapter 10, Jeremiah warns to them again
“…this is what the LORD says: "At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured. Listen! The report is coming— a great commotion from the land of the north! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals.” (Jeremiah 10:18 & 22)
But Judah didn’t care.
No matter how much Jeremiah warned them – they refused to repent.
II. His warnings had no effect on anyone in Judah except one man… Jeremiah
At the end of this chapter (which tells of God’s wrath at the evil of Judah’s sins) notice what Jeremiah prays in vss. 23-24 “I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, LORD, but only with justice-not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.”
Correct ME?
Correct Jeremiah? – that doesn’t make any sense!!!
Judah was the EVIL NATION
Jeremiah was THE PROPHET - sent by God to point out Judah’s sins and challenge them to change.
Jeremiah was the “good guy” (the guy with the white hat). Why on earth would JEREMIAH worry about God correcting him?
Well… there’s something about being in God’s presence that does that to a guy
ILLUS: It’s like the woman who thought she was getting her clothes clean in the laundry only to discover that – compared to a new blouse she’d just bought – all of her white clothes were a dingy and gray.
When people find themselves close to God’s righteousness, they begin to see the dingy, gray shades of their own holiness.
For example, when one of the greatest prophets in Old Testament (Isaiah) saw God in the Temple he said:
“ …I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.’
‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’” (Isaiah 6:1-5)
Isaiah saw God’s glory – and the first thing that occurs to him is he himself is unclean
(pause…)
And now, here in Jeremiah, Jeremiah sees the righteousness of God as again and again as he has to declare God’s judgment on Judah. And all of a sudden, he stops and says –
“Hey, wait a minute! If God is going to punish Judah for their sins…what’s going to happen to me? I’m not exactly lily white myself! I’ve got sins… I’ve got things I’m ashamed of! What if God judges me like He’s judging these guys?
III. Now contrast that, with the attitude of the self-righteous/ the self-important
In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about two men who went into the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee – they symbol of holiness in that society, and the other was a tax collector – an individual that was considered the dregs of society.
Jesus tells us that the Pharisee prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” (Luke 11:11-12)
In the meantime, the tax collector – who has no business getting self-righteous before God… doesn’t even look up to heaven but “…beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Then Jesus completed the parable by saying that the tax collector went home justified before God, but the Pharisee didn’t.
What that tells me is that God is NOT impressed by people who think they are holy and pure.
ILLUS: There’s times I suspect that God is a kind of like the little girl who’s mother had had a rough day, and was now trying to get them home in rush hour traffic. The other drivers were upsetting the mom so much that she sometimes said things that weren’t very complimentary about how others were driving.
The daughter seemed deep in thought and then she asked her mother, "I have a question."
"What do you want to know?" the mom responded.
"Mom, when you’re driving," she asked, "are you ever the idiot?"
I think sometimes God would like to take us aside and ask us…
· Are you ever “the sinner?”
· Are you ever the one that might have to change your life
o Rather than your husband
o Or your wife
o Or your kids
o the neighbor down the street that frustrates you
o or that relative you can’t hardly stand?
· Do you ever think that it might be YOU that has to change your life?
One philosopher once noted: “Often we change jobs, friends, and spouses instead of ourselves.”
IV. That’s NOT how God wants us to practice our Christianity.
According to God’s Word, the Christian life ought to be the most examined life in the world
Paul writes that we should “Examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith; test ourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
In I Corinthian he advises: “… if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”
(1 Corinthians 11:31)
In fact, Paul tells us that when we gather to take communion: “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” (1 Corinthians 11:28)
WE NEED TO EXAMINE OURSELVES
God has always been impressed by a person who’ll do that.
Remember David – the man after God’s own heart…David was always praying for God to examine his life.
“Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.” (Psalms 26:2-3)
Again David wrote: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:23-24)
That’s the kind of mindset that we (as Christians) need to develop. When we hear a sermon we’ve got to be careful not to think of how great it would be if “so and so” were here today – they really need to hear this one.
Instead, we should be asking ourselves…
Ø what do I need to think about
Ø what do I need to change about my life
Ø what does this message say TO ME?
V. Now… this doesn’t mean we need to live our lives in a constant state of grief and mourning.
What it means, is that the first step toward fixing the problems in our lives is to admit we JUST MIGHT have something of our own to change.
ILLUS: They say that the first step towards rehabilitating an alcoholic or a drug addict is to get them to admit they have a problem. Part of the reason many addicts struggle with their addiction is because most of them can’t get past the tendency to make excuses for themselves.
Think of the Church as being a kind of “sinner’s anonymous” where we constantly have to gather before the throne of God and say, “Hi there, my name is (your name here), and I’m a sinner saved by grace.”
CLOSE: It’s only when we examine our lives… and own up to our weaknesses and our sins that our lives have any chance of being effective for God. Until we allow that to take place, the world around us will always be seeing the faults that we’ve conveniently buried under our excuses.
In his book "Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay", Gary Inrig tells the tale of a very capable evangelist whom God used in a significant way in the British Isles. Unfortunately this preacher lost his interest in spiritual things and (for a number of months) drifted into a life of sin. Some of his sin was done in secret but ultimately, it became public knowledge and even made the headlines.
At first, all that preacher could think of was that he had been ruined for life, but, finally, he realized what a fool he had been, and he came back to God like the prodigal from the pigpen.
He found exactly the same thing the prodigal did. The Lord welcomed him with open arms and began to strengthen him and bless him. Finally, after a period of waiting, he felt pressed back into a public ministry for the Lord. He was afraid that his sin would be found out and brought up all over again, but after he felt sure it was hidden and tucked away in the past, he went back to preaching, rejoicing in the forgiveness of God.
One night, when he was in Aberdeen, he was given a sealed letter. Just before the service began, he read the unsigned letter. It described a shameful series of events he had been engaged in. His stomach churned as he read it. The letter said, "If you have the gall to preach tonight, I’ll stand and expose you."
He took that letter and went to his knees. A few minutes later, he was in the pulpit.
He began his message by reading the letter, from start to finish. Then he said, "I want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I’m ashamed of what I’ve read, and what I’ve done. I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven."
God used that letter and the rest of his ministry as a magnet to draw people to Jesus Christ.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
· Formed For A Purpose - Jeremiah 1:4-1:10
· Accept No Substitutes - Jeremiah 2:4-2:13
· The Smell of Sin - Jeremiah 5:20-5:25
· If I’ve Got It Why Can’t I Flaunt It? - Jeremiah 9:23-9:24
· The Effect Of Judgment - Jeremiah 10:17-10:25
· Time To Decide - Jeremiah 15:15-15:21
· Planning For The Future. - Jeremiah 29:8-29:14
· A New Hope - Jeremiah 31:31-31:35
· Knowing God’s Phone Number - Jeremiah 33:1-33:3
· You Can’t Tell Some People Anything - Jeremiah 44:1-44:30
