Sermon Preached by Rev. Larry C. Brincefield on November 7, 2004
Title: Instructions for the Exiles
Text: Jeremiah 29:4-14
Introduction
1. Last week, we looked at Jeremiah 24 and the 2 baskets of figs…
The good figs represented the people who were obedient to God…
And willingly allowed themselves to be carried into captivity.
The bad figs were those people who escaped to Egypt or otherwise avoided capture.
These people were disobedient to God’s plan for their lives…
And as such, they would suffer the consequences of their disobedience.
2. Chapter 29 contains a letter that Jeremiah wrote to the exiles….
This letter contained instructions and guidance about how they were to conduct themselves during their exile.
And in fact, there are 5 specific things that God tells the people of Judah in this letter…
Let’s stand together as we read it.
Read Text: Jeremiah 29:4-14
Body
1. Prepare for the long haul. Vv. 4-6
A. I’m sure that the people of the exile were discouraged…
They were depressed…
They were homesick…
They missed their homes…
Their temple…
Their fellow countrymen who had avoided capture…
I’m sure they were hoping that this captivity would be over quickly…
In fact, there were some prophets who directly contradicted Jeremiah’s prophesy by saying that the captivity would be short…(more about that later)
B. Even now, after the people refused to repent
And return to God…God still reached out to them…
Via this letter from Jeremiah…
And through Jeremiah, God was giving the people guidance and instruction about how to conduct themselves during the exile.
C. Jeremiah’s letter starts out by saying:
Build houses…settled down…
Plant gardens…eat what they produce…
Have your sons and daughters marry…
Increase in number…
In other words, this isn’t going to be a short captivity…
You are in it for the long haul…
Make the best of it.
D. When difficulties arise…
Instead of allowing our lives come to a screeching halt…
We must find our strength in God…
And find a way to move forward….
To continue to live a fruitful and vital life.
2. Pray for those in authority over you. V. 7
A. God also instructs them to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you”…
I’m sure that this instruction would have been directly contrary to their human nature…
People love to be free…
I’m sure that these people would have wanted to buck under the authority of the Babylonians…
They would have wanted to sabotage them…
Try to escape…
Try to create trouble and disruption and anarchy…
But God wants them to do just the opposite…
Seek the peace…
Seek the prosperity of that city…
Not only that, but “pray to the Lord” for that city…
Here in Jeremiah, we find the first admonition in the Bible to pray for your enemies…
This is the same message that Christ preached in the Sermon on the Mount: You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor[1] and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[2] and pray for those who persecute you
3. Do not be led astray vv. 8-9
A. The 3rd instruction from God in this letter is “Don’t be deceived”…
“Don’t be led astray”…
When Jeremiah wrote this letter to the exiles…
There were false prophets who were prophesying against Jeremiah…
They were misleading the people…
Telling them that the captivity would be short-lived.
B. One of these was Shemaiah the Nehelamite.
In fact, later on in our chapter, we find that he tried to get Zephaniah to put Jeremiah in stocks and neck-irons.
But God points out that Shemaiah was a fake…
And for his sins, he would be severely punished.
4. God’s plans vv 10-13
A. Then, we come to the 4th instruction…
And here in verses 10-13, God lets them know that He’s got great plans for them.
God tells them that after their time of exile…
He says, “I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place”…
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…
Then you will call upon me…
You will come and pray to me…
And I will listen to you…
You will seek me…
And you will find me…
When you seek me with all your heart.
B. When we go through difficult times, we may think that God has forgotten about us…
That He has abandoned us…
But nothing could be further from the truth…
Because God has plans for you…
And God’s plans aren’t to harm you…
But to give you hope and a future…
But during those times of exile…
It’s hard to remember that…
But even in the most difficult times in our lives…
We need to remember…
God’s got plans for you…
And, yes, sometimes that means you go through times that are difficult…
The road isn’t always “smooth as silk”
Sometimes it is hard and rough…
But don’t give up!!!
Remember God’s plans for you…
And His plans are literally out of this world!!
5. The Gathering v 14
A. The last instruction in this passage of Scripture…
God describes a great gathering that will take place…
God says, “I will bring you back from captivity”…
I will gather you from all the nations…
And I will bring you back to this special place.”
Conclusion
1. Last week, we looked at a parallel between the good figs and the bad figs…
And the great separation that took place…
And how that reminded us of the great separation that will take place at the time of judgment.
2. Here, again, this story creates a beautiful parallel for us today…
Jeremiah has written a letter that is intended to be read by us at Belleview Church of the Nazarene…
This letter contains the words of God Himself…
And He is telling us…
We need to prepare for the long haul…
The Lord may return at any moment…
It has certainly been longer than 70 years…
And Our exile may soon be coming to an end…
So what should we do?...
Should we sit back and just wait for our exile to end?
God would instruct us through Jeremiah today…
Just like He instructed the people of Judah so many years ago..
Build houses…settle down…
Plant gardens…eat what they produce…
Have your sons and daughters marry…
Increase in number…
Pray for peace and prosperity for our city…
And for our country…
And for our world…
3. But we need to be very careful…
Because there are even more people set out to deceive us than there were in Jeremiah’s day…
There are people who will say and do anything to try to defeat the Christian…
There are even some who may say that they are coming in the Name of the Lord…
But God tells us the same as in Jeremiah’s day…
“Don’t be deceived…
Don’t be led astray…
So how are we to know?
How do we know who’s right and who’s wrong?
Well, we start with God’s Word…
If it is contrary to anything written in Scripture…
Then you know it is wrong…
Don’t go that way…
But sometimes people can take Scripture and bend it to say things that it wasn’t meant to say…
Well, what does the Lord tell YOU?
As you pray and seek the Lord…
God says “you will find me when you seek me with all your heart”…
So what does the Bible say…
What does God Himself say to you…
Those are the 2 most effective ways to test truth…
And a 3rd way…perhaps not quite as effective; but it can be…
Seek the advice of godly men and women…
We have to be careful with this one…
Because sometimes even men and women of God can be led astray…
But we also see in Scripture how God will use men and women of God to speak to us and encourage us…
So, listen to the advice of men and women of God…
But then compare that to what you know from Scripture…
And what God is telling you in your spirit.
4. And remember, God has great plans for you…
Plans to give you hope and a future…
And we need to remember this…
Because when the times get difficult…
The only thing that helps us through may be the knowledge that God has plans for us…
5. And finally, when our time of exile comes to an end…
There will be a great gathering that takes place…
Jesus reminded the disciples of this before He was crucified, rose again, and ascended unto His Father…
He said, “I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going Jn 14:2-4
Thomas asked Jesus, how can we know the way”?
Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life”
6. I realize that we are in captivity…
A time of exile…
While we await that great gathering…
If we want to be a part of that gathering…
We need to hear the words of God in our text…
“you will call upon me and come and pray to me…
And I will listen to you…
You will seek me AND find me…
When you seek me with all your heart”
