JEREMIAH 132009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 13

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. Alright, let's look at Jeremiah chapter 13 this evening. Starting in verse 1 and 2 it says this, Thus the Lord said to me, Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.

So I got a sash, according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. Now as we pick up here in chapter 13, we're looking at the prophet Jeremiah, his ministry to the nation of Judah, and specifically to the city of Jerusalem, as it was on its way down. They were in continual rebellion against God, but God sent Jeremiah, as well as many other prophets, to call them back, to bring them back to repentance. And so, as we pick up here in chapter 13, we're looking at the prophet Jeremiah, his ministry to the nation of Judah, and specifically to the city of Jerusalem, as it was on its way down.

And God would often use some very practical applications or paint pictures or use the prophets in very visible and real ways that the people could get an understanding of what God was trying to say. And that's what we see here today with the prophet Jeremiah. God says, Jeremiah, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go and get yourself a linen sash.

Now, for those days and the way that they would dress, they would have their cloak that they would wear and the sash would go around their waist. Maybe we would consider it like a belt. And the sash would go around and hold their tunic in place, hold their cloak in place.

It was kind of an accessory that you would wear. You would wear it on the outside of your garments. And Jeremiah, for the most part, the common people would probably normally wear like leather sashes because it would last a long time. They would be economical.

a linen sash was going to be something that, well, that was a little bit fancier. There was going to be more of a cost involved in getting it. It'd be like if the Lord told one of you ladies, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go buy a nice, brand new, you know,

I don't know any name brands, forgive me, but top-of-the-line purse. I don't know if top-of-the-line can be used in conjunction with the word purse, but you know what I'm talking about. I want you to go get a name brand. I want you to go buy something expensive. Go to Nordstrom's and find yourself a nice purse. It's kind of similar to what God told Jeremiah. He says, I want you to go get a linen sash and put it around your waist. And Jeremiah says, the Lord told me to do this.

And that's what I did. And so I did, it says in verse 2, according to the word of the Lord, I put it around my waist. And so now the prophet Jeremiah is walking around and he's got this linen sash.

And you can imagine perhaps some of the comments as he's walking around, oh, prophet of the Lord, must be nice, you know, have a linen sash, living in luxury. Now you got this fancy sash. Some of the people are probably asking, well, what's going on? What did you get the new sash for, Jeremiah? And what's Jeremiah going to say? Well, the Lord told me to. Yeah, right. Okay, if you say so.

And so here's Jeremiah. He's got this new sash. He's done what the Lord has told him to do. God says, don't put it in water because that would be damaging to it. But put it around your waist and walk around with it. Wear it for a little bit. And then a little bit later in verse 3, it says this.

And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock. So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord commanded me. Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.

Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it, and there was the sash ruined. It was profitable for nothing.

So God speaks to Jeremiah again. This one is probably a little bit more difficult for him to be obedient to. God says, here's what I want you to do, Jeremiah. That sash you've been wearing around, that nice new sash that you got that people are excited about. What I want you to do is I want you to take that sash and I want you to go up to the Euphrates River.

And find a hole that's in a rock and put it in the hole and bury it there by the Euphrates River. I want you to hide it there next to the river. And so Jeremiah, verse 5 says, I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord commanded me. So God speaks to him again. And, you know, by this time you might be thinking, what on earth is this about? I mean...

Go buy a sash. Okay, now go hide it by the Euphrates. Well, let me make it a little bit more curious for you. God says, go hide it by the Euphrates River. Where do you suppose the Euphrates River is? Well, for those of you who know your geography, for those of you who went to Israel with us, you know we didn't visit the Euphrates River because it's not in Israel. In fact, it's about 250 miles north of Jerusalem.

Well, you go outside of it, then you pass Damascus. You go through Syria, and it's in the northern area, about 250-mile journey God is asking Jeremiah to make. He's saying, it's going to take two weeks to do a 250-mile journey on foot. God says to Jeremiah, you know that nice new sash I had you get? Jeremiah says, yeah, I love it, Lord. Thanks, man. That was a blessing.

He says, well, I want you to take a two-week journey, walk 250 miles, and go hide it in a hole next to the Euphrates River. What on earth is God doing? So Jeremiah, it says in verse 5, he went. He did what God said. He made the two-week journey. He hid it.

And then he takes two weeks walking back. He's back in Jerusalem. And then it says in verse 6, after many days that the Lord said to me, go back to Euphrates, another two-week journey. So now he starts back again. He's going back and he says, go get the sash that I told you to hide there.

And so Jeremiah goes, he makes the two-week trek back to the Euphrates River, pulls out this sash, this linen sash, that at one time, just, you know, a couple months ago, was nice and beautiful and exciting, and now it was ruined. It was a very fragile fabric, and next to moisture and, you know, out in the environment, and

It didn't last. Just as if, you know, you would take a shirt and stick it in a hole in the ground next to a river and then come back, you know, a month or so later, it's not going to be something that you want to wear around town. And yet God tells Jeremiah, okay, go take the sash from the hole where I told you to hide it. And Jeremiah says, there it was. It was ruined and it was profitable for nothing.

Well, God's not having him go through this, you know, for no reason. He's not just, you know, making him jump through hoops and making him walk a long time because he needs the exercise. There's a message that God is seeking to pronounce to the city of Jerusalem. And they would see the new sash. They would see it go. Where'd it go, Jeremiah? Well, God told me to take it to Euphrates. Well, that's like a month-round trip. Yeah, well, that's what God told me to do. And then he comes back now, and now he's got the sash, and it's all beat up. And the people are wondering...

What is the Lord trying to say through the prophet Jeremiah? Well, God tells us in verse 8, he says, Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus says the Lord, In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

God says, here's the message. Jeremiah, that sash around you, that was, well, you were very proud of that. You were excited about it. It was something wonderful to behold and it made you happy and people talked about it. It was wonderful. But in the same way as that sash was ruined, God says, I'm going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. Verse 10.

He says,

Now we begin to see the message that God is bringing to the nation of Judah. He says...

The sash that you got when it was nice and new and you happily wore it around your waist. It was something that you rejoiced in. He says, that's how the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah were to me. I had put them in a place where they were close to me. They were around my waist. There was something that I was experiencing

And would gladly call them my people. And they were mine. I gave them a special place. And they were to cling to me. And they were going to be my people for renown and for praise and for glory. But he concludes by saying, but they would not hear. God had given them this special place of honor. But they refused it. And so like a sash given a special place of honor, God says...

That's how my people were, but because they refused it, now they will become like this sash after it has been hidden there by the river, where it became ruined and profitable for nothing. God says, that's how my people are. Because they would not receive what I had for them, they've become ruined and profitable for nothing. God explains their condition there in verse 10. He says, they refused to hear my words.

I'm sending them my prophets. I've given them my word and the law. And they refused to hear. Although they listened, they never applied God's message. They heard the prophets. They heard Jeremiah. They heard Isaiah. They heard those that were sent to the nation. They heard the law as it was read. But they never lived it. They refused to turn from their ways. They refused to get right with God. And as a result...

They were becoming ruined and profitable for nothing. He said the second thing is that they follow the dictates of their hearts. Instead of following after me, as Larry and George were sharing about the men's retreat, and that was the heart of David, to follow after God. Instead, they follow the dictates of their own hearts. And they say, well, what I want is more important than what God says. And I want to do what I want to do. And if God says it, well...

I prefer my way. I want to do what my heart says. And I don't feel like doing what God says. I feel like doing what I want to do. And so that's what they did. They followed the dictates of their own hearts. And of course, that always leads to walking after other gods. They began to worship and bow down to other gods. You can see the succession here. It started by them just refusing to hear God's word, then following their own hearts. And ultimately, they began to worship other gods.

And the result was they were ruined like the sash. The sash that was profitable for nothing was the picture of the nation of Israel, who at one time had been given this place of honor, but because they refused, they become ruined, worthless, and unprofitable. You know, this evening I would take just this moment to challenge you and ask you, which version of the sash...

is a better picture of you and who you are. You know, in the same way, God has given us the right to be the children of God, the sons and daughters of God. He's given us, well, He's called us, we're kings and priests in Jesus Christ. We have His righteousness. We're clothed in His righteousness. We have this place of honor, this wonderful, special place that God has prepared for those who love Him and for those who believe in Him. Are you in that place? Yes.

Are you receiving the Word of God? Hearing from Him and obeying Him and not following your own heart and doing whatever you want to do, but following after God and worshiping Him and Him alone and not being distracted? That's what God desires. And if that's you, you're that new sash, that wonderful joy, that exciting thing. God says, man, I'm so excited about you. I'm so excited that you're receiving this place of honor that I have for you.

Or are you as a child of God refusing to hear his word? Similar to the nation of Judah, are you following the dictates of your own heart? Are you walking after other gods? Are you refusing the place that God has given to you by refusing to walk in relationship with him?

Well, God continues on in verse 12. He says, therefore, because the people are this way, because they've rejected me, they refuse to hear my word, because now they're ruined and profitable for nothing. Verse 12, therefore, you shall speak to them this word. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they will say to you, do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?

Then you shall say to them, thus says the Lord, behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness. And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.

God says, here's the message. Because this is the state of my people and they're like this ruined sash, here's what I want you to proclaim. Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And the people say, all right, praise God. Yes, wonderful, we receive it. Yes, every bottle is going to be filled with wine. They're thinking prosperity, this means abundant fruit. This is going to be wonderful. But then God goes on to explain, no, no, you don't understand.

It's not the wine of grapes, but it's the wine of the wrath of God. And the very thing that they were longing for and excited about and craving is going to be the very thing that God is going to use to bring judgment upon them. And their land is going to be filled with drunkenness. And the wrath of God is going to be poured out upon them. They're going to experience and receive the judgment of God. He says, I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.

Because they have become like this ruined sash. Although God had given them such a place of honor, they refused to take that place, to receive what God had for them. And as a result, they were now going to experience the judgment of God because they rejected what He had for them. Verse 15, Hear and give ear. Do not be proud of

Now, as we continue on here, now we have Jeremiah pleading with the nation of Judah. That was the message of God. It was the picture that he painted for them. It was his explanation of what that picture was. And then the announcement, the pronouncement of judgment upon them because of their condition. And so now Jeremiah, receiving this vision, having this instruction from God, now he pleads with the nation. He says, Listen.

Listen up, guys. Don't be proud because God has spoken. Verse 16. He says,

Verse 17, but if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears because the Lord's flock has been taken captive. Jeremiah was sent by God to pronounce God's judgment upon the nation if they would not turn, if they would not repent.

that the nation of Babylon would come down and would carry them away captive and that there would be no inhabitants left there in Judah, that they would be carried off captive. And so Jeremiah pleads with the people.

You can imagine the heartbreak of Jeremiah, knowing what is about to happen and seeing them not respond to God's message. He pleads with them, hear and give ear. Listen, don't be proud. Lay aside your pride. Don't be so proud in that you will not receive from God. He says, give glory to the Lord. Lift Him up, exalt Him, give Him the rightful position and place in your life.

Submit yourself to Him and be obedient to Him, Jeremiah says, before He causes darkness. As we've often seen throughout Isaiah through Jeremiah, when God pronounces judgment, it's also an opportunity to repent. When God says, look, I'm going to judge you, I'm going to bring my wrath upon you because of your condition, because you've rejected me, it's at the same time

An invitation to get right with God. Just like the city of Nineveh when Jonah went there and Jonah's message was, in 40 days this city is going to be overturned. God's going to judge it. And the people repented. It was an invitation for them to get right, to invoke the mercy of God by God.

Calling upon him and submitting to him. And so Jeremiah says, give glory to God before he causes darkness, before your feet stumble. This is going to happen, but guys, you have an opportunity, he says, to get right. Listen up, don't be proud. He's going to turn the light into darkness. There's going to be a great dense darkness when God pours out his judgment.

And then it'll be too late. But right now you have opportunity. And he says, but if you won't hear it, then I'm going to weep. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because he had great sorrow of their rejection of the word of God, of the one who loved them so dearly and had given them that place of honor. God had so much in store. He had so much better planned for the nation of Israel. But they refused to hear it.

Jeremiah says, my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears because the Lord's flock has been taken captive. He brought forth this message, not joyfully, not laughing and pointing his finger, ha, ha, ha, you know you're going to get judged. He brought forth this message saying, it's a tragedy. God's provided everything for you. You don't have to experience this judgment. You don't have to experience this great destruction. Don't be proud. Hear God.

and receive from Him. It's the same message that we bring forth in the Spirit today. There's destruction. The wages of sin is death. It brings destruction. If you sow to the flesh, the Apostle Paul said, you'll reap corruption. You'll reap destruction. If you are investing yourself and your life is spent in the things of this world and the things of the flesh, it will bring destruction. God has so much better for you

Don't fill your life with the things of this world. Fill your life with the things of the Spirit, with the things of God, the things of value, the things that will last for eternity. God has given you this wonderful place of being His child where He can use you for His glory and you can be part of His work and you can take part in what He wants to do in this world. You can take part in reaching out in the salvation process

of a lost and dying world. He's given you this great place of honor. Don't be so proud that you follow the dictates of your own heart, but humble yourself. Hear what God is saying and walk after him. It's the same message today that Jeremiah was pleading with the nation of Judah. He says, look, if you won't hear, then I'm going to weep over your judgment. It's going to happen.

Verse 18, he says, Jeremiah continues to plead. He says, listen, say to the king and queen,

You guys aren't excluded from this. You have this position of power. You've got resources more than the common person. You may think, hey, I'm going to escape it. I'm going to be okay. But he says, no, humble yourselves. Don't be so proud. Hear what God is saying because your role is going to collapse. You're not going to escape this. No one is going to escape this from the common person to royalty alone.

Judgment is going to happen and Judah is going to be carried away captive. He says it shall be wholly carried away captive. Underscoring, emphasizing, listen, this is going to impact everybody, the whole nation, everything.

is going to be carried away captive. You won't be excluded. Don't be deceived and think that you're going to escape or that your finances or that your status is going to be a way of escape for you or keep you from this judgment that is coming. The judgment of God is going to come. It's going to happen to the whole nation because of their rejection of God, because they refuse to hear. And so Jeremiah says, humble yourselves.

Stop refusing to hear. Listen to God and respond. Submit yourself to Him. Because if you do not, judgment will come and you will not escape it. Verse 20. He says, Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you? Your beautiful sheep.

What will you say when he punishes you? For you have taught them to be chieftains, to behead over you. Will not pangs seize you like a woman in labor? And if you say in your hearts, why have these things come upon me? For the greatness of your iniquity, your skirts have been uncovered, your heels made bare. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?

Jeremiah says, listen, you don't believe me? Lift up your eyes. Start to look around. And you can see, where is that flock? The beautiful sheep that God had given to you. At this time, as Jeremiah is pronouncing this, the nation of Judah has been diminished greatly.

It was nowhere near the height of glory under King David and King Solomon and the vast expanse that they had and the riches that they had. At this point, there's only the city of Jerusalem left and a few people on the outskirts. But that was it. The whole nation now reduced to just one city.

He says, look, if you don't believe me that the judgment of God is coming, open your eyes. And look, where's all the flocks that you had and all the herds and all the prosperity? Where are all those things that you once had? Like many of us,

Even though God has told us over and over and over again. Then when it happens, they say, why have these things come upon me? I don't deserve this. You know, I'm a good person and I hardly ever kill anybody. And I do a lot of good things. And I go to the temple regularly. You know, I go to church. And I'm a part of, you know, I'm in the city of Jerusalem when the temple is there in the presence of God. Why is this happening to me, they're saying. Jeremiah says, look, it's for the greatness of your iniquity.

It's because of your sin. It's because, again, you refuse to hear God. You refuse to humble yourself before Him and submit to Him. And you follow the dictates of your own heart. You have brought this destruction upon yourself. It's happening right in front of you because of your great wickedness. Do not be shocked at the judgment of God when you're living in sin. Don't be surprised when you experience sin.

God's chastening when you're practicing sin. The nation of Judah was surprised. And so he asked them a question at the end. There in verse 23, Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Can a leopard change its spots? No. Can the Ethiopian change his skin? No. Can you change your skin? Well, you could put makeup on it. You know, you could try to. But you pull back the sleeves and there it is. You can't hide it. You can't change your skin.

And so he uses that to say, may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil. Are you accustomed to doing evil? Our bodies are really incredible. God has blessed us with, well, we have these bodies that are brilliant. I mean, you can study any part of the human body and find the handprint of God, the fingerprint of God. I mean, it's amazing, right?

One of the things that God has built into us is the ability to learn and develop habits. We learn behavior, we learn activities, and we're able to learn it in such a way that we don't have to think about how to do it once we have learned it. Well, for example, hopefully at least once a day, hopefully twice a day, maybe three times a day would be good, you brush your teeth.

Now, could you imagine if every time you went to brush your teeth, you had to stop and think and train your hand and tell your hand, okay, this is what I want you to do. And you had to teach it to go forward and backward and in circles and up and down and inside and outside. And you don't have to do that. You learned a long time ago. In fact, you can do it without really thinking about it. You can brush your teeth. Today, I was blessed with a steak dinner.

I had a sharp object in my hand in order to cut the steak. Now, could you imagine if I had to teach myself how to use that? And if it was like the first time, every time, you know, like I kept cutting my finger as I'm trying to eat my steak, you know, like how do I use this thing? And I didn't have to think much about it.

I was able to cut right through and enjoy it. Why? Because my body's been trained. I've learned how to use a knife and a fork. Now, maybe not the way that you guys would like me to use a knife and a fork, but well enough that I get food in my mouth and I hardly ever cut myself. Or how about this? Have you ever driven somewhere

And you were thinking and you were processing and you had a lot on your mind and then you get to where you're going and you think, how on earth did I get here? I don't remember getting off the freeway. I don't remember turning at the light. Did I run the stop sign? I don't even remember stopping.

Your body has been trained. You've gotten into the habit. You've developed the ability to do these things without really paying much attention to them. It happens without thinking. And it's a very valuable thing that God has built into us, this ability to have these habits learned and the ability to learn this behavior so that we don't have to really think through it every time that we do it.

Well, this is the idea here of what God is saying in verse 23. He says, look, can the Ethiopian change his spots? Can the leopard change his spots? Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Then you, can you do good who are accustomed to do evil? He says, look, you've trained yourself to do evil.

You've been practicing evil. And so without thinking, you're doing evil. And so it's not normal, it's not natural then for you to do good because you're so accustomed, you're so trained to do evil. And we train ourselves, we prepare ourselves to practice wickedness and to do evil. You know, you get into a tough situation.

there's some things going on and you figure, okay, well, how am I going to get out of this? Okay, well, if I tell this story, yeah, it's a little white lie, it's just a little lie, but if I tell this story, everybody will be happy and it will be resolved and then we can move on and then I won't lie again after that. And so we tell a little bit of a lie and we get through that situation. But then another tough situation comes and then,

We begin to think, oh, okay, well, if I tell this, if I say this, if I tell this lie, well, then I can get through that situation. And pretty soon you hit enough tough situations and now it's just, it's your normal response without even thinking. You hit a tough spot and boom, out pops the lie. And sometimes that out pops the lie and you think, where did that come from? I didn't even think about that.

Well, it's brilliant. I should have thought about it. Sometimes we could think. But it's our trained response because we've taught ourselves in each of those situations we're accustomed to do evil and so the tough situation hits and we're not expected to do good at that point because we've taught ourselves in this type of situation, well, here's what I lie. And I make up something and I get through so that I'm able to get through and it happens because we've trained ourselves to do it without thinking.

Well, you guys, you see a pretty girl walk by. And you take a look. You take another look. You take a longer look. You pull out the binoculars. You're teaching yourself. You're training yourself. Another one walks by. Ooh. Ooh. What are you doing? Well, later on, don't be surprised.

Now you come and you're struggling. Oh man, I'm trying really hard not to sin and lust and I'm fighting and I don't know why I'm fighting these things. Well, because you've trained yourself. Your body has learned the behavior that when this type of person walks by, you begin entertaining these thoughts. You've taught yourself. You've trained yourself to behave that way. You're accustomed to do evil. Temptation comes and we can wrestle with it. We can flee from it or we can give in to it.

And we train ourselves that when temptation comes, we give in to it because, well, that's what we've taught ourselves to do. We've trained our bodies. We know, hey, when I have this craving, I fulfill it. I meet that craving. I fulfill that desire. I go and I do that shopping spree whenever I have the idea because that's what I've trained myself to do. Or I participate or I practice this sin because that's what I've trained myself to do.

You come across a situation where someone is mean to you and you retaliate. And then it happens again and you retaliate and you respond in kind. And then later on you wonder, man, why am I this way? Why do I treat people so badly? Well, because you've trained yourself. You've taught yourself when you're up against this situation, this is the way that you respond. And your body has learned that behavior. You're accustomed to do evil. And so God says...

If a leopard can change its spots and an Ethiopian can change his skin, then you also can do good even though you're accustomed to do evil. In other words, it's not possible. Now let me ask you this. Can God change a leopard's spots? You can answer audibly. Can God change an Ethiopian's skin? Could God change your skin? Then God can change you who are accustomed to do evil. You see, you can't do it, but God can do it.

We're told in the New Testament to put off the old nature and put on the new nature that we have in Christ. We're told in the New Testament to take every thought captive that's not of God, that's not of Christ. God gives us the opportunity by the power of the Spirit to change. And you know, we can train our bodies, we can train ourselves to have some new habits. It doesn't happen overnight.

It's a great struggle at first. But now, the next time you encounter that mean person, instead of retaliating, let God give you the self-control that you need to return that meanness with kindness, to love. And it's going to be tough. It's going to be difficult. But then the next time a mean person comes across your path, allow the Spirit of God to give you self-control and return it with kindness. And as it happens again and again and again,

You'll teach yourself. You'll train yourself to respond in the nature and character of Jesus Christ. As the girl walks by and you learn to take every thought captive by the power of the Spirit, by relying upon God because God is able, you can teach yourself. You can train yourself to take every thought captive, to walk in purity and holiness, to tell the truth in those tough situations. Whatever it is that God shows you and that you struggle with, God is able to change a leopard's spots.

And although you've trained yourself and you've taught yourself and you have a sinful nature and you're accustomed to do evil, God can transform you. It goes back to what God was speaking to the people through Jeremiah. Hear and give ear. Don't be proud. Surrender yourself to God. Submit yourself to Him. Be obedient to Him. Don't follow the dictates of your own heart. Don't just do what you're accustomed to doing. Do what God has said in His Word. Respond to Him because He can change you and He can transform you.

Let's finish off the chapter. Verse 24 says, Therefore I will scatter them like stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness. This is your lot, the portion of your measures from me, says the Lord, because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood.

Therefore, I will uncover your skirts over your face that your shame may appear. I have seen your adulteries and your lustful means, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills and the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?

So again, God pronounces the judgment. He says, look, because you're this way, I'm going to scatter you. You're going to be destroyed. You're going to be open and everybody's going to see your shame because you've forgotten me and trusted in falsehood. God says, I've seen your sinful condition and your adulteries and your names and your harlotry and your abominations. Woe to you. I've seen what you do. I've seen the practices and how you're accustomed to do evil.

And so I'm going to bring this judgment. But then he concludes again. Again, we see the mercy and grace of God. His mercies are new every morning. His compassions, they fail not. He says, will you still not be made clean? Guys, he says, I don't want to bring judgment upon you. I don't want to deal with you and relate to you in this way.

You've forgotten me and you've trusted in falsehood and you refuse to hear me and you're full of pride and you won't submit yourself to me. And so this is what I'm forced to do. But won't you please be made clean? Won't you respond to me? Won't you receive my word? It doesn't mean that you escape everything and that you don't have any problems, but you can be restored in your relationship with God. You can be restored to that place of honor that he has for you.

God is calling out to us. As I've said, as we've gone through the book of Jeremiah thus far, the book of Jeremiah for us is a call to purity. It's a call to holiness. And if you're accustomed to do evil, if you're practicing sin, if you're living and just following the dictates of your own heart, God says, listen, you're going to experience the judgment of God if you continue that path. But my desire, my plan, my hope, my prayer is that you would turn, that you would be made clean.

by submitting yourself to God, by calling out to the Lord and being obedient to Him. The worship team is going to come up now and lead us in some worship. I want to ask that you would take this time to seek God, that you would be right with Him this evening. And perhaps many of you or some of you, you need to be made clean. Perhaps there is this practice of wickedness. Perhaps you're accustomed to do evil and you've taught yourself and trained yourself

In this particular area or maybe in several areas in your life. And you just continue in those even though you know it's not what God has called you to do. It's not the way that God has called you to be. Let's take this time to give God the opportunity to clean our hearts. Let's confess it to Him. Agree with Him about that sinful condition of our lives. And ask that He would be gracious and merciful and come and change our spots to transform us

and to the image of the firstborn Son, Jesus Christ. Amen? Let's worship the Lord together.