Jeremiah 18:1-20:6 “Evidences of Grace”

1:08This is Chelsea, my wife, and our daughters with my father-in-law, Gary. He passed away about a year ago. So much life, so much love, so much relationship. So much that could be said, but the picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes a simple picture can communicate more than many. Words. And in God's kindness, he gives Judah several pictures to help communicate his desire, his love for them. We see that, Pastor Bill read in chapter 18. We see it also in chapter 19. This first picture in action, parable in action, if you will, illustration, is meant to be given to Judah, the people. The second one in chapter 19 is for Judah's leaders. And so we will walk through these to get a sense of what God is telling Judah.

2:03It's important to see in these chapters Jeremiah's struggle with God, his struggle with God's people, his suffering and persecution. It's critical that we see the humanness of all of this. And it's critical that we see the realness of God to be present with his people, to show his power, and God's desire to have a relationship with his people. He's patient to rescue. He shows compassion in his desire to save them. And so, what we're going to learn this morning is that God's grace is most evident through judgment, suffering, and persecution.

2:49We'll begin by considering God's grace through judgment as we see in this first picture, the potter and the clay. So, in this first section, chapters, I'm sorry, verses 1. 1 through 6, God instructs Jeremiah to go down to the potter's workshop where he observes the potter working his clay. The potter is fashioning a vessel out of clay, and the picture is quite clear. It's easy for us to understand that the potter has authority over the clay to make and remake it how he pleases. So, in other words, there's no scenario in which the clay says to the potter, I don't want to be that. I don't like that. I'll do it on my own. There's no scenario where that plays out.

3:33The potter is in charge of making and remaking the clay. He has authority to do as he pleases. And while the meaning to Judah is quite clear as well, God has the right to make and remake Judah to do to his people as he pleases. And even as we consider the differences between lifeless clay and full-of-life humanity, we see the kindness of God in fashioning us as his image-bearers. Those who have life and breath and being, he's given us a will, he's given us mental, emotional, physical, spiritual faculties to live on our own, to act on our own. But of course, this comes with great responsibility.

4:26The kindness of God that we are not merely puppets to be puppets. We are not merely robots to be ordered. We are dignified beings made in God's image with capacities to think and understand and to act. Still, while the picture is clear, the truth is more challenging when applied to human life. Amen. It's clear, it's easy to see, but it's hard to apply. What we're dealing with here is the truth of God's good and benevolent sovereignty.

5:04That is the understanding that God's knowledge, His understanding, His power, and His presence is so great that He's able to work all things for good according to His will. Listen, even though you and I may not be able to see the goodness from our vantage point, this is God's sovereignty. There are a number of things that stand out that I think we need to see here. Verse 6 states that Judah is in God's hands just as the clay is in the hands of the potter.

5:43In verse 7, we learn of God's presence, that phrase there, that at any time he may choose to take action on a nation or a kingdom. And then we also learn of God's action and how it is. In part is based on people's response to him. So, if a people or a nation do good, that will inform God's actions. If a people or a nation do evil, that too will inform God's actions. We see both of those things at play, God's sovereignty and human will and responsibility.

6:21Well, ultimately, we've seen the pattern, and it's on full display here. Judah chooses not to listen to God's word through his prophet. And the result, God pronounces judgment upon them. Verse 11 says, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I'm shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. So, what do we learn here? Well, for one, this speaks again to the sin of presumption which we saw in chapter 13. Judah assumed too much. They presumed upon God's grace.

6:59They believed that they could live how they wanted to, and that God was obligated to receive them and keep them. They presumed upon God's grace. But in addition to that, we may not see it here, but we know that the Jews' rejection led to an opportunity for the Gentiles, non-Jews. It led to an opportunity for them to see, to know, to hear of the grace of God, an opportunity to be rescued. From their sin. This life-giving news that we learn about, like in Romans 11, Paul talks about this.

7:38Now, we have the benefit of hindsight, right? We can open Jeremiah, and then we can flip over and open Romans, and we can see, oh, yeah, God must have been doing something. I see that. But these books were written roughly 600 years apart. The point is that for Judah at the moment, it's not so clear what God was doing in this sense. What Judah can't see and what we often fail to see is that God is working no matter how things may seem.

8:14And it's always for good. It's always for good. And more than that, He's always present. He's always present. And that means that we have help and hope no matter how bad things may seem. And that's the next thing. We're reminded here of the presence of God. We see God as a merciful and righteous potter, not a puppet master pulling chains. In verses 7 through 11, they help us to see the personal nature by which God approaches his people.

8:57And what I want you to see, what I want you to know is. That God is always doing 10,000 things, even though you and I are only aware of a few of them. And He's not orchestrating things on some faraway throne, detached from His people, completely removed. He comes near through the prophets and the priests in the Old Testament, we're reading through Jeremiah, that He might reach and rescue those who are His. You see, He's always been personal, inviting His people into relationship.

9:37God is present, brothers, sisters, friends, what you must see this morning is that the doctrine of God's sovereignty is not meant to be a cold truth that you must begrudgingly receive or accept. Rather, it's a warm reality that's meant to draw us near. God inviting us in, into relationship. So it's not God standing there, you can like it or not, it's my way or the highway. It's not that. It's more of my son, my daughter. Follow me. Follow the ancient path that leads to life and blessing.

10:32And as a good father, if you disobey and choose to go against me, there will be consequences for your actions. You see that in the text? You see the difference there? I think it informs the tone by which God, through Jeremiah, is approaching his people. And I think it's important and informative for us as well. So I wonder how God might be working in your hearts even now as you consider this truth. What might be happening in your life that from a human standpoint seems to be bad?

11:19Know that God is present and working. And that means that there's help and hope. I wonder what you might be seeing happening in our world that only seems to be bad. Know that God is present and working, which means we have help and we have hope. Well, this is the first picture: the potter and the clay, and God pronounces judgment on Judah. Why is that? Well, verse 12 of chapter 18 gives us a sense. The people's response is quite telling. Remarkably, in one short verse, we see with great clarity the people's heart posture towards God and the prophet. As we saw last week in chapter 17, we see again here this stubbornness of heart. And I want us to see the danger of the place that the people are that they are in, given as seen in their actions and their words, this repeated pattern of ignoring God, disregarding God.

12:30And that is with every rejection of God, His will, and His ways, it's easier and easier to ignore Him. As this happens, this God-given sense of right and wrong, the conscience, becomes dull, becomes less sensitive. You know, thinking very practically, we sit down at the dinner table, my kids take the first bite, and immediately they throw it out of their mouths because it's burning hot. Right? You've probably done that. Well, for me, it's not so hot.

13:12I drink hot coffee, and so my taste buds are less sensitive. They're dull to the heat. I'm sure you're thinking of many other practical examples. But in a sense, this illustrates what we're saying and what we're seeing here: that over time, the sense The senses become dull. The point is, we must learn from our brothers and sisters here the danger of searing our consciences to the point that we become dull to God's word and his instruction, to the point that we become less sensitive to the spirits moving, to the point that we increasingly see things as acceptable that are clearly not acceptable.

13:58Like a boat adrift at sea, we too may be in danger of drifting from God, worshiping the creation over the creator, because we're no longer anchored to God and His Word. Maybe it's helpful to picture another picture, to picture your life as if it were on the pages of a book laid out before God. Think about the pages that that would cover. And I wonder what would those pages say about your interaction with God, the way you're relating to Him?

14:45Do they show that you are ignoring Him, you are disregarding Him and the things that He has called you to do? What internal and external realities might be evident in your life? Your life that reveal that you are ignoring and disregarding God. It's important for us to consider. There is great and potential danger. Well, picking up in verses 13 through 17, we get a greater understanding of just how far Judah had fallen, as well as the loving heart of God. This section presents a question that really captures the essence of God's response. One simple question: Who has heard anything like this?

15:38Translation. It's unheard of that anyone who had seen and experienced the mercy of God would respond in this way. That anyone who had seen the patience and compassion of God would turn away from him like this. Essentially, God's reply to their continued rebellion is that it's unnatural given the loving kindness that he had shown them. So, in verse 13, the virgin Israel had made herself impure by polluting herself with other gods. Verse 14, their behavior was contrary to nature. Like if there was no snow on the top of a tall mountain, or if there was no snow melt running down the tall mountain into a stream.

16:30In a question, will nature ever turn aside from its natural path? Answer, it will not. But you have Judah, you have forsaken God. Very plainly, verse 15, Israel had forgotten God by pursuing other things, and that resulted in them stumbling in their ways. And so I want to zoom out for just a moment to give you a snapshot of who Israel is and what God had done. I want to show you Psalm 78, verses 10 through 22 on the screen.

17:15They, Israel, did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot his works, that were it again forgot, and the wonders that he had shown them. In the sight of their fathers, he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoon. He divided the sea and let them pass through it. He made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime, he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and cause waters to flow down like rivers. Yet they sinned still more against him.

18:00Against the Most High in the desert, they tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people? Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath. A fire was kindled against Jacob. His anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

18:41You may remember back in chapter 6, Jeremiah said that Judah, Israel, had forsaken the ancient path, the ancient pathway. Rather than taking the highway, they had gotten lost on the side roads, and as a result, they had wandered from God. The result, back to our text, verse 16, was that they and their land would become a horror. That literally means wasteland. The imagery here is striking. All people would walk past them and see them, and they would shake their heads in disbelief. They would even hiss. This pops up in 1 Kings, but also. Also, several times here in this text, this sound, this response demonstrated contempt.

19:40And verse 17 tells us that Israel would also be scattered as the east wind would scatter everything in its path. And it looks forward to the day when Babylon would come from the east and take them away, scatter God's people. But the greatest tragedy, the greatest loss is the relationship. God would show them his back and not his face. Here again, we see the heart of God, not seeking destruction to prove his power. No. He doesn't desire that any would perish, but that all would know him and have life in his name. 2 Peter tells us. But by showing his back, he's saying something about the relationship.

20:48Think about it. What does it mean if you turn your back on someone? I think the illustration breaks down at some point because we. Are impure, our motives are impure at times. But in the most pure sense, the Father must turn away from them because he cannot look upon their sin and rebellion with approval because he's holy. Because of their sinful nature and choices, their relationship with God was broken. And as Pastor Alan mentioned just a couple of weeks ago, it reminds me of Romans chapter 1: this God giving them over to their own desires.

21:34And there's a warning here that we must see, we must hear, is that in our rebellion and our sin, God may give us exactly what we're asking for, life apart from him. It's not his desire, we've seen 2 Peter, but it may be the result, unless one repents and trusts in him. Because as we've learned, there's no rescue without repentance. So let me remind us where we're at. We're looking at God's grace through judgment. We've looked at the first picture, the potter and the clay. Ultimately, God pronounces judgment upon Judah for their actions. And now we're going to look ahead to chapter 19 to see the second picture, which God gives us Gave to Judah's leaders. The first one is to the people, the second one is to the leaders. So look ahead in verse chapter 19. These first two verses tell us that Jeremiah is to acquire a bottle, a jar, a flask. He's to gather the elders, and he's to take them to the potshred gate, and he's to perform this act in order to demonstrate the message that God is trying to communicate to them.

22:56And then jumping ahead to verses 10 through 12, they reveal the meaning, and Jeremiah is to break the jar in the sight of these men, these leaders that had been given the responsibility to lead and shepherd God's people. And just as the jar would shatter into a million pieces, so too would Judah be shattered into a million pieces through God's judgment because of their hardness of heart, their refusal to listen to him, and their worship of other things.

23:31And so I want you to think about the scene. Jeremiah has gathered these men who have been entrusted with leading God's people. He enters the valley, the place where human victims were offered. There's charred remains of bodies. There's broken pottery. There's trash and anything else that people wanted to discard. Some combination between. A landfill and a cemetery. And Jeremiah is supposed to speak to these leaders, and he's supposed to show them: look at the destruction that you have created.

24:20Look and see how far you and your people are from God. Return to God, or you will experience the devastation of life apart from Him. Can you imagine? These next verses, chapter 19, verses 3 through 9, capture the horror and devastation that will result. And a warning that this is graphic, but at the risk of being uneasy with these next verses, brothers and sisters, I think we need to be reminded of the devastating effects of sin and rebellion against our holy and gracious God. I think we need to let it sink in that our sin has had a similar effect on our lives, the lives of others. Ultimately, it led to the death of God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Look with me in verse 3 of chapter 19. You shall say, Say, hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I'm bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle, because the people have forsaken me. They've profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known. And because they've filled this place with the blood of innocence, and have built high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the sons of Hinnem, but the valley of slaughter.

26:34And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and I will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air, to the beast of the earth. I will make the city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be. Horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds.

27:04And I'll make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. Everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress with which their enemy and those who seek their life afflict them. Looking back to chapter 18, the potter and the clay, we put these pictures together. There's a point at which the clay hardens and it can't be reshaped. The only option is fire. That word topheth means fireplace. Jeremiah gives the place the nickname the valley of slaughter because of what they had done and because what God would do as a result of their actions, the judgment that God would bring.

28:12Listen to this. Earlier the Lord implied that he would reshape the nation if the people repented, as a potter reshapes a vessel under construction on the wheel. But now Judah was a hardened vessel. Incapable of changing. All the Lord could do with it now was break it. If there's nothing so workable as a clay pot in the making, there is nothing so unalterable as the finished article. Brothers and sisters, there is a point of no return.

28:55The conscience is seared. The heart is hard like stone. And maybe you're thinking, you're hearing this, and you're thinking that your response is less severe. Like you're just somewhere in between, you're just indifferent, and you'll probably get to this Jesus stuff later. Or maybe you're thinking you're already good enough. That was my story. Or maybe that you'll obey someday, but not right now. Or that you'll line your life up with His someday, but not right now.

29:36You have no guarantee. You have no guarantee that you'll get home today. And with every rejection, every refusal, you move further and further away. He's shown us the way. It's not. For debate. So, if you hear his voice and you see evidence of his working, then turn to him. If you repent, he will relent. He's not expecting you clean and polished. Paul in Romans says that while we were dead in our sin, while your lifeless body was on the floor, Christ died, that you might be saved, that you might be rescued. This is the good news.

30:41We also see the weight and responsibility here of leadership. James says that not many should become teachers because they will be held to a more strict standard, face a stricter judgment. The qualifications for elders in the church are not extraordinary in nature. They're actually characteristics that every believer in Jesus should possess or strive to possess increasingly. The difference is that the elders are to be models and examples of those things, these characteristics, because they've been entrusted with the responsibility of shepherding others. Have you ever thought about that?

31:29Have you ever thought? Taught about the fishbowl that is leadership, that is eldership in the church. That your elders not only must watch over their own lives, but they must watch over the lives of their family, and then this family in addition. To be sure, it's an aspiration, it's a desire, it's a calling, and therefore it is a joy. But it comes with great responsibility, it is a weighty task, a weighty calling, and there is much at stake.

32:11Well, God, through Jeremiah, is showing and telling the elders of Judah this very thing. And it's instructive to us as well. It's a warning to leaders, and it's also instructive to followers that we should seek to honor and respect our leaders for their keeping watch over our souls, our very souls. And they will be held accountable by God for that. Well, these two pictures, God pronounces judgment upon Judah. But now I want to turn our attention to the topic of suffering. So let's pick back up in chapter 18, verse 18, 18, 18.

32:58Then they said, Come, let us. Let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the potter. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words. Yet again, we get a glimpse into the hearts of the people by their response. They dig their heels in, because sin always takes you further than you thought.

33:30It does more damage than you expect. It dulls the senses, carries you further away from God, His provision and protection. And here they not only turn away from God, but they come up against God's servant, God's messenger, Jeremiah. Verse 19. Jeremiah says, Hear me, O Lord, and listen to the voice of my adversaries. Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them? Therefore, deliver up their children to famine. Give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle. May a cry be heard from their houses when you bring the plunder suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet. Yet you, O Lord, know all their plotting to kill me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you. Deal with them in the time of your anger.

35:09Here in these verses, we find Jeremiah's lament, his divine complaint, and his request for God to bring justice. Jeremiah seeks to do what God told him to do and to do it in the right way. Pastor Allen reminded us just a couple of weeks ago that Jeremiah had no life, no family, no friends, just the job. And what did he get? Suffering, adversity, hardship? Brothers and sisters, the call to follow God and obey Him does not mean that we will escape trial and adversity.

36:02The sanctifying transformation of the spirit through suffering does not mean that we won't feel deeply, that we won't experience sorrow, that we won't find ourselves in deep mourning over the sin and brokenness that we still see in us and the sin and brokenness that we see in the world. In other words, knowing God won't make you immune to pain and the difficulty of hardship, it won't make it easy, just like 40 years of marriage won't make saying goodbye to your spouse at the end of their life easy. It's actually harder because of the relationship, because of the closeness.

36:56But what knowing God does do is it provides a firm foundation by which you can weather the storm, a hopeful confidence that enables you to persevere, a shared love and affection. God, this is harder than I ever imagined, but at least I'm with you. And an intimacy that enables you to accept. Express your true heart and make your complaint known with true hope. Because I know that it won't always be this way. We see that in Jeremiah, this divine complaint.

37:47Did you know that the Psalms are full of this? They're full of this kind of language, raw, honest, righteous complaint that things are not as they should be. Not in a spirit of accusation with a finger pointed at God or anyone else. No, rather, it's a plea offered with an open hand. Our readings as a family have come from the Psalms here lately. It's truly been life-giving. And I started seeing a pattern. David offers a complaint to God, observing the brokenness in him and in the world. He expresses his anger and frustration freely for the way things are in light of how they should be, that evil continues to persist, the evil prosper, righteous suffer, and on and on and on.

38:43And it's almost as if you can see his countenance change on the page before you. As he does that, he turns to God, acknowledging all that is right and true. Despite how he feels, despite the circumstances, Circumstances. And what happens? Joy erupts. Thanksgiving overflows. Freedom comes. And a greater intimacy flows from divine complaint. Just like walking with others through hardship often brings us closer. More than anything, it reminds us of God's presence through the Spirit, that we are not alone.

39:33This, brothers and sisters, is the ancient path. That's what we see here in Jeremiah's life, and it's instructive for us as well. I want to encourage you to express your concerns to God, the raw emotions that you feel, knowing that you can leave the results to Him. He's not caught off guard. He's not afraid. He knows, and He's near. This is why we've sought to create a culture of confession that happens corporately here on Sunday morning with our corporate confession of sin that happens in our life groups, and we encourage it in one-on-one relationships because there's so much to be gained by vulnerability and honesty before God and one another. In every sense, we find Help and hope in our time of need.

40:33We see that here in Jeremiah. Finally, in our last few moments, I want to take a look at chapter 20, verses 1-6. If you would flip ahead there. Now, Pasher, the priest, the son of Emir, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Verse 2. Then Pasher beat Jeremiah the prophet. He put him in stocks that were in the upper Benjamin gate of the house of the Lord. The next day when Pasher released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, The Lord does not call your name Pasher, but terror on every side. For thus says the Lord, Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword and their enemies while you look on.

41:28And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. You shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prizes, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. And you, Pasher, and all who dwell in your house. Shall go into captivity, to Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied falsely.

42:14We learn that even the priest turns against Jeremiah. He puts him in stocks in front of all to see. Not only is it physical torment, but it's public shaming. The point is, even those who should have been fighting for Jeremiah turned against him and persecuted him. There may come a time when those who should be fighting for us turn against us for what we believe, for what we say, what we do, and how we live our lives.

42:57Actually, the scripture is quite clear that persecution is not an if, but it's a win. 2 Timothy 3 makes this clear. And this is why the heart work, the self-evaluation before God and one another is crucial in times of relative peace, which we enjoy currently, because it doesn't get any easier. And I don't say this to scare or to create some emotional response, but rather to stoke your heart. Heart that we might do this work, that we might be diligent to do this work.

43:39All right. So, how? I think that's the final question. How is God's grace most evident in judgment? As we close, I want to highlight for us this glimmer of hope, this display of grace. Back in chapter 18, verses 7 and 8, we learn that God's judgment is sure to come because of the devastating consequences of sin. But the ancient of days, the all-knowing, all-powerful, forever-present God, offers a way out for his people. He will relent if they repent of their sin and rebellion against him.

44:33Where much of Jeremiah's writing is pronouncing judgment, rightly so for Judah's sin and idolatry, we can't miss the grace, the goodness, the patience of God which we see here. He sent Jeremiah the prophet to speak the truth in an effort to shepherd the people in the way that they should go, and he reveals his loving kindness, his gracious heart. To the people, if you repent, I will relent. We read part of Psalm 78 earlier. Can I show you the rest of the story?

45:19Look with me. We learn that Israel had forgotten God and refused to believe him. And look at how God responds. Verse 23: Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels, he sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he let out the south wind. He rained meat on them like dust. That is heavenly. Oh my gosh. Winged birds like the sand of the seas. He let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. And they ate, and they were filled, for he gave them what they craved. Yet he, this skips down to verse 38, yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them. He restrained his anger often, and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they We're but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.

46:37The kindness of God. And here's the thing: all of this was but a shadow of what would come. All of this was but a shadow of what has come in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10 says that Jesus is the new and living way. And though judgment of sin is sure because of God's holy and righteous character, we wouldn't want it any other way. God has made a way, a better way than Judah possessed, Jesus Christ. God's grace is most evident in judgment because against the dark backdrop of sin, we find the bright hope and promise of eternal life, of rescue in Jesus. He's provided a way out, a way to be rescued from all that isn't right in you and all that isn't right in this world.

47:41So if you see your need to be saved, if you hear his voice through the prophet Jeremiah, if you've seen the glory of Christ, repent and turn to him. Will relent. He will pour out his grace on you, and you will be free. And at the risk of oversimplifying, we say turn to Christ, come to faith, we say repent. I'm just aware that some may not know what that means. Really simple. Admit that you have fallen far short of God's glory, His goodness, His standard. Confess your sin to God and trust Him above all else. Trust Him as the only way to salvation, the only way to be rescued.

48:52Romans 10 says, You will be saved. You will be free. Finally, how is God's grace most evident in suffering and persecution? Two things: presence and purpose. Presence and purpose. As we've talked through these chapters and hopefully over the course of our study in Jeremiah, I hope it's been clear to you the personal nature, the personal activity of God to care for his people and to carry out his purposes. Suffering and persecution are sure to come. It's guaranteed. And what we need the most, what you need, what I need, what your co-worker needs, what your neighbor needs, what your classmate needs, is not necessarily answers to why this, why that. They need to be reminded. We need to be reminded of God's presence. Amen?

49:58Romans 8, as well as other passages, remind us that God's Spirit helps us in our time of need. But we've also been given one another as a reminder and a demonstration of God's presence. Literally, you and I are God's provision for one another in our time of need. God working through us. God's grace is most evident in suffering and persecution because we see our great need for God and we see that we are not self-sufficient and we can't do it alone. We need Him and we need one another.

50:46So one encouragement is I would invite you to consider spending some time in the Psalms to learn some language for how to approach God. In the midst of suffering, in the midst of persecution, to express your needs to him, to pour out your heart to him. I trust that you'll find great freedom as you do. Finally, God's grace is most evident in suffering and persecution because we learn that not a single event that occurs in our lives that does not have purpose. Do you believe that?

51:36That suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, character, hope. James says that the crown of life is waiting for those who have persevered under trial, those who have stood the test. Suffering and persecution is not evidence that God has removed his presence, but it's a sign that he is near and he's working more than you could ever know or imagine. Well, I say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this picture, the cross, we see a picture of God's loving kindness on display through his Son, Jesus Christ. In a word, grace. Grace.

52:32Judgment and wrath for sin poured out on him that we might be forgiven. Isaiah calls him the suffering servant. He suffered in your place that you might go free. If you repent, he will relent, and you will experience the power of the Holy Spirit. This, my friends, is eternal purpose. Look to Jesus. Let's pray. Oh, Father, so much here. Confess that the chapters are long, lots to cover, but we trust, God, that your life-giving word through the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah has and will continue to reveal that ancient path, the life-giving path to eternal life in Jesus Christ.

54:15We confess that we are often short-sighted and we can't see all that you're doing. We pray that you would help us. We confess that we struggle with the difficulty and suffering in which we're enduring, but we know you're near. And we know that there will be a time, if it has not occurred for some this morning, where others will come against us as followers of Jesus. But we're reminded of your ultimate, God-gloring, glorifying purpose in all things. And so we lean upon you. We trust in you.

55:14We pray for your help. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit. us online at newlifecs dot net.