1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,120 We’re going to talk about God’s word today, so I’d like you to take a bible in your hand. 2 00:00:06,160 –> 00:00:09,520 You may have brought one to church, you can reach for that one. If you didn’t there’ll be 3 00:00:09,520 –> 00:00:13,760 one in the pew in front of you, there may not be one for everybody. But let’s make sure there’s 4 00:00:13,760 –> 00:00:18,879 no bible in this church that isn’t going to get open today. Because we’re going to talk 5 00:00:18,879 –> 00:00:27,120 about the word of God, about how God actually speaks to us. I’m going to tell you a story for 6 00:00:27,120 –> 00:00:34,320 a few moments and then we’re going to take up a story from Jeremiah and chapter 36. So you might 7 00:00:34,320 –> 00:00:38,080 like to turn to that now, so that you’ve got it when we come to that point in a few moments. 8 00:00:39,119 –> 00:00:47,439 Jeremiah and chapter 36, middle of the old testament, as we take the bible in our hands 9 00:00:49,119 –> 00:00:51,040 and we believe it to be the word of God, 10 00:00:51,919 –> 00:00:59,759 let’s ask the God will speak to us through it and that he’ll meet us in it. We pray together, 11 00:01:01,119 –> 00:01:09,279 Father you have made yourself known through your word and we’ve come here today because we want 12 00:01:09,279 –> 00:01:16,000 to meet with you and hear what you have to say to us. We know that you speak to us through the Bible 13 00:01:16,000 –> 00:01:20,639 so we’re taking the bible in our hands and we’re opening it and we’re ready to read it, 14 00:01:22,000 –> 00:01:28,720 and we ask that as we do you will speak to us through it. We ask that you’ll show us the place 15 00:01:28,720 –> 00:01:35,839 that your Word is to have in our lives and we ask that your Holy Spirit will be at work powerfully 16 00:01:36,959 –> 00:01:44,800 to move us from a direction that would lead to disaster to a pathway that will surely lead 17 00:01:44,879 –> 00:01:53,519 to life. These things we ask together in Jesus’ name and God’s people said, Amen. 18 00:01:54,959 –> 00:02:01,839 Now we’re continuing this series uh entitled Deck Chairs on the Titanic and we’re discovering how 19 00:02:01,839 –> 00:02:08,639 we can avoid taking a plunge to disaster. I want to give you today’s principle right up front. 20 00:02:09,199 –> 00:02:17,759 It is very simply this, if you want to avoid taking a plunge to disaster then feed on God’s 21 00:02:17,759 –> 00:02:26,399 word. The Bible. Paul put it very simply in Colossians 3 verse 16 he said you’ve got to let 22 00:02:26,399 –> 00:02:35,520 the word of Christ dwell in you richly. You got to let Christ’s word the word of God live in you 23 00:02:36,080 –> 00:02:43,440 richly. Now, what does it mean to feed on the word of God? What would it mean for the word of Christ 24 00:02:43,440 –> 00:02:50,880 to live in me, in a way that is rich? Well, we’re going to discover that in our time together 25 00:02:50,880 –> 00:02:56,720 this morning. I want to tell two stories. The first is about a father and I’ll just tell that 26 00:02:56,720 –> 00:03:01,759 story you can look it up later and the second is about a son and that’s the one we’re going 27 00:03:01,759 –> 00:03:09,199 to find in Jeremiah and chapter 36. The stories are held together because they’re both stories 28 00:03:09,199 –> 00:03:17,679 about men who heard the word of God. They heard from the Bible but they had completely opposite 29 00:03:17,679 –> 00:03:24,639 reactions to it. Now the first is the story of Josiah. Some of you may be familiar with this 30 00:03:24,639 –> 00:03:33,199 story. At the age of 26 Josiah experienced something quite remarkable. He was the King 31 00:03:33,199 –> 00:03:39,119 over Judah, the southern part of God’s people, just over 600 years before the time of Jesus Christ 32 00:03:39,759 –> 00:03:46,800 and he had planned that there would be a major project of remodeling the temple building. Money 33 00:03:46,800 –> 00:03:52,479 had been gathered from taxes to pay for this and it had been stored in a vault in the temple 34 00:03:53,199 –> 00:03:58,399 and when the time came to initiate the building project, Josiah sent the secretary of state 35 00:03:59,199 –> 00:04:05,839 down to the temple to get the high priest to open up the old hidden vault and to bring out 36 00:04:05,839 –> 00:04:11,520 the money so that the payment could be made for the renovations that were being done on the temple 37 00:04:11,520 –> 00:04:18,959 building. When the high priest went into the old vault in the temple and he brought out the money, 38 00:04:19,920 –> 00:04:28,160 he made a fascinating discovery. There was a dusty old disused book, probably a scroll, 39 00:04:29,760 –> 00:04:37,040 it was the book that we call Deuteronomy. It was part of the Bible. It was the word of God. 40 00:04:38,000 –> 00:04:44,480 This book had become lost because during the previous 50 years, the king who had reigned before 41 00:04:44,480 –> 00:04:48,720 had taken a completely different path to the word of God. He had no place for it 42 00:04:48,720 –> 00:04:53,519 and so I guess the priest had just thrown the old book of God’s law into the vault and left it 43 00:04:53,519 –> 00:04:58,000 there. And now all these years later it was discovered, and when it was discovered it was 44 00:04:58,000 –> 00:05:04,399 brought to Josiah the King. Now I want you to try and imagine the scene. Here’s someone 26 45 00:05:04,399 –> 00:05:11,519 years old and they’ve never heard the word of God. And this old dusty book is found in the vault 46 00:05:11,839 –> 00:05:20,320 brought to King Josiah. And Josiah says, read me the word of God. And so the secretary began to 47 00:05:20,320 –> 00:05:26,079 read the word of God to the King. He read the whole of Deuteronomy. It’s a fascinating book 48 00:05:26,079 –> 00:05:30,160 to read. It’s a long book but you can read it in one sitting. You’ll get the impact of it 49 00:05:30,160 –> 00:05:39,760 just as it came to King Josiah. And when he heard the word of God we’re told that he tore his robes. 50 00:05:39,760 –> 00:05:45,679 You can read this in Second Kings, chapter 22. And he said, great is the Lord’s anger that burns 51 00:05:45,679 –> 00:05:52,160 against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words in this book. He realized when he heard 52 00:05:52,160 –> 00:05:57,359 the word of God that he lived in a culture that had gone in a completely different direction. 53 00:05:57,359 –> 00:06:01,839 You’ll often experience that a church as you hear the word of God. You’ll think to yourself this is 54 00:06:01,839 –> 00:06:09,119 completely different from the world in which I live, and Josiah realized that. I’m living in 55 00:06:09,119 –> 00:06:13,920 a culture that has gone completely the opposite direction from what is said in this book, 56 00:06:13,920 –> 00:06:20,160 and therefore God’s anger upon us must be very great. That’s why he tore his robes. That was 57 00:06:20,160 –> 00:06:25,519 an ancient way of expressing deep sorrow and repentance. Then he did something else. 58 00:06:26,320 –> 00:06:33,959 Read about it in Second Kings 23. He called for a national day of prayer and repentance. 59 00:06:33,959 –> 00:06:41,640 He gathered a vast crowd in the temple, and he read, the king himself actually read the 60 00:06:41,640 –> 00:06:47,600 whole of the Book of Deuteronomy aloud in their hearing. Then he followed it up by going on a 61 00:06:47,600 –> 00:06:55,079 personal campaign all around the country in which he smashed the idols that had been set up and 62 00:06:55,079 –> 00:07:02,220 closed down some of the dark pits of evil that had prospered over the previous fifty years. 63 00:07:02,220 –> 00:07:09,239 It was an extraordinary change, and God says about Josiah at the end of his life that there 64 00:07:09,239 –> 00:07:14,980 never was a king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and all his strength. 65 00:07:14,980 –> 00:07:23,540 That’s the first story. Josiah heard the Word of God, and when he heard it, he believed it, 66 00:07:23,679 –> 00:07:31,160 and he obeyed it. And he not only believed it and obeyed it personally, but he communicated it. He 67 00:07:31,160 –> 00:07:37,480 proclaimed it to the whole of the community, the whole nation at that time. 68 00:07:37,480 –> 00:07:43,160 Now the second story I want us to follow, and this will bring us to Jeremiah in chapter 36, 69 00:07:43,160 –> 00:07:51,200 is the story of Jehoiakim, because Jehoiakim was Josiah’s son. So the first thing that you 70 00:07:51,299 –> 00:07:57,299 have to say about Jehoiakim is that he was raised, like any of us, in a godly home. He 71 00:07:57,299 –> 00:08:04,299 had a father who followed the ways of God, and a mother too, and now the great question, 72 00:08:04,540 –> 00:08:10,940 after his upbringing, now that he was the king, the question was how would he respond 73 00:08:10,940 –> 00:08:15,940 to the word of God, where would he lead the people of God? 74 00:08:16,320 –> 00:08:23,320 Now, Jehoiakim became the king when he was 25 years old. And his first decision didn’t 75 00:08:23,359 –> 00:08:30,359 seem very encouraging. Because as soon as he became king he decided that his first priority 76 00:08:30,600 –> 00:08:37,599 was to build a lavish palace for himself. He decided that this would be the first priority, 77 00:08:39,059 –> 00:08:44,919 though frankly it was not a good time for that kind of expenditure. He couldn’t afford 78 00:08:44,960 –> 00:08:51,099 to build the palace so he had to have forced labor to do it. It was his first big mistake 79 00:08:51,099 –> 00:08:58,099 He bought into this huge house that simply was beyond his means. And it was a great mistake, 80 00:09:00,179 –> 00:09:07,179 a wrong priority.” Secondly, he built a life strategy around an alliance with Egypt. A 81 00:09:07,900 –> 00:09:14,219 lavish lifestyle and a mistaken life strategy. When Jehoiakim came to the throne Egypt was 82 00:09:14,239 –> 00:09:19,520 the great super power of the day and he thought to himself we are a little country, but as 83 00:09:19,520 –> 00:09:26,520 long as we are protected by the big fire power of Egypt, we’ll be secure, we’ll be fine. 84 00:09:28,440 –> 00:09:33,960 But during Jehoiakim’s reign there was a great battle, an important battle in history between 85 00:09:33,960 –> 00:09:40,619 Egypt and Babylon, that took place in a place in the north called Carchemish. It was a heavy 86 00:09:40,820 –> 00:09:46,760 defeat for Egypt and it marked a great shift in the balance of power in the world, away 87 00:09:46,760 –> 00:09:53,760 from Egypt and towards Babylon. Now, Babylon imposed taxes on God’s people and Jehoiakim 88 00:09:55,640 –> 00:10:01,099 accepted that for three years, though in his heart of hearts, he always felt that this 89 00:10:01,099 –> 00:10:07,260 was only a little problem and that given time, with the help of Egypt, everything would be 90 00:10:07,359 –> 00:10:13,380 just fine again. And that was his second big mistake, because 91 00:10:13,380 –> 00:10:20,380 God’s hand was in the rise of Babylon and Jehoiakim was trying to resist something that 92 00:10:20,820 –> 00:10:26,000 God was doing. Now, during the times of both Josiah and 93 00:10:26,000 –> 00:10:33,000 Jehoiakim, there was a prophet and his name was Jeremiah. A prophet was a person who actually 94 00:10:34,000 –> 00:10:40,840 heard the words of God, so that they were actually able to speak the words of God to 95 00:10:40,840 –> 00:10:44,239 the people. So a prophet was not like a journalist or 96 00:10:44,239 –> 00:10:49,479 a commentator who you would see on a news program simply giving their perspective on 97 00:10:49,479 –> 00:10:56,479 the stories of the day. A prophet actually heard the Word of God, was moved by the spirit 98 00:10:56,479 –> 00:11:02,919 of God, in such a way that they were actually able to speak the words of God to the people. 99 00:11:02,919 –> 00:11:09,919 God spoke to the prophets so that the prophets spoke from God. 100 00:11:09,919 –> 00:11:14,599 What Jeremiah had been saying was not terribly popular, and he had actually been banned from 101 00:11:14,599 –> 00:11:19,640 the temple. That brings us to the beginning of Jeremiah chapter 36 that I hope you have 102 00:11:19,640 –> 00:11:24,080 open in front of you now. Look at verse 1 of Jeremiah 36, 103 00:11:25,080 –> 00:11:33,380 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to 104 00:11:33,380 –> 00:11:42,640 Jeremiah from the Lord. Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to 105 00:11:42,640 –> 00:11:48,659 you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the other nations, from the time I began speaking 106 00:11:48,760 –> 00:11:54,979 to you in the reign of Josiah until now. At this point in the story that was a total of 107 00:11:54,979 –> 00:12:01,880 twenty-three years. God says to Jeremiah, I want you to write down every word of prophecy 108 00:12:01,880 –> 00:12:06,419 that I have given to you over a period of twenty-three years, I want you to write it 109 00:12:06,419 –> 00:12:13,419 all down and put it in one place on a scroll. So, Jeremiah called his secretary, a man by 110 00:12:14,219 –> 00:12:19,580 the name of Baruch and began dictating the words of God that had been given to him over 111 00:12:19,580 –> 00:12:26,179 this period of twenty-three years. And, sure enough, Baruch wrote them all down on a scroll. 112 00:12:26,179 –> 00:12:30,299 At the end of that time, Jeremiah said, verse five, look at it there. 113 00:12:30,299 –> 00:12:37,299 I am restricted, he said. I cannot go to the Lord’s temple. He’d been banned from speaking 114 00:12:38,179 –> 00:12:43,700 there because he was so unpopular. So he says to his secretary Baruch, so you go to the 115 00:12:43,700 –> 00:12:49,219 house of the Lord, that’s the temple, on a day of fasting and you read to the people 116 00:12:49,219 –> 00:12:56,219 from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated. So, as we follow 117 00:12:56,799 –> 00:13:03,219 the story, Baruch went to the temple and he read the words of the Lord from the scroll. 118 00:13:03,219 –> 00:13:09,619 He found a house, verse 10, a room that belonged to Gemariah , a man who obviously supported 119 00:13:09,619 –> 00:13:15,539 the Word of God, and this little room was above the new gate to the temple. And so if 120 00:13:15,539 –> 00:13:21,419 you can picture Baruch, he’s standing there with his scroll up on this floor above the 121 00:13:21,419 –> 00:13:27,919 ground level, and he’s reading out from the window over the gate as crowds and crowds 122 00:13:27,919 –> 00:13:35,780 of people are coming in. And as they come into the temple they hear the Word of God. 123 00:13:35,780 –> 00:13:42,719 Now there was a man who was in that crowd, and his name was Micaiah. Micaiah was the 124 00:13:42,719 –> 00:13:51,440 grandson of the Secretary of State who had actually read the words of the book of Deuteronomy 125 00:13:52,000 –> 00:14:00,200 King Josiah 18 years previously. Now his grandson stands in the courtyard 126 00:14:00,200 –> 00:14:08,239 and hears the Word that God has given to Jeremiah being read aloud over the temple area. 127 00:14:08,239 –> 00:14:13,000 And as he listens to the Word of God he thinks to himself this is something that has to be 128 00:14:13,000 –> 00:14:19,460 heard at the highest level. This has to be heard in the palace. The King has to know 129 00:14:19,580 –> 00:14:26,580 what God says. Now Micaiah because his grandfather had been the Secretary of State obviously 130 00:14:27,239 –> 00:14:33,299 had access to places other people couldn’t go. So he goes into the palace and actually 131 00:14:33,299 –> 00:14:39,659 interrupts a committee meeting of some of the Secretary of State’s assistants and 132 00:14:39,659 –> 00:14:45,140 colleagues in government that are actually sitting in a meeting in the palace and Micaiah 133 00:14:45,260 –> 00:14:52,260 actually breaks in on them in the middle of their meeting. Verse 13, Micaiah told them 134 00:14:53,059 –> 00:14:58,820 what he had heard. And immediately they send for Baruch. They say you know if there is 135 00:14:58,820 –> 00:15:05,820 a Word of God it needs to be heard in the palace. So Baruch now comes into this interrupted 136 00:15:06,960 –> 00:15:12,840 meeting of the Secretary of State, and he reads the Word of God. And they hear it and 137 00:15:12,880 –> 00:15:19,880 it has such impact upon them that they say this has to go all the way to the King himself. 138 00:15:20,059 –> 00:15:27,059 The King must hear this Word for the good of this nation. So verse 16, when they had 139 00:15:30,859 –> 00:15:37,859 heard these words, they looked at each other in fear and they said to Baruch, we must report 140 00:15:38,799 –> 00:15:45,799 all these words to the King. And so as we follow the story, they now come upstairs to 141 00:15:45,859 –> 00:15:51,119 the King’s private quarters. All of the King’s personal attendants are standing 142 00:15:51,119 –> 00:15:58,119 around there. It must have seemed like old times. It was now 18 years since the dusty 143 00:15:58,880 –> 00:16:04,739 old Book of the Law had been found in the Temple vault and had been read with such power 144 00:16:04,919 –> 00:16:09,960 in Josiah’s life. But now there’s a new King, and the Word 145 00:16:09,960 –> 00:16:15,340 of God is being brought on a scroll. When Josiah had heard the Word of God, it was a 146 00:16:15,340 –> 00:16:21,820 personal turning point for him and it was a national turning point for the people. 147 00:16:21,820 –> 00:16:28,400 The question was how would the new King receive the word of God? 148 00:16:28,400 –> 00:16:33,599 It went to a man by the name of Jehudi, who was a messenger, to 149 00:16:33,719 –> 00:16:38,380 actually read from the scroll. 150 00:16:38,380 –> 00:16:46,820 Verse 22, it was the 9th month and the King was sitting in the winter 151 00:16:46,820 –> 00:16:52,520 apartment with a fire burning in the fire pot in front of him. 152 00:16:52,520 –> 00:16:57,179 And whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns from the scroll, he’d open a 153 00:16:57,179 –> 00:17:01,520 scroll bit by bit, a few inches at a time and read in columns. 154 00:17:01,520 –> 00:17:09,699 The King cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the fire pot 155 00:17:09,699 –> 00:17:17,500 until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 156 00:17:17,500 –> 00:17:21,819 Now, the Secretary of State and the officials from his department who had 157 00:17:21,819 –> 00:17:26,920 already heard this scroll must have cringed as they saw this. 158 00:17:26,920 –> 00:17:29,280 This is the word of God. 159 00:17:31,520 –> 00:17:38,359 and the King’s taking a penknife to it and he’s saying this is what I think of that 160 00:17:38,359 –> 00:17:45,280 and he’s tossing it in the fire until it’s all gone. 161 00:17:45,319 –> 00:17:49,719 Now the question of course that we’ll want to ask at this point is very simply 162 00:17:49,719 –> 00:17:53,699 what did he burn? 163 00:17:53,699 –> 00:17:56,920 What did he burn? 164 00:17:56,920 –> 00:17:59,959 Now you might like to turn back and this is the only other cross-reference I’ll 165 00:18:00,060 –> 00:18:04,119 ask you to turn to today, it’s still in Jeremiah but go back to Jeremiah Chapter 22. 166 00:18:04,119 –> 00:18:09,300 Jeremiah in chapter 22. What did he burn 167 00:18:09,300 –> 00:18:13,079 well we’re told that he burned 168 00:18:13,079 –> 00:18:17,619 the words that God had given, the scroll had the words that God had given over the 169 00:18:17,619 –> 00:18:19,060 23 years 170 00:18:19,060 –> 00:18:22,079 that Jeremiah had prophesied during the time of Josiah 171 00:18:22,079 –> 00:18:25,380 and during the time of Jehoiachin and that means that 172 00:18:25,380 –> 00:18:29,020 it was the vast majority of what is written 173 00:18:29,020 –> 00:18:33,359 in the first 36 chapters of Jermiah. that was what was on the Scroll 174 00:18:33,359 –> 00:18:37,380 not everything in these first 36 chapters there are a few chapters that 175 00:18:37,380 –> 00:18:38,459 were dated later 176 00:18:38,459 –> 00:18:42,000 in the time of Zedekiah or the letter to the exiles and so forth 177 00:18:42,000 –> 00:18:46,000 but what was read to him was most of what was 178 00:18:46,000 –> 00:18:49,439 in the first part of Jeremiah 179 00:18:49,439 –> 00:18:53,939 including chapter 22. I’ll try and picture 180 00:18:53,939 –> 00:18:57,699 these words being read by Jehudy to the King 181 00:18:58,680 –> 00:19:02,579 Woe to him who builds his 182 00:19:02,579 –> 00:19:06,180 palace by unrighteousness 183 00:19:06,180 –> 00:19:09,219 remember what Jehoiakim’s first choice had been? 184 00:19:09,219 –> 00:19:13,579 his upper rooms by injustice 185 00:19:13,579 –> 00:19:19,459 making his countrymen work for nothing not paying them for his labor 186 00:19:19,459 –> 00:19:22,680 he says I will build myself a great palace 187 00:19:22,680 –> 00:19:27,319 with spacious upper rooms. Jehoiakim was sitting in them at that very moment as 188 00:19:27,319 –> 00:19:32,040 he heard this so he makes large windows in it 189 00:19:32,040 –> 00:19:36,839 panels it with cedar, decorates it with red, does it make you a king to have 190 00:19:36,839 –> 00:19:41,479 more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? 191 00:19:41,479 –> 00:19:46,040 That’s Josiah of course, he did what was right and just and all 192 00:19:46,040 –> 00:19:50,599 went well with him, he defended the cause of the poor and the needy 193 00:19:50,599 –> 00:19:54,199 and so all went well with him is that not what it means to know me declares 194 00:19:54,199 –> 00:19:58,280 the Lord? But your eyes and your heart are set 195 00:19:58,280 –> 00:20:01,959 only on dishonest gain, shedding innocent blood, on 196 00:20:01,959 –> 00:20:05,560 oppression and extortion therefore this is what the Lord says 197 00:20:05,560 –> 00:20:09,160 about Jehoiakim, son of Josiah king of Judah. They’ll not 198 00:20:09,160 –> 00:20:14,199 mourn for him, he will have the burial of a donkey 199 00:20:14,199 –> 00:20:18,920 dragged away and thrown outside the gates 200 00:20:18,959 –> 00:20:22,280 of Jerusalem.’ 201 00:20:22,280 –> 00:20:26,839 And Jehoiakim said give me that scroll and he took out his pen 202 00:20:26,839 –> 00:20:30,040 and he said i’ll show you what i think of that 203 00:20:30,040 –> 00:20:34,040 cut it off and threw it in the fire 204 00:20:35,079 –> 00:20:38,439 You see what’s happening here 205 00:20:38,520 –> 00:20:46,040 Jehoiakim the word of God condemns your lifestyle 206 00:20:46,040 –> 00:20:52,680 you run up debts that you cannot pay you think of no one but yourself you place 207 00:20:52,680 –> 00:20:56,920 intolerable burdens on other people your whole life is about yourself 208 00:20:56,920 –> 00:21:01,719 Jehoiakim, God condemns your lifestyle there’s no other way 209 00:21:01,719 –> 00:21:04,599 to describe this 210 00:21:05,000 –> 00:21:09,880 God’s word nailed his sin, that’s one of the things the Bible does for us 211 00:21:09,880 –> 00:21:13,000 god nails our sins that’s why we’re sometimes 212 00:21:13,000 –> 00:21:17,239 a bit reluctant to read it 213 00:21:18,520 –> 00:21:24,040 when God nailed his sin He tore up the word of God and He threw 214 00:21:24,040 –> 00:21:28,040 it in the fire 215 00:21:28,760 –> 00:21:32,520 but not only was God speaking to his lifestyle in nailing his sin God was 216 00:21:32,520 –> 00:21:35,479 also speaking in the scroll that was read to him 217 00:21:35,479 –> 00:21:39,560 about his life strategy which was a dreadful mistake 218 00:21:39,560 –> 00:21:44,520 You see he had chosen this cozy alliance with Egypt 219 00:21:44,520 –> 00:21:48,839 all of his security for the future revolved around this policy 220 00:21:48,839 –> 00:21:52,040 I’m going to be all right because we’re with 221 00:21:52,040 –> 00:21:56,439 Egypt Now let me give you one or two samples 222 00:21:56,439 –> 00:22:01,079 of what was written on the scroll from these earlier chapters of the book of 223 00:22:01,079 –> 00:22:05,400 Jeremiah from chapter two verse 36 You will be 224 00:22:05,959 –> 00:22:10,520 disappointed by Egypt Could that be clearer? 225 00:22:10,520 –> 00:22:14,520 Chapter 3 verse 6 I am bringing disaster from 226 00:22:14,520 –> 00:22:18,439 the north that was a reference to Babylon of course 227 00:22:18,439 –> 00:22:22,199 even terrible destruction chapter 6 verse 1 228 00:22:22,199 –> 00:22:27,800 Disaster looms from the north or chapter 5 verses 9 and 11 229 00:22:27,800 –> 00:22:31,479 I will summon all the peoples of the north and 230 00:22:31,479 –> 00:22:36,040 my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Extraordinary phrase 231 00:22:36,040 –> 00:22:39,400 God says Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon will in this case be 232 00:22:39,400 –> 00:22:43,959 my servant and I will bring him against this land 233 00:22:43,959 –> 00:22:47,719 And the whole country will become a desolate wasteland and these nations 234 00:22:47,719 –> 00:22:53,479 will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. So God’s Word not only 235 00:22:53,479 –> 00:22:58,520 nailed his sin, it also announced his future 236 00:22:58,520 –> 00:23:02,760 in judgment. Jehoshaaha this is what God says to you 237 00:23:02,760 –> 00:23:10,439 your life is based entirely upon greed and God condemns it 238 00:23:10,439 –> 00:23:17,479 And your future will be a devastating judgment 239 00:23:17,479 –> 00:23:24,920 And God announces it And as he heard this word being read he 240 00:23:24,920 –> 00:23:29,640 Said again to Jehudi give me that scroll 241 00:23:29,640 –> 00:23:33,160 He takes out his knife and he cuts off some more columns 242 00:23:33,160 –> 00:23:37,719 And he throws it in the fire and so it continued until the whole 243 00:23:37,719 –> 00:23:42,520 Scroll had been destroyed 244 00:23:44,439 –> 00:23:49,079 Now some years later Nebuchadnezzar pressed forward with his 245 00:23:49,079 –> 00:23:54,439 Dreadful policy he decided he could stand up to Nebuchadnezzar who was quite 246 00:23:54,439 –> 00:23:58,119 Sure that egypt would help him and so he raised a revolt it was a 247 00:23:58,119 –> 00:24:01,640 Plunge to disaster 248 00:24:02,520 –> 00:24:06,599 His armies were absolutely devastated 249 00:24:06,599 –> 00:24:12,119 His city was left defenseless he personally was taken in shackles 250 00:24:12,119 –> 00:24:16,359 And josephus the jewish historian tells us 251 00:24:16,359 –> 00:24:21,079 That his body was left outside the city wall of jerusalem 252 00:24:21,079 –> 00:24:29,160 Exactly as jeremiah had said 253 00:24:29,160 –> 00:24:36,040 Now why did jehoiakim burn the bible? Why would he burn the word of God? 254 00:24:36,280 –> 00:24:40,920 God’s word announced to him a day of judgment but he refused 255 00:24:40,920 –> 00:24:44,920 To believe it just refused to believe it 256 00:24:44,920 –> 00:24:48,199 His father joseiah heard the word of God and said 257 00:24:48,199 –> 00:24:54,760 God’s anger against us must be great He trembled but if you look at chapter 258 00:24:54,760 –> 00:24:59,000 36 and verse 24 when jehoiakim heard the word of God 259 00:24:59,000 –> 00:25:02,920 we’re told he showed no fear 260 00:25:03,079 –> 00:25:07,880 He just regarded it as well this is just jeremiah’s opinion 261 00:25:07,880 –> 00:25:11,959 This is just the spiritual thoughts of some heavenly minded individual 262 00:25:11,959 –> 00:25:15,800 There’s nothing to do with reality or to do with me 263 00:25:15,800 –> 00:25:19,479 He heard the word of God but he simply didn’t believe it 264 00:25:19,479 –> 00:25:22,760 So he tossed it in the fire 265 00:25:23,560 –> 00:25:27,400 Secondly he heard the word of God as it identified his sin 266 00:25:27,400 –> 00:25:32,280 but he refused to obey it Very interesting that josiah 267 00:25:32,280 –> 00:25:36,119 when he heard the word of God he tore his clothes 268 00:25:36,119 –> 00:25:39,640 but again if you look in verse 24 we’re told very specifically because it’s 269 00:25:39,640 –> 00:25:42,520 important that when jehoiakim heard the word of 270 00:25:42,520 –> 00:25:45,239 God he and his attendants did not tear their 271 00:25:45,239 –> 00:25:48,599 clothes they said well this word has no 272 00:25:48,599 –> 00:25:53,079 authority over me don’t think i’m going to change my 273 00:25:53,079 –> 00:25:58,359 lifestyle because of something that said in the bible 274 00:25:59,079 –> 00:26:05,000 so he refused to believe it he refused to obey it 275 00:26:05,000 –> 00:26:09,319 and of course for that reason he refused to proclaim it remember josiah had said 276 00:26:09,319 –> 00:26:11,160 well all the nation needs to hear this 277 00:26:11,160 –> 00:26:13,959 Jehoiakim said we need to make sure 278 00:26:13,959 –> 00:26:17,560 that nobody else hears this that’s why he burned it 279 00:26:17,560 –> 00:26:22,439 and of course that was unsuccessful because no sooner had he burned it than 280 00:26:22,439 –> 00:26:26,760 verse 28 god says to jeremiah you just take another scroll 281 00:26:26,760 –> 00:26:30,599 and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll 282 00:26:30,599 –> 00:26:35,640 that jehoiakim king of judah has burned up 283 00:26:35,640 –> 00:26:39,079 now there’s a real pattern here 284 00:26:39,719 –> 00:26:44,680 he won’t believe it won’t obey it 285 00:26:45,000 –> 00:26:48,199 wants to destroy it 286 00:26:48,520 –> 00:26:54,359 you find exactly the same thing with the pharisees in the new testament 287 00:26:54,359 –> 00:26:57,800 you remember in the same way Jesus nailed their 288 00:26:57,800 –> 00:27:01,800 sin you read this in Matthew 23 woe to you 289 00:27:01,800 –> 00:27:08,280 hypocrites and Jesus nails their sin 290 00:27:08,839 –> 00:27:15,479 but they won’t obey it no one tears their clothes that day 291 00:27:15,719 –> 00:27:19,000 then Jesus announced their future judgment this temple that you think is 292 00:27:19,000 –> 00:27:22,359 so marvelous one day not one stone will be left on top of 293 00:27:22,359 –> 00:27:25,319 another but they found that simply incredible 294 00:27:25,319 –> 00:27:29,319 they refused to believe it 295 00:27:29,479 –> 00:27:33,400 not only that they attempted to destroy the word of god you see 296 00:27:33,640 –> 00:27:38,760 Jehoiakim took the word of god on a scroll and burned it 297 00:27:38,760 –> 00:27:42,760 the pharisees with others took the word of god 298 00:27:42,760 –> 00:27:45,719 in the flesh 299 00:27:45,959 –> 00:27:52,280 and tried to destroy him by nailing him to the cross 300 00:27:52,280 –> 00:27:56,040 of course on the third day he rose again 301 00:27:56,520 –> 00:28:00,680 because whatever you think about the word of god you simply 302 00:28:00,680 –> 00:28:05,880 cannot make it go away 303 00:28:06,920 –> 00:28:10,040 so the great question that I want to bring before us now 304 00:28:10,040 –> 00:28:14,439 as we try and apply this this morning is simply this 305 00:28:14,439 –> 00:28:21,000 how are you going to respond to the word of god 306 00:28:22,920 –> 00:28:26,839 and I want to give you four very simple pointers 307 00:28:26,839 –> 00:28:30,199 as to what it will mean for the word of god to dwell in us 308 00:28:30,199 –> 00:28:36,839 so richly for us to go the way of Josiah 309 00:28:36,839 –> 00:28:41,800 and to avoid the plunge to disaster of Jehoiakim 310 00:28:41,800 –> 00:28:46,199 the first thing is simply this how should we respond to the word of 311 00:28:46,199 –> 00:28:51,560 god? read it, read it 312 00:28:51,560 –> 00:28:55,560 you know very simply a person who can read 313 00:28:55,560 –> 00:28:59,160 and a person who has a book in their own language 314 00:28:59,160 –> 00:29:02,520 has no advantage over an illiterate person 315 00:29:02,520 –> 00:29:06,280 who has no book in their own language if they do not read that 316 00:29:06,280 –> 00:29:12,359 book and the great irony is that we have in the english language more 317 00:29:12,359 –> 00:29:15,719 translations of the bible than at any other time in history 318 00:29:15,719 –> 00:29:21,800 or in any other language or culture and yet across the spectrum of 319 00:29:21,800 –> 00:29:26,680 evangelical christians in america let alone those outside the churches 320 00:29:26,760 –> 00:29:31,239 the level of knowledge of god’s word has never been lower 321 00:29:31,239 –> 00:29:34,760 never lower 322 00:29:38,439 –> 00:29:46,119 if you do not read the bible you will not know the god of the bible 323 00:29:46,119 –> 00:29:49,239 you may think you do but what you’ll carry in your head is 324 00:29:49,239 –> 00:29:54,839 a kind of image of god that you made up yourself 325 00:29:54,839 –> 00:29:58,280 you made it up yourself because you never took the time to explore the bible 326 00:29:58,280 –> 00:30:01,560 and find out god as he really is, and the problem with an image of god 327 00:30:01,560 –> 00:30:05,319 that you’ve made up yourself is that that’s what the bible calls an 328 00:30:05,319 –> 00:30:11,319 idol and an idol can’t save you there’s only one who can save you 329 00:30:11,319 –> 00:30:14,359 and that is the god who reveals himself in the bible 330 00:30:14,359 –> 00:30:19,959 if you want to get to know him you have to crack open your bible and more 331 00:30:19,959 –> 00:30:23,239 than crack it open you have to build into your life 332 00:30:23,239 –> 00:30:31,000 the regular daily discipline of reading the word of god 333 00:30:31,000 –> 00:30:35,079 you can’t go further if you don’t read it 334 00:30:35,479 –> 00:30:41,800 build that discipline into your life let’s commit today as we think of what 335 00:30:41,800 –> 00:30:48,839 it will take to build a life that god will indeed command 336 00:30:49,319 –> 00:30:55,560 we build around a growing deepening knowledge of the word of god because we 337 00:30:55,560 –> 00:31:00,599 choose to read it number two 338 00:31:00,599 –> 00:31:07,640 believe it you see when god spoke to jehoiakim about the day of judgment 339 00:31:07,800 –> 00:31:11,560 god speaks to us about a day of judgment too 340 00:31:11,560 –> 00:31:15,239 let me read you these words from the new testament that speak about a day 341 00:31:16,199 –> 00:31:20,520 see jehoiakim lived in the shadow of a day when god would bring judgment 342 00:31:20,520 –> 00:31:25,959 on his city we live in the shadow of a day that the bible speaks about still 343 00:31:25,959 –> 00:31:32,599 future when god will bring judgment on the whole earth 344 00:31:32,599 –> 00:31:37,560 listen to how peter describes it 345 00:31:37,699 –> 00:31:44,520 he will come as a thief in the night the heavens will disappear with a roar 346 00:31:44,520 –> 00:31:47,959 and the elements will be destroyed with fire and the earth and everything in 347 00:31:47,959 –> 00:31:53,239 them will be laid bare 348 00:31:53,239 –> 00:31:56,199 everything laid bare 349 00:31:56,439 –> 00:32:02,839 see here we are trying to make our life in this world 350 00:32:02,839 –> 00:32:06,599 and we’re rather like a crowd of people on the titanic 351 00:32:06,599 –> 00:32:10,520 we’re trying to explore every possible activity that there is to do 352 00:32:10,520 –> 00:32:13,640 everything that we could do in life in this world but like the folks on the 353 00:32:13,640 –> 00:32:16,280 titanic what we’ve not understood is that this 354 00:32:16,280 –> 00:32:20,680 world itself is going down 355 00:32:20,760 –> 00:32:23,880 and when you understand that the world itself is going 356 00:32:23,880 –> 00:32:31,800 down then you’ll begin to discover that the purpose of your life is not 357 00:32:31,800 –> 00:32:35,400 to explore every possible fun thing that you could imagine doing 358 00:32:35,400 –> 00:32:39,000 during your voyage on this ship 359 00:32:39,000 –> 00:32:42,680 but the purpose of your life if i can use this picture is to say 360 00:32:42,680 –> 00:32:45,959 where are the lifeboats and how can I make sure 361 00:32:45,959 –> 00:32:49,959 that not only i am in them but as many other people as possible 362 00:32:49,959 –> 00:32:55,000 are in them as well 363 00:32:55,000 –> 00:32:59,800 and those who have come to believe what god says 364 00:32:59,800 –> 00:33:04,199 but the ultimate future of this world have an entirely different perspective 365 00:33:04,199 –> 00:33:10,119 on life an entirely different view of the world 366 00:33:10,119 –> 00:33:16,199 believe it the history of this world has a definite beginning and a definite 367 00:33:16,199 –> 00:33:20,439 ending at the creation god started the stop 368 00:33:20,439 –> 00:33:23,400 watch of time 369 00:33:24,359 –> 00:33:28,520 and on the day of the Lord he will push again the stopwatch of time and he will 370 00:33:28,520 –> 00:33:31,800 bring it all to an end 371 00:33:32,599 –> 00:33:35,160 believe it 372 00:33:36,199 –> 00:33:41,079 and as you believe it obey it Peter says since everything is going to 373 00:33:41,079 –> 00:33:44,599 be destroyed in this way 374 00:33:44,920 –> 00:33:49,160 what kind of people ought you to be 375 00:33:49,319 –> 00:33:52,439 as someone said to me just this week as people quite often say if they’ve been 376 00:33:52,439 –> 00:33:57,479 around here for a while you know this place has changed so much 377 00:33:57,479 –> 00:34:01,239 i remember Arlington Heights when it was all fields 378 00:34:01,239 –> 00:34:06,359 you remember Arlington Heights when it was all fields 379 00:34:06,680 –> 00:34:15,000 one day Arlington Heights again will be all fields scorched 380 00:34:15,000 –> 00:34:17,399 fields 381 00:34:18,760 –> 00:34:22,199 for that will be true of every place on this 382 00:34:22,199 –> 00:34:24,520 earth 383 00:34:25,239 –> 00:34:30,679 so we’ve just read from the bible you believe it 384 00:34:32,199 –> 00:34:35,560 and if we believe therefore fundamentally that we live 385 00:34:35,560 –> 00:34:38,919 in a world for a limited period of time but that 386 00:34:38,919 –> 00:34:43,080 ultimately this world itself is going down 387 00:34:43,080 –> 00:34:46,919 then we will have an entirely different view of our life 388 00:34:46,919 –> 00:34:50,280 believe it obey it 389 00:34:50,280 –> 00:34:53,479 obey it 390 00:34:53,479 –> 00:34:57,600 finally proclaim it 391 00:34:57,600 –> 00:35:02,439 so one of the greatest mistakes that a person can ever make 392 00:35:02,439 –> 00:35:06,360 is to think that the bible is a book that’s simply about personal spiritual 393 00:35:06,360 –> 00:35:10,040 beliefs this is why some people live with a 394 00:35:10,040 –> 00:35:15,239 confused notion that cnn is more relevant 395 00:35:15,239 –> 00:35:19,879 than the bible because they think that cnn is about 396 00:35:19,879 –> 00:35:23,800 real events and the bible is just about vague 397 00:35:23,800 –> 00:35:27,879 spiritual personal beliefs 398 00:35:28,040 –> 00:35:34,840 when the earth is destroyed with fire and melts with fervent heat 399 00:35:34,840 –> 00:35:38,679 nobody in the judgment of god will doubt for a moment 400 00:35:38,679 –> 00:35:44,439 that that is a real vent not for a moment 401 00:35:44,760 –> 00:35:47,560 not for a moment 402 00:35:49,159 –> 00:35:52,679 and that was jehoiakim’s great mistake he never took the word of god seriously 403 00:35:52,679 –> 00:35:56,600 simply blew it off as jeremiah’s opinion i’ll toss it in 404 00:35:56,600 –> 00:35:58,919 the fire 405 00:35:58,919 –> 00:36:03,159 but the judgment god spoke about on him came 406 00:36:04,439 –> 00:36:10,280 the judgment of the world itself will come 407 00:36:11,080 –> 00:36:17,639 every person who has ever met lived will stand before jesus christ 408 00:36:17,639 –> 00:36:22,199 every person you have ever come to know or ever had a conversation with 409 00:36:22,199 –> 00:36:30,040 will either hear jesus christ say come or depart 410 00:36:31,800 –> 00:36:36,280 that includes the king and queen of prom 411 00:36:36,520 –> 00:36:40,199 it includes the snotty little kid at school that everyone despises 412 00:36:40,320 –> 00:36:45,679 it includes the admin assistant with the fancy hairdo 413 00:36:45,679 –> 00:36:49,280 the captain of the football team and the coach 414 00:36:49,280 –> 00:36:53,040 it includes the professor at the university and the man who brings your 415 00:36:53,040 –> 00:36:56,399 mail. it includes the lady who serves the 416 00:36:56,399 –> 00:36:59,360 donuts and it includes the president of the 417 00:36:59,360 –> 00:37:04,320 united states of america. it includes the dictator of iraq and it 418 00:37:04,320 –> 00:37:07,199 includes the waitress who will bring your lunch if you eat 419 00:37:07,199 –> 00:37:09,919 out today 420 00:37:11,199 –> 00:37:14,879 and if the weight of that begins to come in upon you you say you know i believe 421 00:37:14,879 –> 00:37:17,439 the word of god i believe that that is so 422 00:37:17,439 –> 00:37:22,159 then it will leave you saying but but then what hope is there 423 00:37:22,159 –> 00:37:25,919 and the very last thing today is simply this come back to the story one more 424 00:37:25,919 –> 00:37:28,159 time 425 00:37:28,959 –> 00:37:34,719 the only way to survive the judgment in jehoiakim’s time 426 00:37:34,719 –> 00:37:41,600 was to surrender in advance to the king who brought it 427 00:37:41,600 –> 00:37:44,959 now jehoiakim of course refused to do that he said i’m going to fight that 428 00:37:44,959 –> 00:37:48,879 king but his successor a man by the name of 429 00:37:48,879 –> 00:37:52,159 jehoiachin took a different route he was king for 430 00:37:52,159 –> 00:37:54,800 only three months and he said i can’t fight this king 431 00:37:54,800 –> 00:37:59,439 and he surrendered to him and he was taken away from jerusalem 432 00:37:59,439 –> 00:38:03,199 along with many others in fact whole community were taken away from jerusalem 433 00:38:03,199 –> 00:38:08,639 into exile in the land of babel and they were taken to another place 434 00:38:08,639 –> 00:38:13,600 and then when the day of destruction came across jerusalem and the armies 435 00:38:13,600 –> 00:38:18,479 invaded and babylon destroyed the whole city and one stone wasn’t left 436 00:38:18,479 –> 00:38:21,840 on top of another they were already in another 437 00:38:21,840 –> 00:38:30,320 place kept safe under the protection of the king who was the judge 438 00:38:31,280 –> 00:38:41,120 and that is a beautiful picture that shines right into the new testament 439 00:38:41,840 –> 00:38:46,239 because the hope that is offered to us by god who himself 440 00:38:46,239 –> 00:38:51,760 is the judge is that he will offer protection 441 00:38:51,760 –> 00:38:56,159 to those who in advance of that day of his judgement will surrender themselves 442 00:38:56,159 –> 00:39:00,239 to him and the hope of every christian believer 443 00:39:01,360 –> 00:39:05,199 is that those who have surrendered themselves to jesus christ 444 00:39:05,199 –> 00:39:10,800 are going to be taken out to another place 445 00:39:10,800 –> 00:39:14,080 before this day of final destruction comes 446 00:39:14,080 –> 00:39:17,040 this is what the bible speaks about one will be taken 447 00:39:17,040 –> 00:39:20,639 and another will be left those who have surrendered to the king 448 00:39:20,639 –> 00:39:24,719 will be taken into his protection those who have resisted the king 449 00:39:24,719 –> 00:39:30,399 will be left to face his ultimate judgment and destruction 450 00:39:32,000 –> 00:39:37,360 you can be saved from this judgment 451 00:39:37,520 –> 00:39:42,800 if hearing the word of god believing it and obey it you surrender yourself to 452 00:39:42,800 –> 00:39:48,239 the king and if you have chosen that path 453 00:39:48,239 –> 00:39:51,760 then you may be a means of bringing that message of 454 00:39:51,760 –> 00:39:59,679 hope to every other person you meet why does god speak to you and 455 00:39:59,679 –> 00:40:04,560 me about our sin and about judgment 456 00:40:04,719 –> 00:40:10,320 because he wants to drive you to christ 457 00:40:11,199 –> 00:40:15,679 so that you may be saved