Scripture referenced 16 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Matthew 5:43-45 quoted to introduce the theme of loving enemies and praying for persecutors, used as New Testament parallel to Jeremiah's message
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,
45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
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Keep this verse
Jeremiah 1:5
God tells Jeremiah he was known and consecrated before birth, appointed as prophet to the nations
5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
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Jeremiah 1:8
God tells Jeremiah not to be afraid of the faces of those he delivers the message to
8 Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says Yahweh.
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Jeremiah 6:16
stand at the crossroads, ask for the ancient paths and the good way, walk in it and find rest
16 Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
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Jeremiah 17:9
the heart is deceitful above all things, used in the context of marriage counseling
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
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Jeremiah 17:14
heal me O Lord and I shall be healed, save me and I shall be saved
14 Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved; for you are my praise.
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Jeremiah 31:3
God declares everlasting love and unfailing kindness drawn toward his people
3 Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
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Jeremiah 33:3
called God's telephone number, call out to Me and I will answer and tell you great and unsearchable things
3 ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’
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Jeremiah 29:11
plans to prosper and not to harm, to give hope and a future, noted as second most googled Bible verse
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.
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Jeremiah 29:4-7
God's command to the exiles to build houses, plant gardens, grow in numbers, and seek the prosperity of the city where He sent them
4 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 “Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit.
6 Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished.
7 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
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Jeremiah 29:10
after seventy years God will visit and bring the exiles back to Jerusalem
10 For Yahweh says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
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Psalm 137
by the rivers of Babylon the exiles wept, hung up their harps, and called down curses on their captors
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.
3 For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you; if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”
8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who rewards you, as you have served us.
9 Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.
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Psalm 19:14
may the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable, quoted as part of the Sublime song
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
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2 Kings 24:17
referenced for background on Zedekiah as king left behind in Jerusalem
17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
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1 John 1:9
if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive, quoted during communion prayer
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Romans 10:13
the whosoever reference made during communion, anyone who puts their trust in Jesus has salvation
13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The sermon this week came from Jeremiah 29, the passage that leads up to the verse most of us already have memorized. Pastor James opened by connecting the arrival of Van and Lauren Jones to his own memory of coming to Jackson fourteen years ago, and then walked through what God actually said to the exiles before He said "I know the plans I have for you."
What was said
Pastor James started by working through a handful of Jeremiah's most familiar verses, giving each one a little context before landing on chapter 29. The point was to show that Jeremiah twenty-nine eleven does not float on its own. It was delivered to real people in a real crisis, people who had been marched from Jerusalem to Babylon and were sitting by the rivers, weeping and hating their captors.
That hatred was not hidden or softened. Psalm 137 captures it honestly: the exiles hung up their harps, refused to sing, and called down curses on Babylon right down to wishing its children dashed against the rocks. Pastor James read that psalm in full so the congregation could feel the gap between what the people wanted and what God was about to ask of them.
Into that gap comes the letter. God speaks through Jeremiah and makes clear that Nebuchadnezzar was not the prime mover. God says "I have sent you into exile." He names Himself the Lord of armies who placed His people in Babylon on purpose, and then He tells them exactly what to do there: build houses, plant gardens, raise families, and grow in numbers rather than give up.
The central command of the letter is the one Pastor James said landed on him that first Sunday he sat in this building. Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, because in its prosperity will be your prosperity. That is almost the opposite of what Psalm 137 asks for, and it is not a suggestion. It is the word of God to people who had every human reason to want nothing to do with Babylon.
Jesus echoes the same command in the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard it said you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but He says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Pastor James pointed out that the people around us who do not know God cannot be expected to act like they do. It is hard enough for those of us who know Jesus to act like Him, and impossible for those who do not. The kindness of God is what leads to repentance, not rebuke, and that is the tool God puts in the hands of His people wherever He plants them.
He brought it home to this congregation directly. Jackson, Wilson, Moran, Victor, Driggs, Tetonia, Pinedale, the Driggs Fairgrounds on Wednesday nights starting this month: these are the places where the people in this room have been sent. Seek the prosperity of those places. Pray for the people in them, including and especially the ones who are not yet believers. That is the word the exiles received, and it is the same word for us.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Tim talked about Jeremiah faithfully delivering God's word for forty years to people who were not listening. Have you ever felt called to keep doing something for God when it seemed to be producing no results? What kept you going?
- The sermon pointed out that Jeremiah 29:11 is the second most googled Bible verse, but that most people quote it without knowing the context it was spoken into. How does knowing it was written to people in painful, unwanted exile change the way you read it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 8,483 words
Speaker 1Everybody, how are y'all? Okay. Good. I'm glad we had a congregational meeting between the services today and pastor went just a little bit long in the first service. So, I think that most of the folks that are going to be here are already here.
We'll sing em in from the vestibule. Would you stand with me? Emily's going to sing along. Judy playing and we're going to sing Love Lifted Me to begin with. Very grateful to be here.
Speaker 2I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within, thinking to rise no more. But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry from the waters lifted me. Now safe souls in danger look above Jesus completely saves he will lift you by his love out of the angry waves he's the master of the sea lifted me. When nothing else could help. Love lifted me.
Amen. Y'all sound good.
Speaker 1Few but fervent, aren't we? Sounds good. Redeemed how I love to proclaim it. Let's sing that one too. There are hymnals up here if you wanna sing out of the hymnal there.
You're welcome to. Most of time, we just sing off the wall. Okay? So, redeemed how I love to proclaim it.
Speaker 2Redeemed through his infinite redeemed, and so happy in Jesus. No language my rapture can tell. I think of my blessed redeemer. I think of him all the day long. I sing for I cannot be silent.
His love is the theme of my song. Redeem. Redeem.
Speaker 1We're a little slow on the uptake on that one. Sorry. That was me, not you. I I don't do that. I've never like been trained in this.
Whatever this thing is doing, if you're a musical person, pay no attention to that. I can't help what I do. I when I stand like this, I don't know what I'm doing. Alright. Here we go.
I know I shall see
Speaker 2in his beauty, the king in whose law I delight, who lovingly guarded my footsteps and giveth me Redeemed. His child and forever I Amen.
Speaker 1And y'all can have a seat. Have a few announcements. They are Awana is on for tomorrow night. Awana starts out in this room and then they spread out all over the whole church. It's pre k through fifth grade, so 05:45 to 07:30PM right here.
It's getting scripture into the minds of the kids to reach the hearts of the kids and it's a great program. There is a study at lunchtime. I say this most times when I announce it, so you're not expecting to get lunch if you come to this men's lunch study. It's zero calorie because we do not provide lunch at the lunch study. Thursdays at 11:55, it starts to fill up in the fellowship hall and it's a good time for about twenty, twenty five, sometimes up to 30 people come in and gather.
They come and go as needed but we gather around God's word and we're in John six right now and it's wonderful. So, that's a good time. There will be a youth choir for Easter this year and we're starting pretty early on the practicing for basically a youth cantata. So rehearsals are starting on the February 1, ages seven to 18. And Lauren Feldman and Lisa Landis are gonna work together with this calendar and sign up and all that other stuff is on firstbjackson.org.
If you scan that little QR code, it should take you to more information about this. If you wanna get a child in this, seven through 18 are the ages. The church directory, it is time. We're gonna do a new church directory starting right away. So if you will send digital pictures, high quality, horizontal, like this.
Okay. This way. This way. Horizontal pictures of your family to the assistant at first b jackson dot org email address or just tell Nick and he can take a good picture of you and your family if you'll let him know. Less background, more of your faces, we're trying to get it so that when you see somebody, you know who they are or if you're like, I just can't remember that name.
You can go to the directory and find that out. So, directory, we're starting that up. It'll take us a little while. We had a congregational meeting between services and the budget was approved. We did not yet vote on the new elders coming on just because of the technicality.
We try to go by the rules. We really go by the protocols. Right? And so we we had not had their names in the bulletin long enough just by oversight. So we're gonna do that at a later date.
Our missions moment today is for the Quintero family. You see the Quintero family, that is Paco and Didi and Elijah right there. What's funny about this is Paco is from Mexico and Didi is French of Haitian parents. Elijah was born here and their next baby was born in Spain. So, they're a four person family and all of them are different nationalities.
Yes. Elisha. Thank you. Yep. Sorry.
That's that's on me. It wasn't written down and so I forgot. So, Paco and Didi and their family have been serving in in in Spain and they are looking for what God has for them next. Now, wherever they are, they're blooming where they're planted and they have been all over the place. And wherever they land, they are always getting into the community where they live.
But we came to know them here and I just love them both. All all the whole family. But can I pray for them? I also wanna pray for this. So this is starting up over on the other side of the hill.
We're gonna start on the twenty eighth which is a Wednesday. The twenty eighth of this month from six to 8PM at the Driggs Fairgrounds. We're gonna do a meal music and a message. A lot like the Monday night service we used to have here. It'll be on Wednesday nights on the second and fourth Wednesday.
And we're gonna put some effort behind it. Van will be bringing the message most weeks, I think. I am volunteering to do the music and and I think there will probably be better options. I think. But we're planning on both going over there and being there.
If you wanna be there support it, whether you live over there or not, six to eight on Wednesdays at the Driggs Fairgrounds is what we're trying to do. And the first one maybe more informational than it is. I hope it's all worshipful, but that's the plan. So we're gonna pray for and then, if there's anything else that I've forgotten, it's on the church website. I have one more that's just pray.
Alright? We have a lot of stuff to be praying for right now. You all know Jeff Brown who has come on to help out in the office has been ministering in this valley, almost exactly the same amount of time that that we have been here serving. And Jeff and Sheila have Sheila's mom who has had pancreatic cancer and has been on hospice since June. So May or June of this year.
So she has lasted quite longer than a lot of people who have that. And they received word from the hospice nurse just yesterday that she probably has between two days and two weeks left and she's in her final transition. She is a strong believer. Her husband is a strong believer and her kids are believers, but off the same time they're about to lose mama. Right?
Or they're losing his wife, mama. So we wanna pray for them. Carolyn Marzini was here this morning. Carolyn is quite ill right now and has cancer and has requested prayer from all of us. So we're gonna pray for her.
The service and drinks and the quinteros, all of those things. In Jesus name, lord, we come to you and we ask you because you are the good and sovereign God. You are the great physician and you are the director. You are the prime mover, lord. You're the one who places us where you want us to be and brings us through difficult circumstances.
In Jesus name, lord, I pray that all of these events and all of these illnesses and all of this from what seems to us like uncertainty. Lord, I thank you that you have a plan and I thank you that you are bringing us towards you in the midst of that plan. In Jesus name and by his by his blood, by his perfect example, freely given Lord, we ask for your blessing on all of those situations. We pray for healing and comfort and peace for those who are ailing and we pray for direction and the power to carry out the purpose that you have for the Quinteros and for this ministering group on the other side of the hill, Lord. There are churches there already.
We do not want to be a hurtful presence over there to anyone but we hope to be a healing balm to everyone who is wounded and needy. In Jesus name, I pray your blessing on all of those circumstances and that we would be unified and one with the church triumphant in this valley and that and from here to the very uttermost parts. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Would you stand with me?
And we're gonna continue on with his name is wonderful.
Speaker 2His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. Jesus, my lord. He is the mighty king, master of everything. His name is wonderful.
My lord. Let's sing it again. His name is wonderful. His name is wonderful. Amen.
Speaker 1The longer I serve him. Here we go. Amen. Thank you. Y'all can have a seat.
I'm gonna invite Van Jones, our new associate pastor to come forward for the operatory prayer. Lord,
Speaker 3thank you so much for this day. We can wake up and and have snow on the ground, beautiful air to breathe. We we don't take that for granted. Lord, we we pray that you would show us your way and that you would help our lives to be an offering, not just in our finances, but the way we spend our time and the way we have certain conversations and the way that that we attempt to exude you in all that we do. Lord, we know that we fall short every day, and we ask that you forgive us and and help us to be more like you each and every day.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1Thank you, Judy. Amen. We have this morning. Thank you. First of all, for to Brad for last week.
I know he's not here right now but what a great message he brought. Both services. I was actually on the road last week and I was on the road bringing Van and Lauren's stuff here. So I was in a U Haul truck, my favorite place to be. You know, as long as I'm not the one moving, I'm fine with it and so because moving is the worst of all human endeavors.
So I I was very gratefully in between Rawlins and Rock Springs for the 09:00 service, listened. And then in Pinedale for the 11:00 service, I got here just after church was over and I and all of y'all had left the building pretty much. But they got in over here at the parsonage and they are here and we gave them kind of a week to get used to where they are and it's been snowing since they got here pretty much. But there's also he'll be starting up here before long. This is Van Jones if y'all are wondering, new associate And so, with him coming in and with them coming in, it's put me in a nostalgic place, okay?
And so, when I'm thinking about new beginnings for for them, I think about the beginnings of when we came here. He has four kids, three girls and a boy and it's from ages are like eight
Speaker 3To eight months.
Speaker 1To eight months. But there's a there's a near six year old in there and that's what Pascal was when we moved here. And now she's a sophomore in college. Right? And so we've been here a while and some of y'all were on the board that hired me and people of faith with virtually no experience whatsoever and coming in, I'm I'm really just filled with nostalgia over the whole starting process and I was official as lead pastor from 06/01/2012 but the church had been through quite a hard bit of difficulty after Rich and Irene retired and Barb Barbie and Tom moved to the mission field and Jeff died in the car accident.
It was a hard time for the church going through that and then Carl coming in as a youth guy and me coming in around the same time. It's been going on fourteen years full time, sixteen years since the internship. That's pretty good while. You know, and so thinking about all of that. And we love
Speaker 3you to see.
Speaker 1Oh, that's very sweet. That's very sweet. Well, I I'm I'm very very grateful to be here and my mind's just been flooded with that and as I was considering this today and the moving ins and the moving ons that we've seen. I don't have any plans for being anywhere else. That's what the nostalgia don't don't feel like it's coming to a close and I'm I'm signing off.
I'm not not at all but the nostalgic part of it was just the thinking back on how good God has been and how faithful he has been throughout the process and we've had some very difficult times and some very difficult deaths since I've been here and God's been faithful throughout it all and so, I hope that this everything's connected to everything in my mind right now. I made slides so I can stay on a linear path. The very first Sunday that we were here. So, official on June 1, got here a little bit after that. We left on June 1.
We got here during the week and June 9 was the first sermon that I sat through and it was there was a missionary speaking that week. So, I didn't have preach and so the missionary that was speaking was missionary to China and they spoke on the same passage that I'm going to. So, we've been doing minor prophets for weeks now. How about a major prophet for a change? We're only going to do a few verses but it's going be from the from the book of Jeremiah and so, there is a New Testament sort of equivalent that I'll get to later on in the sermon that's from Jesus.
Like, you've heard that it was said, you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. So that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your father who's in heaven because our father in heaven causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and he sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. We should, if we're gonna be godly, we should love the other. We should love and the enemy thing up there is strong verbiage but it says, you've heard that it was said. Well, it's Old Testament where it said it.
You know, or at least tradition is where it said it. You've heard that it was said to love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. So, for Jeremiah, since I'm not doing the whole book and that's my norm, I do the whole book and we start and we're all together and we know the context. I figured I'd just go with Jeremiah's greatest hits package, okay? So, this is the greatest hits package from Jeremiah.
These are the verses that if you think of Jeremiah, these are probably the ones you're thinking of. Jeremiah one five and this is when Jeremiah is just getting the word of the Lord and he is to be the prophet. God speaks to Jeremiah directly and says, before I formed you in the womb, Jeremiah, I knew you and before you were born, I consecrated you and I appointed you as a prophet preacher to the nations. Now, this brings up Jeremiah was a faithful prophet of God and he faithfully served for forty straight years. Now, he cried out to God from time to time lamenting when he was thrown in the pit and when he felt like he was going to die from delivering the word of the Lord and having nobody listen to it, right?
He's the weeping prophet. So, he felt like I can't do this lord and this is God's response before. You're my man. You're the one that I set in your mother's womb. You're going to do this and then Jeremiah one eight, don't be afraid of them.
Don't be afraid of who? The people you're gonna deliver the message to. I like the King James on this one. Since I stand up front and look at y'all's faces all the time. It says, be not afraid of their faces.
Be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee. That's what I am gonna do, says the Lord. It's beautiful to be able to express the word of God to people but it's also a pastor's burden. It's fairly terrifying. I mean, the studies have shown that people would are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death.
So, at a funeral, most people would rather be in the box than leading the funeral and I've done a 155 funerals since I've been here. That's a lot. Anyway, let's keep on going. This is what the Lord says. Jeremiah six sixteen, stand at the crossroads and look and ask for the ancient paths and ask where the good way is and walk in it and they're walking in it, you will find rest for your souls.
Jeremiah 17. I use this one a lot in marriage counseling or pre marriage counseling too. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Now, you hear that and go, why would you use that in marriage counseling?
Because if Jesus says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And Jeremiah says, that that heart is deceitful and you can convince yourself of a lot of stuff that's not true. And occasionally, we're gonna say something out of the overflow of a deceitful heart that we don't mean. Help us, Lord, to recognize that and say, I don't mean that and own it instead of doubling down. It leads to a lot of fights when we say things out of our wicked hearts.
Who can understand it? Jeremiah seventeen fourteen, heal me, oh Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me and I shall be saved. If I get saved, it's going be because you did it, lord. You are my praise.
Jeremiah 31. I skipped over one. I'll come back to. And the Lord appeared to us in the past saying, I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with unfailing kindness and we remember from the New Testament that it is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance.
It's not ugliness, it's not rebuke, it's the kindness of God that leads people to repentance and so that's what Jeremiah's message was and then, God's telephone number. This is I had a pastor in Mexico named Fidel and he said, He said, this is it. God's telephone number is Jeremiah thirty three three. You call out to me and I will answer you, and I'll tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know. What a beautiful thing that God listens when we call out.
Okay and who can forget this classic? This sounds like one of those commercials for K tail, doesn't it? Who can forget this classic? Jeremiah twenty nine eleven. Jeremiah twenty nine eleven, if I ask y'all to quote it, it would sound unison.
Y'all would be able to say it out loud. Most people have been in church their whole lives would. It is for I know the plans that I have for you. Declares the Lord. Their plans to prosper you and not to harm you.
Their plans to give you hope in a future and that is so optimistic and so good, and we put it on bumper stickers, and we put it on coffee cups, and we memorize it, and it's a good memory verse to have because we're thinking of that, but it was delivered to specific people in a specific place at a specific time and that's what we're going to look through today because we're going to get to what was leading up to that. But if you want to know this, this is the second is in second place for the most googled verse. So people, outsiders, because probably they've seen it on so many bumper stickers and coffee cups. John three sixteen is in first place obviously. I think all the football players that have it on their face makeup and and you know, rainbow haired man with the sign at all the games is broadcast in John three sixteen, but Jeremiah twenty nine eleven is the second most googled verse.
People are wondering about this. Well, I hope that that's the end of my nostalgic prologue. I'm not positive that it is. I may come back to it. But Jeremiah 29, we're gonna concentrate on the verses leading up to twenty nine eleven because it was during a time that every one of the prophets that I have presented so far, the minor prophets that I presented so far have been, I think, pre exile.
All of them have talked about the exile of the people of Jerusalem. Babylon is coming. Now, some of them were about the Assyrians but all of them were pre exile and this one, Jeremiah prophesied long enough that he was pre exile and exile. He made it through forty years of of absolutely fruitless ministry as far as we can tell except he wrote the book of Jeremiah and it's not fruitless. It bears lots of fruit in the lives of people who look to God through the prophet's word.
So, it is. Now, these are the words of the letter of Jeremiah the prophet. We've talked about who he was, the weeping prophet. It was a nickname we've given him and this letter was sent from Jerusalem. Well, if it was an exile and they exiled the people, they didn't exile all of the people didn't have to go and Jeremiah was one of those that did not go.
So, he was back in Jerusalem and he sent this from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile. It it depends on your translation. A lot of them say rest in English. A lot of them say the rest of the elders of the exile. Some of them say the residue of the exiles.
What's left over of the exiles which implies in some translations make it more explicit to the survivors, the surviving exile, surviving elders. So, that says that when Babylon took over and before they started sort of a trail of tears to take the people, the best and the brightest back from Jerusalem back to Babylon. The rest of the elders or the surviving elders means some of them died either in the battles or in on the walk, on the way there. Some of them probably have broken hearts. To the rest of the elders of the exile, to the priest.
Now, the priest away from Jerusalem would have lost their function that happened at the temple because how do you do that if you don't have a temple? That was the place where God was to dwell and they've been taken away from that. So, the priest, there's still a teaching role for priest. There's still a preaching role for priest and for prophets. So, this is for the elders of the exile, leaders of the people, and to the ones who are presenting and teaching.
So, this is something that God wanted Jeremiah send the letter to tell the priest and the prophets what to say. So, he wanted it taught and it wasn't just for them. In fact, it was for all of the rest of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Now, we're going to see that right here it says, Nebuchadnezzar did this but hold on a minute. God's got God's going to speak in just a couple of verses and speak for himself as to who the prime mover really is but this is the two section and the return address section of the outside of this letter.
From Jerusalem to Babylon. If you remember from your fourth grade social studies textbook, the Fertile Crescent right there, that's the Fertile Crescent and it goes from Jerusalem what some people would call Palestine up through Syria, over through Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers, right? And Assyria, Nineveh is up there, and then down. That is the fertile crescent. And so the whole way was decent land in what normally is an arid and dry desert land.
The Fertile Crescent, Babylon is right here near Kish and it is 50 miles from Baghdad, Iraq. So if you are wondering about that, that's the way. So this is it. In Babylon, those rivers, if you see the Fertile Crescent, this is partially why. You got the Mediterranean over here on this side.
I feel like a weatherman all of a sudden. It's like, you got a front moving in. The rivers right here are most of the journey to Babylon. You're you've got water nearby. And so some of you might be thinking, oh yeah, by the rivers of Babylon.
For me, in my head, that's a reggae song from the early seventies, and I sing it in my head a lot. And all week, I have not been able to escape it. I tried to learn the introduction for it and just blew it. But by the rivers of Babylon, you know the song? There we sat down and there we wept as we remembered Zion.
That's the thing. And the song has like steel drums and you know, 12 string guitar. Oh, if you're a child of the nineties, Sublime did a version of it on a 12 string guitar that's pretty raucous and really really good. So I've listened to that 50 times this week while I was practicing. And their version of Psalm one thirty seven starts.
It sings the first verse and then it goes to a section from Psalm 19 that says, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. Oh, my Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Sublime. Thank that. And if you look it up online, about half the comments are, dude, this is a Bible verse.
And most people, I just became a Christian and figured out that this sublime song is a Bible verse. Like, yeah, it is. So, for me, the white guy singing it reggae style in my head or nineties white guy singing reggae style, what one would think today of cultural appropriation, but hey, they stole it from the Jews. It's Psalm one thirty seven. Okay?
We'll get to that later on too but by the rivers of Babylon, on that journey, that Psalm says, it was by the rivers of Babylon that we sat down and we wept because we remembered our homeland. We remembered where we were from. We were taken away much like Trail of Tears. Where I'm from in Georgia is where most of the Indians started walking to Oklahoma. Right?
So, I'm sure they sat down at some point and just wept, you know, trail of tears. This was a time frame. After King Jeconiah and the queen mother, so this is after 597. Jeconiah and the queen mother both were taken in the first wave of the exile. So, five ninety seven BC, it was after that.
The high officials were already gone. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, Judah being the bigger, more expanse area around Jerusalem but Jerusalem being the capital, religious leaders, high officials, leaders, political and governmental leaders of Jerusalem and of the surrounding Judah, all of them are gone. And it says, specifically, the craftsman, the skilled workers, construction workers, the craftsman, stone cutters, the metal workers, the artists, the ones who were making Jerusalem beautiful. Now, they're gonna be making Babylon beautiful. So that's who's been taken away.
Best and the brightest. Typically artists lead the way and so they didn't want the artist to stay behind in Jerusalem. They brought them to sway their way of thinking and yes, in the the book of Daniel, we have a beautiful picture of what it's supposed to be like. You're not supposed to, you are supposed to continue in the faith that God has presented you with. You're God's people.
You're God's chosen people. Yes, but you're not supposed to just sequester yourself away in ghettos but you're let me get to that. Let's let the scripture get to that. It'll it's coming. But this time frame is sometime after 597.
So, I can see that Jeremiah is forecasting exile and then he is in the midst of the exile extending this letter. The letter was sent by hand. So, he's given you the courier's name, Elasa. If you look up in second Kings 24, we see Elasa, and Elasa is the son of Shaphan, and Gamariah, the son of Hilkiah also a company and that is the person who carried this letter. Elasa had actually helped Jeremiah out of a jam.
So, they may have been friends but he was the one entrusted to carry the letter much like Paul sent the letter of Romans with Phoebe, you know, to to take it. The letter was sent by hand of Elasa, the son of Shaphan and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, the ones whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, saying, now, wait a second, Zedekiah is king in Judah. How is that? If everybody's exiled. Well, Nebuchadnezzar took the best and the brightest and he left behind a puppet king in Jerusalem but Zedekiah took his orders from Nebuchadnezzar, not from God almighty.
If you look at the list of the kings in second Kings, it says, Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord. He was not a good king. So, Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent this to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon and this is what the letter said. You can see Kings second Kings twenty four seventeen if you want to look into that more. Now, this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says to the exiles whom I have sent.
It says Nebuchadnezzar took the exiles right to Babylon but this is God almighty speaking through Jeremiah for himself saying, I am the Lord of armies. We've heard that a bunch of times in the minor prophets. I'm the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, and this is what I say to the exiles whom I have sent into exile. I'm the one who put you where you are. From Jerusalem to Babylon and I know how you feel about it.
You know, they weren't weren't terribly happy about it. Don't let this be, I'm saying, I'm nostalgic. This just happened to be the first sermon that I heard when I was here, right? I don't feel this way. I don't feel like I'm crying by the rivers of of the snake.
You know, I I don't feel that way. Haven't felt that way but when you're called away from a place that you loved and we love Mexico. When we came back, I really did cry where the three rivers meet in Columbia, South Carolina regularly about having been cast out, not really cast out. It's just time. God is the one who moved us.
It took us several years to figure that out. There goes raise nostalgic prologues showing up in the middle of the sermon. I sent you into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon and this is the message that God has for him. This is where the imperative started. It says, build houses and live in em.
Plant gardens and eat their produce. Now, a lot of times in the minor prophets, we've seen, you're planting gardens that you're not going to get to eat the produce of those gardens. You're building houses you're not going to get to live in in Jerusalem because you're not paying attention to me. You're not listening to me. In fact, your religious exercises are just that.
They don't have any heart behind them. Remember Amos where he says, I detest your religious festivities. I relest, I I detest your things. You're looking forward to the day of the Lord because you want me to whip all the enemies but really the day of the Lord is gonna be darkness for you and not light. I want for your hearts to return to me.
All the prophets we've seen so far are forecasting this kind of exile and it's the opposite of this. It's you're building houses you're not going to live in and he sent them into exile, a place that did not want to be and the real prophet of the Lord, Jeremiah is saying, this is the word from God. Put down roots. Build houses. Plant gardens, eat their produce, take wives, and father sons, and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands so that they may give birth to sons and daughters and so that you as a people may grow in numbers there and do not decrease.
Now, if you read the book of Exodus, it says that when they were in the land of Egypt, one of the first lines in the book of Exodus says, they increased in numbers and they became a mighty people. This is where God turned them into a real nation, right? And so, Babylonian exile, he's saying, I want to do the same thing that I did in Exodus. I want to do that again. I want you to grow in numbers and not decrease.
Don't give up. Don't act like an animal in captivity. They just feel so hopeless that they don't want to go on with life and they don't engage in the world around them. This is the central passage of what we're talking about today. I know twenty nine eleven is what everybody remembers but this is this is where we're this is the thing that landed in my lap when I was sitting right there that first Sunday.
Seek the prosperity of the city where I've sent you into exile. I'm the one who put you there. I know what I'm doing. You are here for a reason. Seek the prosperity of the city where I've sent you into exile.
I want for you to bless this place and with Jesus' words, it's everybody. The just and the unjust. It's not just the church folk. It's not just the folk that are just like you. It's everybody.
The folk you're very very different from. I want you to seek the prosperity of the city where I've sent you into exile and I want you to pray to the Lord in its behalf. On behalf of the people of Babylon, I'm commanding you to pray for him. Now, that obviously is a lot like Jesus's thing but this is the attitude that the people had about their captors, right? Can I read you the rest of Psalm one thirty seven?
So, one thirty seven says, by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. It was upon the willows in the midst of it. There, next to these rivers is a fertile place. There are willows in the midst of it and we hung up our harps. We weren't singing happy songs when we were walking that trail.
For there, our captors demanded of us songs. And our tormentors commanded of us. Jubilation saying, hey, hey, hey, sing for one of us those songs of Zion. We want to hear one of those numbers. We want to hear a peppy tune from you.
How great is our God? Hey, he didn't save you from us. Do you hear the mocking tone there? This is what they thought by the rivers of Babylon. There we sat down.
We cried because we remembered and it says Zion. It doesn't say we remembered Yahweh. We remembered our home. We're homesick. Sing for us one of those songs of Zion but how can we sing the sublime version says, the alpha song.
How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you home, Jerusalem, may my right hand, these are craftsmen and metal workers and apparently songwriters that said, if I forget you Jerusalem, may my right hand forget all of its skill. May I just forget everything I'm good at. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you. If I don't exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.
I don't ever want to forget about you home. And then when it finally does mention the Lord, it says, remember lord, against the sons of Edom, the bad guys. I told you, every time we see the Edomites, most every time when they're brought up, it's usually in the context that they're the guys, right? So, somebody that you're a missionary to, right? Yeah.
We generally think of em still that way. Remember lord, against the sons of Edom, remember the day of Jerusalem. Remember the home place. Remember the day of Jerusalem. Those who said, lay it bare.
Lay it bare. Remember the ones who tore down our walls. Remember the ones, daughter of Babylon, you devastated one. Blessed be the one who repays you with the retribution with which you have repaid us. We hate your guts.
Can you hear that in this? This is a Psalm. It's Psalm one thirty seven. It's also known as one of the imprecatory Psalms where it's calling down curses on the enemies of the chosen people of God. So, God's message in Jeremiah is the same time frame as this and this is the attitude of the people and they're getting the message from God.
This is their attitude as it is. They're honest with God and I'm thankful for a song that is honest, you know. Blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your children against the rocks. That's a terrible thought but that's what the Israelites wanted for their enemies, their captors, the ones who are taking them to Babylon And this is what God has said, seek the prosperity of these captors. Seek the prosperity of these folks that don't know me.
You know me. Christians, if you know God, you're surrounded by people who don't know God, don't expect them to act like they do. It's hard for us who do know Jesus to act like him and impossible for anybody who doesn't know him. So seek the prosperity of the city where I've sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its prosperity will be your prosperity.
I'm asking you to grow in numbers and I'm asking you to grow in grace in Babylon. Love your enemies, Jesus says, and pray for those who persecute in the sermon on the mount. You know, Matthew five and six. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy and that's exactly what they were feeling. I loved everybody around me in Jerusalem.
Here I am in Babylon. I just hate their guts. Honestly, in Mexico, we were surrounded by for to begin with. We're surrounded by a lot of people at the deaf school that love Jesus but when we're in town, we had little stacks of chicken bones and all kinds of Santeria and ugly stuff outside of our door for the first few months that we were there and it was Santeria. It was it was not good stuff.
And persistent love is the only thing that works. Consistent application over time is the only thing that works. Loving your neighbor helps. Eventually, they stopped that and we got to be friends with everybody around us and loved it and couldn't believe we had to leave. You've heard that it was said you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you So that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your father who's in heaven.
For he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and to send his rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. This is what the Lord says. This continuing on from Jeremiah twenty nine ten says, for this is what the Lord says, when seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place. The letter's being written from Jerusalem. He's saying, I'm calling you back to Jerusalem but it's not going to be quickly.
I know how far you have strayed from me spiritually. You've been taken into exile for a purpose. Actually, the next line says, I know the plans. I know the purpose. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord and their plans for your prosperity and not for disaster.
Their plans to give you a future and a hope but I'm putting you in Babylon so that you will pay attention. Now, if you think back, I I kind of didn't say this to begin with. When it says, build houses and live in them, plant vineyards, plant gardens, eat the produce. You know, when God delivered them into the promised land, he said, I'm taking you into a land where you won't even have to build the houses. You just go move right in.
You won't have to dig the wells. You're going to have all of this fruit because you're following me and my word. And I'm waiting for folks to die off, but when you go into that promised land, it's gonna happen. There's a time of refining and this is that time of refining for that generation. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
The plans for prosperity not for disaster to give you a future and a hope and it's then that you will call upon me. The next verse says, out of a pure heart. You will call upon me and you will come and you will pray to me and I will listen to you and that's what God's working for right there. Utter reliance on him and the recognition that that's what's going on. So, to the rest of the elders and to the pastors and to all of the people that are attending First Bee.
This is this is the message. This is the central point of this message right here. Seek the prosperity of the city where I've sent you. Look around the room. Where where has he been sent?
We've been sent to Jackson, Wilson, Moran, other side of the pass. We've got folks over there from Victor, from Driggs, Tetonia, Felt, Pinedale just left because she rides on with her husband, right? We've got folks from a very wide area that have been called into this place. Some of us from very distant lands, right? Other side of the globe kinda but this is the place where God has called us.
So, be seeking the prosperity of this city and don't be afraid to let it go beyond the bounds of just the believers in the city, right? Treat everybody well. Seek the prosperity of the city where I've sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its prosperity will be your prosperity.
I have talked to many, many, many, many missionaries over the years and at some point, most of them have hit a place of you people. Y'all know what I'm talking about? It's like, you people. Jeremiah hit it often quite often. You people, you don't listen.
God just keeps on putting the word out there and you just keep not listening to him. There's something that draws your attention away from him and this is saying, just keep doing it. Seek the prosperity. Don't think of them as godless. Think of them as pre Christian, Right?
There's some might just don't know him yet. The way that we love is the way that they will see it. The kindness of God is what leads to repentance. That brings us to a time of communion which I'll invite the ushers to come forward. We've got Tim is coming and Bob, would you please?
Jeff's coming. Van, would you also? There's Phil. Thank you. Thank you.
I'm gonna pray, and then I think I'm gonna we're gonna sing cleanse me. I'll come sit with you. Lord God almighty, I thank you for this instruction. I thank you for that from the from missionary China that had that that first Sunday. I thank you that I didn't have to preach when I was scared to death.
I thank you for this gracious crowd that has been so receptive and so warm for so many years and I pray that that'll be the same experience for Van and Lauren. Lord God almighty for this time of communion, I pray that you would, lord, forgive us where we go astray. That we would recognize, lord, that you've made a way. You say in first John one nine that if we confess our sins, you're faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. You also say in the New Testament, lord, that no one should take this meal unworthily but you've made a way where we can take it worthily.
So, lord, I pray that we would, you would call to our remembrance those things that we know and agree we're saying and those things that we're resisting on lord. If we are not calling them what you're calling them, would you keep pursuing us? I pray lord that we would agree with you about our sin and that you would throw it as far as the East is from the West and that we would remember you. This communion, this Lord's supper is a time of remembering you. This body, the little cracker that we are going to take in or this little gluten free representation of the body of Christ as a remembrance, lord.
I pray that we'd remember what you did, the perfect example that you walked out in submission to the spirit by the father's will without sin. Thank you for that perfect example and for that perfect record. In Jesus name, I ask you to bless this as we distribute it and to forgive us we've fallen short. Amen.
Speaker 2And set me free. I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin. Fulfill thy word
Speaker 1Now on the same night that Jesus was betrayed
Speaker 3boy.
Speaker 1On the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he said to his disciples there and his voice still rings out to us. He said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this in, do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, you showed us the way. From your baptism talking to John, the Baptist in the river.
So that we may both fulfill all righteousness. Please do this. And he did. You lived it out in complete submission to the father's will by the spirit, Lord. You had no sin record of your own.
And you had innocent blood that was shed for all who would ever put their faith in you. In Jesus name, you have we have salvation. The whosoever's are out there, Lord, for anyone who would put their trust in you. So thank you for this little representation of your blood. We remember you.
Amen.
Speaker 2Thou wilt supply our need. Blessings now, oh Lord,
Speaker 1In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he also took the cup, probably a common cup for them, little plastic cup of grape juice for us. He said to his disciples there, this is the new covenant. That's what they've been looking forward to. They knew the prophets and the prophet Joel and the prophet Jeremiah are pointing forward to a new covenant and Jesus was declaring it then and declares it now. The new covenant in his blood.
This is my the new covenant in my blood. Take this, drink it in, do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. We're so thankful, lord. Would you stand?
Paul says that as often as we do that, we declare the Lord sanctifying redeeming death until he comes again. So, would you sing with me? I think we're just going to take a G chord there, Judy and sing the doxology.
Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.
Speaker 1May the Lord bless and keep you, make his face to shine upon you, and give you peace evermore. Amen.
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