Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 16

“A New Creation” [Matt's Messages]

“A New Creation”Lanse Evangelical Free ChurchJanuary 8, 2023 :: 2 Corinthians 5:17
This verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17, is perfect for thinking about Christian baptism like we’re going to do with Ron in just a few minutes, and it’s also deeply connected to what we’re learning about right now in the Prophecy of Jeremiah.
Last week, we read what is probably the most important passage in the Book of Jeremiah. Chapter 31, verses 31 through 34. And they are super important because they introduce the key words, “A New Covenant.”
Jeremiah 31 says, “The days are “‘coming,' declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD” (vv.31-32).
A new covenant. An unbreakable one! A new covenant.
Now guess what the Apostle Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians? If you have it open in front of you, you might want to turn back a page to chapter 3, verse 6 to see what Paul is teaching on. He says, God “has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant–not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” He’s talking about the New Covenant!
And I wish I had time to take you through chapters 3, 4, and 5 to see his whole argument, but since I don’t, the big idea is that the New Covenant has changed everything through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, reconciling God and His people. And you and I are now ambassadors of that New Covenant imploring people to be reconciled to God through the New Covenant inaugurated in Jesus’ blood.
The New Covenant has changed everything. Just like Jeremiah foretold. And it is changing everything because when the promises of the New Covenant are fully fulfilled, it will mean a brand new world.
One Bible scholar I read this week said it this way, “For Paul, the new covenant, made possible by Christ's death, is the inauguration of the new creation.” (Scott Hafemann, pg. 244).
The New Covenant enacts the New Creation. That’s why we have run to Revelation 21 for the last few Sundays. Because what God promises through Jeremiah starts to be fulfilled at the end of the exile, but it really starts to snowball when Jesus comes on scene, and then it isn’t fully realized until Jesus comes back a second time to make it all come true in the New Heavens and the New Earth–the New Creation.
The New Covenant enacts the New Creation. And that affects every single one of us who are “in Christ.”
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Ron and I looked at this passage together during his baptism class. I think it’s a great little summation of what baptism pictures in two big ideas–IN CHRIST and NEW CREATION. Let’s take them one at a time.
#1. IN CHRIST.
“If anyone is in Christ...”
That is one of the Apostle Paul’s all time favorite phrases, and it should be for you and me, too. “In Christ.” Paul uses it at least 80 times in his letters! “In Christ is Paul’s shorthand description of being identified with Jesus Christ and being in union with Jesus Christ. Our vital, living union with Jesus.
In a sister passage to this one, Romans 6, Paul says, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Baptism symbolizes being “in Christ.” When Ron goes down into the water, he will be symbolizing that he was united with Jesus in His death, and when he comes back out of the water, he will be symbolizing how he is unified with Jesus in His resurrection life! Baptism symbolizes being “in Christ.”
It’s actually more important to BE “in Christ” than to symbolize it. Some people have gone through the symbol without actually being united to Christ in reality. But if you are united in Christ in reality, you should also symbolize it.
Are you in Christ? You either are or you aren’t. This is a binary choice. You are either IN Christ or OUT of Christ. There may be some confusion (on our side) about which you are, but it is either/or. We come into Christ through faith. We come into Christ by asking Christ to come into us. And our brother Ron has recently done that. I’ll let him tell that story. But he was outside of Christ, and He came into Christ. Just like he’s outside of the water right now, and will soon enter it.
How about you? Are you in Christ? It’s my privilege as a minister of the New Covenant to invite you, to implore you to be reconciled to God. Look at what Paul says in the next few verses. Verse 18.
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:18-21 NIVO)
“In him we might become the righteousness of God.” You and I, if we are in Christ, have become the righteousness of God! If you are not yet in Christ you are outside of the righteousness of God. You are un-righteous before Him. And I implore you to be reconciled to Him through the New Covenant.
Let me ask you another question. Those of you who are in “in Christ,” have you gone public with that fact and symbolized it in the way that Jesus commanded His followers to symbolize it? Ron is a fairly new Christian, and he’s stepping out in faith to get baptized. Have you been baptized? Have you said to the world, “I am IN Christ!”? Christian baptism is for all Christians. It’s not just something you do if you feel like it.
Jesus says that we should baptize all disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And that includes you and me. It changes how we look at each other, doesn’t it? In this section, Paul is saying that he treats people differently when he knows that they are in Christ or not.
Look back up at verse 16. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. [We don’t know them like we used.] Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. [We think about Him differently now on this side of the Cross. So of course, we think differently about anybody who is IN Christ. V.17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
We treat Ron differently now because He is not outside of Christ, but inside. He is one of us. He is family. We are IN Christ together. I’m sure Ron’s a little nervous today to tell his story, because he doesn’t know us very well, and we don’t know him very well yet. But we don’t regard him like we used to. He’s part of the family now! He’s IN CHRIST. Ron, you’re with family here. Welcome to the family. Because of the New Covenant, you are in Christ. And because you are in Christ, you are a “New Creation.”
That’s the second big idea in verse 17.
#2. NEW CREATION.
Verse 17 says again, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The Greek is a little more ambiguous. It’s more like this: “If anyone is in Christ...NEW CREATION!” It might mean that this person is a new creation. God has done a work of creating something new inside of him. I believe that’s true. Or it might mean that something bigger than that. If anyone comes into Christ, there is a sign of the new creation. The updated 2011 NIV says it this way, “...if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come”!
Boom! New creation! Every time we look at a new Christian, we see the New Covenant enacting the New Creation. We are looking at a foretaste of Revelation 21 and 22. If you are a Christian, turn to the person next to you and tell them, “I am a foretaste of Revelation 21 and 22!” That’s how we should think about each other. Every time we are looking at another Christian, we are looking at the New Creation. A New Creation that is a foretaste of the New Creation because of the New Covenant.
V.17 “...a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
The exclamation mark there signifies the underlying Greek word “idou” which means, “Check this out!” “Look!” The old word is “Behold!”
This is amazing. “The old has gone, the new has come!”
Now, that almost sounds like a new Christian is not at all like they used to be. They are perfect; they never sin; they have arrived, the old has gone(!), the new has come(!). If that’s true, then Ron should not be baptized because he’s not perfect yet. And I shouldn’t be involved in baptizing him either. Because I am not perfect yet. 
But I don’t think that’s what Paul is saying. Paul knows that we are not yet what we will be one day.  But he does know that a real change has happened. A new birth has happened inside of us. Something new has been created in our hearts.
That’s the promise of the New Covenant, isn’t it? Remember what we read last week in Jeremiah 31, verse 33? “This is the [new] covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD. ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more’” (Jer. 31:31-34 NIVO).
That’s a New Creation! The old has gone. The new has come. A new heart. A new mind.  A new knowledge of God. A new deeper closer relationship with God. A new slate, a new standing, a new forgiveness, a new righteousness. On the inside! The old has gone (the old covenant, the old slave-driver of sin, the old allegiance to the Prince of this World). The old penalty, and position, and power of sin has gone.
And the new has come. A new creation! That’s what Christian baptism signfies.
I like how the New Living Translation paraphrases this. It says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17 NLT).
Welcome, Ron, to your new life.
Christian baptism symbolizes being IN CHRIST and being A NEW CREATION. And this is God’s work. The very next words in verse 18 are, “All this is from God.” God is the One who includes us IN CHRIST through faith. God is the One who creates a NEW CREATION in us that says good-bye to the old and in with the new. 
And our response to God’s work is to live it out. We are to believe that we are in Christ with all of the blessings and benefits and privileges that go along with that. And we are are to live as New Creations. New lives that are changed because of the New Covenant at work in our hearts.
In the first few centuries of the Christian Church, baptismal candidates did this very dramatically.
“When...the time for baptism...arrived, the candidate would be called upon to renounce the Devil and all his pomp. Facing westward, the direction in which the sun went down, he would exclaim, ‘I renounce thee, O Satan, and all they works!’ Then he would deliberately spit three times in the direction of darkness, signifying a complete break with the power of evil and all their former claim on his life. Next, turning towards the sunrise, he would say, ‘And I embrace Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ!’ This would be followed by immersion...” (The Mark of Jesus, pg. 33-34).
The old has gone, the new has come! Ron is spitting in Satan’s face and symbolizing through his baptisms that he is in Christ, a New Creation. Ron, would you come up here and tell us your story?

“A New Covenant” [Matt's Messages]

“A New Covenant”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJanuary 1, 2023 :: Jeremiah 31:27-40
This section of the Book of Jeremiah (chapters 29-33) is often called “The Book of Hope” or “The Book of Comfort” or “Consolation” because it is so full of these plans to give God’s people a hope and a future. 
After all of those dark chapters about the coming judgment, chapters 30 through 33 are especially bright with this comforting hope about the future that is on the way.
Jeremiah says that an amazing restoration is going come.
Chapter 30 was mostly about a coming restoration to the land.
And chapter 31 is about that and even more about a coming restoration to the Lord.
And the promise of that amazing restoration can be summarized with two really important words, “New Covenant.” Our sermon title for today, drawn from chapter 31, verse 31, is “A New Covenant.”
How perfect to land on this passage on this first new day of the New Year?! I couldn’t have planned it, but the Lord sure did. 
A New Covenant.
Those are very important words in the Bible. If you had to guess, how many times do you think this phrase, “A New Covenant” appears in the Old Testament? How many times?
This is actually the only time that it shows up in the Old Testament! The idea is all over the Old Testament, but this is the time when that covenant is named, “The New Covenant.” So that all of the times when you read about the New Covenant in the New Testament, it’s referring back to this!
Have you ever been on the internet, and you click on all of these different links, but they keep taking you back to the same place, the same web-page? That’s Jeremiah 31! There are all of these links in the New Testament that when you click on them, it takes you back to Jeremiah 31.
This is one the most important passages in all of Jeremiah, and in fact, in all of the Old Testament!
Verses 31 through 34 are quoted verbatim in Hebrews chapter 8. It’s the longest passage of the Old Testament quoted in the New Testament. Very important!
In fact, the words “New Testament” come from the Latin for “New Covenant!” “Novum Testamentum.” “New Covenant.” The second major part of your Bible is named after these words in Jeremiah 31:31!
These are very important words for understanding your Bible.
“A New Covenant” What’s that?
We kind of know what a covenant is. It’s a set of solemn binding promises between at least two parties that establishes and shapes their relationship.
We’ve seen many covenants in the story of the Bible. 
A big one was the one God made with Abraham. Offspring, land, blessing. Sometimes we call it “The Abrahamic Covenant.” And He’s still keeping it today.
We saw another one when we studied the books of Samuel when God made a covenant with David and told him that he would have a name and a house that would last forever. We could call that the “Davidic Covenant.” And God’s still keeping it today.
And in between those, we learned about the other big covenant that God made with the people of Israel when He brought them out of Egypt under Moses. We could call that the “Mosaic Covenant.” Or the Law Covenant. We’re studying the book of Exodus right now at Prayer Meeting on Wednesday nights.
God made promises to Israel. And Israel made promises to God. God laid down 10 Commandments on tablets of stone, and Israel said that they would follow them.  And God promised to bless them in the land if they would obey and keep their side of the covenant. And Israel said that they would obey and keep their side of the covenant.
But Israel did not obey and keep their side of the covenant.
They broke the covenant. Again and again they broke the covenant.
We have that that Jeremiah was called to be a broken record about the broken covenant. For forty years, Jeremiah called the people of Judah (the southern kingdom after the split) to repent of their constant breaking of the covenant.  
But, on the whole, they would not repent, so God was going to send them into exile. Their beloved city was going to be attacked and overrun. Their temple was going to be destroyed. Their people were going to be drug off into exile. Rachel was going to weep for her children. The covenant was broken.
That’s the dark setting for this bright prophecy in Jeremiah 31. In verse 22, Jeremiah said that the LORD was going to do “a new thing on earth.” And it turns out that the new thing was a new covenant.
I have five simple headings that I want to use to emphasize what this new covenant means for you and me, and here’s the first one.
#1. NEW DAYS.
What was the theme for Advent this year? It was favorite phrase of Jeremiah that he uses over and over again (14x)?
Four words. “The days are coming...”
They are not here yet, but they are certainly on the way.
Jeremiah uses that phrase three times in our passage for today, and the first is in verse 27.
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals. Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,’ declares the LORD” (vv.27-28). Stop there for a second.
Does that sound familiar? Does that ring any bells? I hope it does by now.
He’s reaching back all the way to chapter 1 when He called Jeremiah to be His prophet. Remember what He told Jeremiah he was going to do as prophet? Six things: Uproot, Tear Down, Destroy, Overthrow, Build, Plant.
The LORD was going to watch to make sure that these things actually happened. We’ve seen plenty of uprooting. That’s the title of our series! We’ve heard about tearing down, destroying, and overthrowing.
But here we get building again. And planting again. Repopulating the land with men and animals. It’s coming! The new days are coming.
They aren’t here yet, but they are certainly on the way. The LORD Himself will see to it.
Anybody here need to hear that? Anybody glad that 2022 is over and hoping that 2023 is full of better days? I don’t know if 2023 will be better for you, but I know that the days are coming, new days, when everything will change for the better for those who belong to the Lord. He’s got good plans for you. He knows them. Plans to “shalom” you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. You can anticipate that. The New Covenant means new days.
Here’s something that’s going to change in those days. Look at verse 29. “‘In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.’”
Anybody familiar with that proverb? You can see the point of it. Children often seem to pay for the sins of their parents. Dad sucks a sour grape, but it’s the kids who pucker up. Doesn’t seem fair!
I’m guessing that this generation used this proverb to complain about the exile. “How come we all had to go into exile when all of those generations before us broke the covenant?!”
What’s the answer to that? Well, this generation broke the covenant, too. And, in fact, they had so many hundreds of years of extra warning that they didn’t heed. Yes, the previous generation’s sin had effects on this generation, but they were not blameless either. The exile is everybody’s fault. Verse 30.
“Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes–his own teeth will be set on edge.” Now, that’s not that encouraging. I mean, I’m glad that he’s emphasizing individual responsibility, but how is this good news? Everybody still dies for their own sin.
But what if...at some point in the future, nobody has to die because they are all forgiven of their sins and because they all stop sinning?  Those would be new days!!! Look at verse 31.
“‘The time is coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD” (vv.31-32).
That’s the same phrase in Hebrew, “The days are coming...declares the LORD, ‘when I will make (I will cut) a new covenant (notice with whom) with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”
Israel (the northern kingdom) has been in exile already for a hundred years. Judah will be in exile for seventy.
But the days are coming when the LORD is going to make a new binding arrangement with them both. With the whole reunited people of God.
And the New Testament tells us that you and I are grafted into that, as well. We get to join into this New Covenant, too.
The LORD says that this covenant will not be like the old one. It won’t be like the Mosaic Covenant. The one God made with Israel after the Red Sea Rescue at Mount Sinai.
What’s the key way that it won’t be like that old one? Do you see, in verse 32?
What went wrong with the old covenant?What was wrong with the old covenant?
There wasn’t anything wrong with the covenant!
But there was something wrong with the people of Israel and Judah. They broke the covenant. Look at verse 32 again.
“It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD.”
How many times has he said that? That He was a perfect husband, but they were a wayward wife?! How is the New Covenant going to be different? It’s going to be unbreakable.
The problem with the old covenant was the old people. So this new covenant is going to have new people. People made new. People with change deep inside. See what He says in verse 33:
“‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
#2. NEW HEARTS.
The New Covenant means new hearts and new minds for God’s people. That was always the goal in the Old Covenant. The people of Israel were supposed to impress it on their hearts (Deut 6:6). They were supposed to repent at the heart level and love God at the heart level.
And some certainly did! There was always a remnant with changed hearts.
But this New Covenant? It’s going to be radically internalized and intensified.
The law, the teaching of God, was written on the stone tablets in the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, it’s going to be written on our very hearts. You see everybody who is truly in the New Covenant gets a new heart. The remnant becomes the majority (cf. ESV Study Bible note on Jeremiah 31). The Holy Spirit comes into the heart of every genuine New Covenant believer and gives them a heart that wants to obey. The Holy Spirit comes into the mind of every genuine New Covenant believer and gives them a mind that knows what is right and wrong and the ability to choose what is right, and to say “No” to sin (1 Cor. 10:13, 2 Cor 5:17). The New Covenant means deep change.
And that’s good news because it’s the work of God to do it in us! He promises.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we just sit there and wait for it to happen. Right now, when the New Covenant is here but not yet fully fulfilled, we live in the tug of war. Read Romans 7!
And we need to live into our new lives just like Romans 6 and Romans 8 teach us.
But we CAN do it because God is doing it in us. That’s the New Covenant.
It’s internal. The New Covenant means deep change inside.
Are you changing? Is there something the Lord is working on you to change in 2023? Some area of your sanctification? I hope so! And if you are genuinely in the New Covenant, I know so! Because the LORD is doing this work in us. The problem with the Old Covenant was that the people didn’t want to obey. So, the LORD fixes that in the New Covenant and gives them a new want.
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
#3. NEW CLOSENESS.
New intimacy. A new deeper relationship with God Himself. This has always been the goal. This language, “I will be their God, and they will be my people” is all over the Old Testament. It was the point of the Old Covenant, too. But the people broke it. They were unfaithful.
He was a perfect husband, and they were “Gomer,” the unfaithful wife whoring after other gods.
But the New Covenant means a new relationship.  Restored and made like it was always supposed to be. Look at verse 34.
“No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the LORD.”
In the Old Covenant, the prophets, priests, and kings (these intermediaries) were always trying to convince the people to know Yahweh. To know His ways. To know His heart. To know Him personally (remember Jeremiah 9:23-24!).  But the New Covenant will reach down into the hearts of all of God’s people and give them all a true and deep knowledge of Him. From the littlest one back there in Children’s Church who comes to trust in Jesus as their Savior and Lord to the Queen of England who did the same.
“They will all know me.” “They will all be close to me.” That word for “know” is the knowledge of personal relationship. It means to know someone intimately. To not just know about them but to know them personally. It’s what our church is all about–bringing people into a life-changing relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
And, of course, right now we still have to remind each other and encourage each other to grow in our knowledge of the Lord. We haven’t reached the end of the fulfillment of this prophecy when the knowledge of the LORD covers the earth like the waters cover the sea.
But it’s here now in a way it wasn’t then. Every genuine New Covenant believer KNOWS the Lord already. That’s what we prayed for Wilson this morning. That he would come at early age to  join into the New Covenant and know the LORD in a saving way. Not through any other mediator than the One mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesus. 
I can’t hardly wait until that day when that nearness, that intimacy, that closeness is full and complete for all of us. 
But we have it, in principle, right now. You know the Lord. If you belong to Jesus, you know the Lord.
And that means that you can pray. In 2023, your life can be marked by deep knowledge of and closeness to the Lord of glory Himself.
You don’t need me.You don’t need your neighbor.You don’t need your brother or sister saying, “Know the LORD!”
You know Him already, and you can go deeper in that knowledge. You can grow in that closeness.
Judah rejected that invitation again and again. But those who are in the New Covenant will accept that invitation again and again. An invitation to a new closeness, a deeper relationship, and a sweeter fellowship both now and forever.
How is that possible? How can you and I who are sinners (even sinners with new hearts[!] How can we) have that kind of a close relationship with a holy God? The end of verse 34 tells us how. Look at it there. 
They will all know me...“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
#4. NEW SLATES.
New accounts. New standing with God. New cleansing. Our sins totally forgiven and remembered no more. The New Covenant means that God’s people are totally forgiven.
The Israel under the New Covenant will be totally forgiven of their sins. And their sins will be remembered no more. Wiped off! Wiped clean. Not held against them.
“What sin?! I don’t remember any sin. I’m no longer angry at these folks. What was between us is no longer between us.”
Can you imagine?! The New Covenant means full forgiveness. And that makes all of the difference.
Because, remember, this is not how they felt right now. They were either heading into exile or there already. It seemed like the end of the line. God has given them up. It seemed like there was no hope.
Have you felt that way recently? Like your sins are the end of the line, and there is no hope for you? That’s why this next part is so wonderful. Look at verse 35.
“This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar–the LORD Almighty is his name: ‘Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’ declares the LORD, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.’”
Last I checked, the sun comes up every day. Sometimes it’s a little overcast, but you can see that it’s up there. Last I checked, the moon and stars are there every night. Last I checked, the sea has waves every day. Those things happen by God’s decree. You can count on them. “The sun’ll come up tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar.” And that’s the bedrock promise of God’s love for His people.
The exile was not the end! They have a hope and a future. This generation was going to into exile, yes, but there was a new day coming. V.37
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,’ declares the LORD.”
Can anybody measure all of the heavens above and the foundations of the earth below? No. Not even Google or Elon Musk! Can’t be done. So the LORD will not reject all of the true descendants of true Israel because of all the sins they have committed. Because they will be forgiven! God will find it in His heart to forgive them.
And that goes for all of true Israel. Not just those who are ethnically Jewish, but all who come to faith in the Messiah who was born in Bethlehem. Like you and me. Read Romans 9, 10, and 11 to get more of that kind of theology!
The point is that God is faithful. He forgives our sins and keeps His promises. And you can “bet your bottom dollar” on it! As you head into 2023, you can count on the faithfulness of God because of the New Covenant that He has made. And not just in 2023, but forever.
#5. NEW JERUSALEM.
The last promise in chapter 31 is a promise of a new city. Look at verse 38. Starts with very familiar words by now.
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.’” (vv.38-40).
The LORD says that the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt after the exile.
The Book of Nehemiah chapter 3 actually says that they started at the Tower of Hananel (Northeast Corner) as they started to rebuild from the rubble.
My read on this is that verses 38-40 are kind of a walking tour from that corner in the Northeast to the Corner Gate in the Northwest and then around the south side with Gareb and Goah and the Valley of Hinnom and the Kidron Valley, etc.
The four corners of the city. It is going to be rebuilt. For the LORD!
But I think this is pointing to an even greater fulfillment than what happened in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and Haggai.  Because that Jerusalem is attacked and uprooted and demolished again and again. The worst was the one in AD 70 when Herod’s temple was destroyed by General Titus of the Romans.
I think that this is pointing towards an even greater fulfillment. A mountain range further out than we have not yet seen. I think it’s hinting at Revelation 21 and 22. When the Jerusalem from above comes down.
Listen to the first part of Revelation 21 and note all of the New Covenant themes:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’" (Rev. 21:1-4 NIVO).
New days!New hearts.New closeness.New slates.New Jerusalem.
That’s what we have to look forward to brothers and sisters!
I wore out the exclamation point button on my computer yesterday writing this message because this truth is just so wonderful!!!!!!
The New Covenant is not just important. It’s everything! Because it comes from and is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

***

Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-2424. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26

Books I Read in 2022

Matt’s Books Completed* in 2022: 1. The Groote Park Murder by Freeman Wills Crofts2. Taking Charge of ADHD by Russell A. Barkley3. Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Russell A. Barkley4. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman [Audible]5. Murder on the Railways edited by Peter Haining6. The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh7. The Judge’s List by John Grisham8. Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon9. Fountain of Salvation by Fred Sanders [A Top Book!]10. Subversive by Crystal Downing11. Evangelism As Exiles by Elliot Clark [A Top Book!]12. Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers13. Agent Running in the Field by John LeCarre 14. Transient Desires by Donna Leon15. 1 Peter for You by Juan R. Sanchez16. 1 Peter Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament by Karen Jobes17. 1 Peter New American Commentary by Thomas Schreiner18. The Golden Egg by Donna Leon19. Dorothy and Jack by Gina Dalfonzo20. LEAD by Paul David Tripp [A Top Book!]21. Furious Hours by Casey Cep [Audible] 22. White Nights by Ann Cleeves23. The Theology of Jeremiah by John Goldingay24. The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts25. Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie26. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers27. Fidelity by Wendell Berry28. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie29. The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry30. Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry31. Gender: A Conversation Guide for Parents and Pastors by Brian Seagraves and Hunter Leavine [A Top Book!]32. Inspector French’s Greatest Case by Freeman Wills Crofts33. Abortion Rights: For and Against by Kate Greasley and Christopher Kaczor34. Tearing Us Apart by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis35. The Cheyne Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts36. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel37. Mystery in the Channel by Freeman Wills Crofts38. The Golden Ball and Other Stories by Agatha Christie39. Silverview by John Le Carre40. The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts41. Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow by Daniel Nayeri 42. Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers43. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 44. The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd45. I Have a Psychiatric Diagnosis by Edward T. Welch [A Top Book!]46. The Christian Standard Bible, M’Cheyne Reading Plan 


Last book of the Bible in the last month of the year.

---
* As I say every year--these are books I finished reading (or had read to me in Audible) this year, not the ones I started or the ones I didn't get done. That list would be a LOT longer (and kind of depressing)! I read a bunch of them for escapist fun, a few for/with my family, and a lot of them just to learn and grow. They aren't listed (perfectly) in the order I read them. Some of them I am reading for a second or third time (or more!).

And as I also say each and every year--I'm not endorsing these books just because they are listed here. Some of them are really good and some are really bad. Most are somewhere in between. Read with discernment.

Here's the article where I explain why I post these.


Lists from previous years:

2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008 (first half, second half)
2007 (first half, second half)
2006 (first half, second half)
2005 (first half, second half)

My Top Books of 2022

For me, 2022 was not a good year for finishing books. I read at and from books, but I didn’t read through very many of them. I read fewer books to the very end than I can remember in recent decades (18 fewer than the previous year!), and I didn't publish any full book reviews. I’m not completely sure why the paucity. It’s definitely a holdover from the mental pressures of the pandemic and also a simple sign of the particular season of life I’m in–I have listened to many more podcasts as I’ve walked the streets of Lanse than I have sat in my chair and turned pages. A lot of my reading time in 2022 has been focused on studying the Prophesy of Jeremiah–a worthy effort, and those books will be on the 2023 list, Lord-willing!
Of the ones I did finish in 2022, these were books* that impressed and taught me the most:
I Have a Psychiatric Diagnosis: What Does the Bible Say?  by Edward T. Welch
Count on Ed Welch to cut right through the fog with the gentlest and most succinct choice of words. How do should we think about psychiatric diagnoses like anxiety and panic disorders, trauma, depression, and narcissism? In just 85 compact pages of careful and care-filled wisdom, Ed shows us the way. 
After 25 years of reading his writing, I keep expecting to know what he's going to say, but instead I should be expecting to be surprised and learn something new. Highly recommended.
Fountain of Salvation: Trinity and Soteriology by Fred Sanders 

I read everything I can read (and follow) by Fred Sanders when he's writing on the tri-unity of God. This collection of essays coordinating the doctrines of the Trinity and Soteriology (salvation) were incredibly rich and characteristically delightful to read. At times, I had to read parts of it out loud to Heather just because it was so insightful and well-constructed!
An added bonus was that in the Spring I got to take a class on this book with Fred through the Greystone Theological Institute online and on site--the richest theological learning experience I have had in long time.
Evangelism As Exiles:  Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Own Land  by Elliot Clark
Last winter I was preaching through 1 Peter, and I kept Evangelism as Exiles at my elbow the whole time. Elliot Clark caught the lightning of Peter's first epistle in a bottle and gives it to you to drink! Even though it was my second time to preach through 1 Peter (even at times the same passage 20 years to the day!), I never have understood what it means or how to apply it to our current situation like I did after digesting Clark's little book.
I'm really glad that The Gospel Coalition has made it available for FREE as a download from their website. Take up and read!
LEAD:  12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church  by Paul David Tripp

My pastor, Kerry Doyal, convenes a monthly book-discussion group on Zoom of district pastors, and Paul Tripp's LEAD was our book for half of 2022. At times Tripp made me uncomfortable because he was stepping on my toes!
I recommend LEAD for leadership teams, especially for challenging conversations about how healthy your team is and how truly transparent you are with one another. 
Gender: A Conversation Guide for Parents and Pastors by Brian Seagraves and Hunter Leavine
I have been doing a lot of reading on gender and identity this year to better understand and respond in our current cultural moment, and I thought this 77 page book was a really helpful starting place. 
Seagraves and Leavine give parents and church leaders foundational truths and insightful conversation starters appropriate for kids of different ages. This isn't the last word, but it's a good first one.
[Similar (and free!) resources come from Andrew Bunt of LivingOut: Quick Guides on Gender Identity and Trans Identification as well as Josh Glaser and Paul Rhinehart at The Gospel Coalition: How to Talk with Your Kids About Transgender Ideology.]
I'm grateful that my life is full of good books even when I don't get them read to the last page. Our church has granted me a generous three month sabbatical next year, so I hope to read (and finish!) a lot more books in 2023. 

***
* As I’ve said before [2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 2018, 2020, 2021], this list is not necessarily the best books that were published that particular year or the most enjoyable either. I intend it to be a list of the fairly new Christian nonfiction books I read:

- that had the most personal impact on me, my thinking, my heart.
- that I was the most consistently enthusiastic about.
- that I kept coming back to again and again.
- that I couldn't help recommending to others (and recommend without reservations and significant caveats).

“Today!” [Matt's Messages]

“Today!”December 25, 2022 :: Luke 2:11
This is my 25th Christmas as the pastor of Lanse Free Church. It’s really neat that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year so that we worship together on Christmas morning itself.
But I confess that I struggled greatly with knowing what to say this year. I feel like it’s all been said by so many so many times. And even by myself so many times. 25 Christmases. Same story.
The story doesn’t get old. The story is not stale or boring. But preachers can get stale and boring. It’s sometimes hard to get out of the way and help others to hear it with fresh ears.
So, today, I thought we would just go back and read over it one more time, just trying to see some of what’s there and marvel at it one more time.
And I wanted to focus our attention this year on one particular word in chapter 2, verse 11. It’s a word that we use all of the time, so it can be missed in all the glory of the other words. It’s the word, “Today.” In the Greek it’s “saymeron.” Luke loves this word. I counted 20 times, at least, that Luke uses this particular word in his two books.
And we all love this word, too, don’t we?
Today!
Kids, what is today? It’s Christmas! We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. 365 days since the last Christmas. A lot of waiting.
How many are waiting until after church to open presents? I was guessing not very many. Church wasn’t until 10. Kids wake their parents up one day a year.
Today!
There was a lot of waiting for this day.
The phrase that we’ve been hearing again and again the last month and last night from the Prophet Jeremiah is, “The days are coming...” Right? 600 years before Jesus was born. Jeremiah was saying.
“The days are coming...”
The days of hope are coming.The days of peace are coming.The days of wisdom are coming.The days of righteousness are coming.
The days of the Messiah are coming.
Guess what? TODAY! Today’s the day!
We sang about it last night in “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.”
“For lo! the days are hastening on,by prophet seen of old [Like Jeremiah!],when with the ever-circling yearsshall come the time foretoldwhen peace shall over all the earthits ancient splendors fling,and the whole world send back the songwhich now the angels sing.” Edmund H. Sears
The days are coming...
Finally the day had come!
Today!
Let’s see what happened on that day. Luke chapter 2, verse 1. Which begins with another reference to time:
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.”
One of things I love about those two verses is that it places this story in human history.
This is not a myth. This is not just a nice little fable that we tell our kids.
This is history. Caesar Augustus. His given name was Octavian. Look him up in the history books. This other guy, Quirinius, look him up in the history books. He was a real guy and really the governor of Syria.
And “in those days,” they said everybody had to get counted so that they assess the correct taxes. Every government loves its taxes, and Augustus was no different. And that meant that this man Joseph and his betrothed Mary (legally they were just as good as married but not yet fully married in every since including intimacy, Mary who was pledged to be his wife) had to travel from their home in the North, in Nazareth to his ancestral city, the city of David, the Bethlehem (not too far from Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth.) Look at verse 4.
“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. [That’s important, isn’t it? Even though he was a common man. Just a working man, he belonged to the lineage of David. He was in line for the throne if the throne would be restored. And his son, including an adopted one, would be in line for the crown. V.5]  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child...” (vv.4-5).
Shocker! She was a virgin. But she was pregnant! What a scandal. And that means that Mary had been waiting too. Ladies what are those 9 months like? Lots of waiting right? And how would you like to travel on foot 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem while being 9 months pregnant?
And all of the pictures we see show a donkey, and maybe there was one, but you won’t find a donkey listed in Luke 2 or Matthew 1! She probably walked on foot.
She was ready for TODAY! V.6 
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born [the time came! There’s another time marker. I’ll bet she was past ready!], and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (vv.6-8).
They were poor. There was no guest room where they were staying. Perhaps Bethlehem was overcrowded because of the census. We don’t know. We just know that they were stuck out with the animals. Maybe in a stable. Maybe in a cave used to shelter the animals from the elements.
Jesus was placed in the feeding trough, not to be all cute. But because they were at the very bottom of human society.
But! The time had come. The Apostle Paul said, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5 NIVO). The fullness of time.
Today!
Look what happened this day. Verse 8. Talk about humble circumstances! These hardy hardscrabble men are sleeping out in the open with the sheep. V.8
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. [And we would be too!! And frightful angel out of nowhere!] But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today[!] in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Today. No more waiting.  No more waiting for Mary. She has delivered Him. No more waiting for humanity.  Jesus Christ is born!
The angel said it was good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
What is that great news?
Three things:
1. TODAY A SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN.
And that’s good news because that’s exactly what we needed! 
We didn’t just need a good teacher (though of course we sure needed that).We didn’t just need a good leader (though of course we sure needed that).We didn’t just need a good example (though of course we sure needed that, too).
But we really needed rescuing from our own sin.
And the angel said that TODAY we got one!
I love how the angel says that the Savior has been born “TO YOU.”
Not just a generic savior, but a Savior who has been born to save a people for Himself.
If you have never done it before, put your name in verse 11 where it says, “you.”
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to _________.”
Because He didn’t just come to show us the way. He can be the way.
I invite you to put your faith and trust in Jesus as your Savior.
#2. TODAY THE MESSIAH HAS COME.
That’s what the word “Christ” means in verse 11. “Christos” is the Greek word for “Messiah.”
The angel is saying that all of those promises that Jeremiah and the other prophets have been talking about nonstop for thousands of years are finally coming true TODAY!
Today! The Christ is born.
Everything that God has promised is bound up in that little baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. The waiting is over. Everything we’ve been learning about in Jeremiah.
The days of hope are here.The days of peace are here.The days of wisdom are here.The days of righteousness are here.
Today!
Today the Messiah has come. Isn’t that wonderful?!
Every promise that God has ever made is being kept by that little baby born TODAY.
One more.
#3. TODAY THE LORD OF GLORY HAS ARRIVED.
Listen to verse 11 once again. 
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
He’s the King of Kings.
He is what all of those thumbs-down kings in the Old Testament were supposed to point to. When they were at their best, they pointed to Him. When they were at their worst they showed us why we needed Him the most.
He is Christ THE LORD.He is the LORD of LORDS.He is not just any LORD.He is THE LORD.
He is God come to us. Look at verse 12.
The angel said, “This will be a sign to you [shepherds]: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’” (vv.12-14).
We can’t begin to imagine what that was like. An army of angels lighting up the sky. No CGI. This is the real thing. And singing together, “Glory to God in the highest!”
 “Glory to God in the highest!” “Glory to God in the highest!” “Glory to God in the highest!”
Because the Lord of Glory has arrived. 
Today!
And that means for you and me, “Peace to [men and women and boys and girls] on whom his favor [His grace] rests.”
Today.
He gets the glory, and we get the peace!
What wonderful deal that is!
“Glory to God in the highest!”
Because the Lord of Glory has arrived.
And just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone. And the shepherds were left looking at one another and saying, “What just happened? What is today?
Let’s go see if it’s all true.” Verse 15.
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told” (vv.15-20).
Today.
I love the different responses to all of these things, don’t you?
The shepherds run out and tell everybody. And we should do that, too.
And shepherds worship and praise God, and we should do that, too.
And the people are amazed and marvel at the story. And we should do that, too.
And Mary treasured up all of these things and pondered them in heart. And we should do that, as well.
Turning these things over and over again in our hearts.
As we wait once again.
Because that first Advent was only a foretaste of the kingdom to come.
There is another day we are waiting for once again.
A Savior has been born, yes. And all who put their faith in Him are saved and are being saved. But one day will be saved to the uttermost! We are still waiting for that day.
The Messiah has come, yes. And all that God has promised has been kept in Him and is being kept in Him. But one day all of those promises will come in full. We are still waiting for that day.
Because except for a few brief moments like this one Luke chapter 2, that glory was shielded from us. Jesus continued to live a fairly obscure life. Certainly a humble one. And then after He died and came back to life, He ascended to heaven where He sits the right hand of God the Father.
And one day, the Lord of Glory will arrive a second time.
Not, this time, to bear our sins but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Hebrews 9:27).
The days are still coming.The days are still coming.The days are still coming.
And one day, we don’t know when, the Father will say once agan, “TODAY!”
And the whole world will rejoice.
Heaven and nature will sing.
Merry Christmas!

"The Days Are Coming" [Matt's Messages] 2022

“The Days Are Coming”Christ Candle Lighting :: Christmas EveDecember 24, 2022
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming–tomorrow! Jesus has come and is coming again.
I say that every year! “Advent means coming,” because people use that word “advent,” and they don’t know what it means. It means, “arriving,” “getting there,” “coming,” so the Prophet Jeremiah would have loved it because one of his favorite phrases was, “The days are coming...”
Jeremiah uses that phrase again and again in his book, “The days are coming...”
He’s talking about the future. Something that isn’t here yet but most definitely will be. A prophecy.
“The days are coming...”
Ever since April, our church family has been studying together the Prophesy of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah who was a prophet in the nation of Judah for 40 years from about 627 BC to 586 BC–about 600 years before Jesus was born that first Christmas day. This is my 25th Christmas as the pastor of Lanse Free Church. I’ll have to go 15 more years to catch up to Jeremiah!
We’ve learned that Jeremiah had a very hard message to deliver to the nation for those 40 years. He was a broken record about how they had broken their covenant with God and were going to face His judgment. 
The kings of Judah were supposed to wisely shepherd God’s people, but instead of caring for their “flock,” the kings had foolishly destroyed and scattered it. These were dark days for the kingdom of Judah. We are living in some dark days, as well, and I don’t just mean December!
But the days are coming when all of that is going to change.
In the midst of that darkness Jeremiah spoke bright words of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE.]
On the first Sunday of Advent, Robin, Andrew, and Peter (Isaac was sick) lit our first candle and proclaimed it a Candle of Hope.
Listen as I read to you Jeremiah chapter 23, verses 1 through 8. This has been the focus text of our Advent Season. Jeremiah 23:1-8. As I read it, listen for that advent phrase that Jeremiah loves so much, “The days are coming.”  Listen for how he describes those days. Listen especially to WHAT Jeremiah says is going to happen someday in the future and WHO is going to do it.
Jeremiah begins by pronouncing woe (w-o-e terrible judgment) upon the foolish kings of Judah for how they have misshepherded God’s people. Chapter 23, verse 1.
[READ JEREMIAH 23:1-8.]
Do you hear the hope in those words?
Sometimes I get little depressed by how gloomy the book of Jeremiah can be. And how gloomy the month of December can be. It’s especially gloomy for people who are grieving. Christmas is especially hard for those who have lost someone either recently or long ago. Just look at all of the names for the Poinsettias on the back of your bulletin and think of all of the grief that they represent. You feel it more deeply at Christmas when you see the empty place at the family table.
We are living in dark days. And yet the light shines brighter in the darkness.
Have you ever lit a candle and marveled at it in the broad daylight? No! You don’t “get” the power of a candle until you turn off the lights. We’re going to turn off all of the lights in this room soon, and then we will see the power of a candle!
This prophecy is a candle of hope. These bad shepherds were not the end of the story. The LORD has promised to bring a Good Shepherd. A Great Shepherd! And through that Shepherd to bring all of His flock together into His pasture. And we know Who that Good Shepherd is (John 10:10-11). It is the Baby Who was born on that first Christmas Eve.
It’s Jesus. The days of hope are coming.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE.]
On the Second Sunday of Advent, Greg and Dorothy lit our second candle and said that it was a Candle of Peace.
Did you hear the words of peace and security in Jeremiah 23? When the new and good Shepherd comes, His people will “no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing” (v.4) Jeremiah says they will “live in safety” (v.6). Peace will reign when the Messiah comes. God’s people will finally feel safe and secure. They will no longer feel unsettled or skittish or lost. We will dwell in perfect safety with no fear of any kind.
Doesn’t that just sound wonderful?!
Are those days here? Not yet. We can experience a measure of peace right here and right now if we belong to Jesus. But there is so much war in this world. So much conflict. So much disagreement. So much animosity. So many threats. Jesus said “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” 
The days of peace are coming.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]
On the third Sunday of Advent, Will, Rachel, Elaina, Reid, and Rylie lit our third candle and said that it stood as a Candle of Wisdom.
They read verse 5 to us which says, “‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’” This king will come from the line of David. And He will, in fact, be born in the same city as David was, the little town of Bethlehem. And when He reigns, He will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
Doesn’t that sound good?! 
There is so much bad leadership in our world. Lacking in wisdom. As a pastor who leads a church, I often feel starved for wisdom myself. What is the right thing to do in this situation? The pandemic raised so many questions. As a leader, I often make mistakes. I’m often confused and confounded. Just ask my wife. I routinely don’t know the right thing to do.
But the Messiah will reign with discernment, discretion, prudence, and justice. He will make no mistakes. He will always know the right thing to do.
The Bible says that in Jesus are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3)! All of the treasures! That manger held all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge!  The coming kingdom will be marked by unimaginable wisdom.
The days of wisdom are coming.
[LIGHT FOURTH CANDLE.]
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Mike and Gail lit this pink candle and told us that it was a Candle of Righteousness. And they pointed out that the Messiah will be so full of true righteousness that it will actually be His name! Jeremiah says, “This is the name by which he will be called, ‘The LORD Our Righteousness” (v.6).
The Righteous Branch will overflow with moral goodness and ethical perfection. Not only will He always KNOW the right thing in His wisdom, but He will always DO the right thing in His righteousness! 
He will live up to His name! He will be holy and blameless. And so will be His people! You know why?
Is it because we are so good? Are we good people? No, the Bible says that you and I are sinners. We are rebels against a holy God. The Bible says that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says that our righteousness is like filthy rags. We are unholy. Unclean. Unrighteous.
But the Bible also says here that the Messiah will be called “The LORD our Righteousness!” He is going to give us His righteousness as a gift! What an amazing Christmas gift that is!
The Bible says in Romans 3, “[A] righteousness from God [a gift], apart from law [apart from anything we do!], has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets [like Jeremiah] testify. This righteousness from God [a gift] comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified [made righteous!] freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:21-24 NIVO).
They days of righteousness are coming because of Jesus Christ. 
You see, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, was executed on a cruel Roman instrument of torture and death called The Cross. He was crucified, and dead, and buried. The little baby Jesus born in Bethlehem grew up to die, “to suffer on the cross for you and I” to give us His righteousness.
The Bible says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21-6:1 NIVO). What a gift exchange that is! We give Him our sin. He gives us His righteousness!
Because Jesus did not stay dead! He was raised to make us righteous (Romans 4:25). As the Christmas carol says, the “Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in His wings.” (cf. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”).
Have you received that healing, from sin?Have you received the Righteousness of God?Not by your own efforts but by Jesus’s sacrifice in your place?Have you received the gift of Christ’s righteousness?
It is my privilege to invite you to receive His gift right now.
[LIGHT CHRIST CANDLE.]
The last candle is always the Christ Candle. Because Jesus Christ is the point of the whole thing. 
He is the Messiah that all of these candles are all about.He is the Messiah that all of these prophesies are all about.He is the Messiah Who fulfills them all.He is the Messiah who brings salvation.
The days are coming when the Christ shall come.
Jeremiah could barely see it from where he stood, but he could see it. And he could see that it would be a great salvation. Greater than even the Exodus from Egypt. Jeremiah says in the last verses of our text for this year, “‘So then, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land’” (Jer. 23:1-8 NIVO).
That’s the return from the exile. and that prefigures an even greater return. 
The return of Jesus Christ! The Second Advent.
Jesus came the first time and inaugurated the days of hope, peace, wisdom, and righteousness, but the days are coming when it will be all hope, all peace, all wisdom, and righteousness and all to the glory of Christ!
So the big question everybody asks in December is always, “Are you ready for Christmas?” And I never know how to answer that one. I often will say, “I’m on track, but I’m never ‘ready’ for Christmas.”
But the bigger question is: Are you ready for the days that are coming?
They aren’t here yet, but they are sure to come and soon to come.
Because Jesus Christ is coming soon.

“I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” [Matt's Message]

“I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchDecember 18, 2022 :: Jeremiah 31:1-26
This is probably the most important chapter in the whole book of Jeremiah. Especially the part we’re going to get to next time. The part about the New Covenant. Jesus talked about it in the Upper Room on the night He was betrayed. The letter to the Hebrews has the longest quotation in the New Testament from the Old Testament. And it’s from Jeremiah 31. This is a really important text to get into our hearts and minds! 
But today, Lord-willing, we’re just going to get up through verse 26 of chapter 31.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
This may be the most Christmas-y chapter in the whole Book of Jeremiah! I love it that the Lord has landed us on this chapter on this Sunday in this month of this year.  Look what he says at the end of verse 13. It’s most clear in the NIV translation.
Here’s what the LORD promises to His people. “I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”
Comfort and joy! A hope and a future!
This chapter is full of “tidings of comfort and joy.”
How much more Christmas-y can you get?!
Of course, as we read it, we will also see that it reflects some of the darkest and saddest parts of the Christmas story, as well.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start back at verse 1.
This is really a continuation of chapter 30. There is no big break between the chapters. It’s supposed to go together with what we studied last week. It’s all about the restoration of God’s people. That’s the theme of chapters 30 through 33. It’s the hope and the future predicted in chapter 29. God says that the people of Israel and Judah were going to be rescued from exile, brought back from a distant land and prosper and flourish and live securely under the new king from the line of David.
Listen to the first two verses. Jeremiah 31:1&2.
“‘At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel.’”
You can easily see that this a prophecy of the future. The word “will” is repeated over and over again. This rescue and rest will come at a later date. When?
He says, “At that time.” Last week, He said, “The days are coming.” That’s the theme of our Advent Season this year. “The days are coming.” They aren’t here yet, but they are on the way.
And we said last week that it’s important to understand that Old Testament prophecies are often fulfilled in stages. Like the glass we filled up over the course of the sermon last week. Or like the mountain ranges where the mountains might look the same height from a distance, but you actually reach the shorter ones first and then the bigger ones later. Or like when we say something is going to happen “at Christmastime,” but we’re not clear which Christmastime. Might be this one or one or more in the future. 
And that was true of what we saw in chapter 30, and it’s true of what we’re looking at today in chapter 31.
Some of this was fulfilled 70 years from the start of the exile. Some of it was fulfilled at the first Christmastime. And some of it is still being fulfilled today in this room and will be fully fulfilled, filled-to-overflowing at the Second Advent, when Jeuss Christ returns.
I think we’ll see more of that clearly as we walk down through it. So far, in verse 1, the LORD has promised to restore His people (All twelve tribes! Not just the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but the Northern Kingdom of Israel, also called “Ephraim.” All twelve tribes, which foreshadows the whole people of God. Every last one of us.). He has promised to restore His people to be His people. To be in a covenant relationship with Him. “I will be their God and they will be my people.”
And He is going to just LOVE them!
He says, “I will come (advent!) to give rest to Israel.”
And that’s because of His great love. Look with me at verse 3, and see where we get our sermon title for today. Verse 3.
“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
How is that for a tiding of comfort and joy?!
Well, it might not have felt very true to them at that exact moment. Remember, they were either in exile (chapter 29) or headed into exile (chapter 30). And that was going to be an horrible experience. Verse 2 said that the people who “survived the sword” would find favor with the LORD. 
Many were not going to survive the sword! Jerusalem will be assaulted. The temple will be destroyed. The people of Israel have already been drug off into exile by the Assyrians. And so have a few of the people of Judah already been exiled to Babylon. Many more will follow.
It might SEEM like the LORD has STOPPED loving them.
But that’s not what He said. He said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” And more than that. He said, “I have drawn you [to Himself] with loving-kindness.” That’s our beloved Hebrew word, “hesed.” Loyal-love. Faithful-love. Unfailing-faithfulness. Gracious-steadfast-love.
“His steadfast love endures forever.”“His steadfast love endures forever.”“His hesed endures forever.”
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
And if He could say that to the twelve tribes of Israel in rebellion then, how much more is He saying something just like that to you and me today, for whom His Own Beloved Son has died?!
He is saying this to you today: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
We all might have thought that we had reached the end of God’s love.
And certainly, we should not presume upon it or sin all the more so that hesed may abound.
But the LORD’s great love is unfathomable. 
It’s just so wonderful. It’s everlasting. The Hebrew word for that is “olam.” It’s the word we translate “forever” in the “His steadfast love endures forever [olam.]” It’s a forever kind of love. A love that never ends.
The rest of what we’re going to look at this morning is like one word picture after another about this everlasting love and what it’s like. And what it does in the hearts and lives of God’s people.
I’ve got 5 things I want to point out that God’s everlasting love does according to these verses. And they all start with the same letter.
#1. RESTORATION.
God’s love restores. Look at verse 4.
“The LORD says, ‘I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit. There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, 'Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God'’ (vv.4-6).
Do you see the restoration? 
The key word is “again.” 
Again rebuilt.Again dancing.Again planting.Again going off to worship in Jerusalem.
What’s really interesting is that these words are directed toward the Northern Kingdom of Israel (“Ephraim”). They have been in exile already for a century!
But the LORD promises them restoration. That’s how much He loves them! He is going to restore them.
And, again, Jeremiah is getting to do “the good part” for a change. Remember what He was given as a mission at His commissioning? Chapter 1, verse 10.
"See, today I [Yahweh] appoint you [Jeremiah] over nations and kingdoms to [6 things:] uproot and tear down (seen a lot of that), to destroy and overthrow (that’s on the way), to build and to plant."
What do you hear in verse 4? “I will BUILD you up again and you will be REBUILT.” And verse 5, “You will PLANT vineyards again and enjoy their fruit.”
The LORD’s everlasting love restores. 
For the exiles, it will restore them to their land once more. Look at verse 7.
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, 'O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.' See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.”
Do you hear the words of love there? A Father’s love for His beloved boy? “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
And that love is going to bring you home.
Home from Assyria.Home for the remnant.Home for the “good figs.”Home for the weak and the vulnerable, not just the survival of the fittest.Home for the repentant. “They will come with weeping.”
Doesn’t He sound not just like a loving father but a loving Shepherd?
Verse 9 there. “I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble.” Sounds like the 23rd Psalm to me! Israel was going to be restored.
And that’s just a tiny picture of how God’s people are restored. “He restores my soul” right? Can you say that this morning? “He restores my soul.”
“The LORD is my [loving] shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul” (Ps. 23:1-3 NIVO).
And it’s not just a restoration. It’s a full-on redemption.
#2. REDEMPTION.
Look at verse 10. “‘Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.' For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they” (vv.10-11).
Jeremiah is supposed to tell the nations, tell the distant coastlands, to go tell it on the mountain that the One who scattered them (because of their unrepentant sin) will be re-gathering them and re-shepherding them.
Himself! That’s the LORD and His Messiah, isn’t it? And how is He going to do it? Through ransom and redemption. He’s going to rescue His people out of bondage. He is going to free them. He is going to pay their very debt to release them! That’s what ransom and redemption is. A payment to free someone. A payment to secure someone’s release, often paid for by a close family member.
What is this reminding you of?
The Cross, of course. Remember when Jesus said that He did not “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a [WHAT? a] ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45 NIVO)?
That’s an everlasting love!!
Have you put your faith in that love? In that ransom? In that redemption?
Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah died on the Cross to pay for the sins of all who will come to Him. That’s whey He came that first Christmas.
“God rest you merry, gentlemen,let nothing you dismay;remember Christ, our Saviorwas born on Christmas Dayto save us all from Satan's pow'rwhen we were gone astray.”
V.11 “To redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.”
Restoration and Redemption.
“O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy!”
An joy! That’s number three. This everlasting love leads to rejoicing. How could it not?!
#3 REJOICING.
In verse 4, the LORD said that they should take up their tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. 
When the LORD restores and redeems His people, they will be led to rejoice. Look at verse 12.
“They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD–the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.”
What a day of rejoicing that will be! It will be like a Christmas Feast!
He says the returned exiles will be like a “well-watered garden.” Isn’t that a beautiful image? It only began to be fulfilled in 538 when the exiles straggled back to Jerusalem. It was wonderful for them, and they wept and cried. Read Psalm 126 again this afternoon to hear about their songs of joy.
But it wasn’t the total end of their sorrow.
That began on that first Christmas, right? When the angel said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:10-11 NIVO).
And even that didn’t end their sorrow completely yet, did it? We’re still waiting for sorrow and sighing to flee away, aren’t we? Did anybody here cry this week? I’ll bet you did.
Again, this sounds like Revelation 21. That’s where the final fulfillment of this promise comes. That’s where the tallest of the mountain ranges. That’s the overflowing cup. Revelation 21, where the Lord promises, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev. 21:4 NIVO).
Or Jeremiah 31:12, “...they will sorrow no more.”
Joy and only joy! And then more joy! And them more joy after that. V.13
“Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,’ declares the LORD” (vv.13-14).
I love that he says that the old men will dance! Everybody is going to dance! Heaven is dance party because of the LORD’s everlasting love. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” So rejoice!
“I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”
But that’s in the future. It’s here (we can rejoice today), but it’s also still coming. Because right now there is not just rejoicing. There is weeping. And lots of it.
Jeremiah has wept and wept.Jesus has wept and wept.You and I have wept and will weep some more.
And Rachel has wept, as well. Look at verse 15. “This is what the LORD says: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.’”
Who is this Rachel?
Rachel was the favorite wife of Jacob, the patriarch in the book of Genesis. It was from Rachel that Jacob had two sons both very beloved–Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. Do know about where she was buried? Ramah. About 5 miles north of Jerusalem. Which was also on the exile route from Jerusalem to Babylon. One of the commentaries I read said that it was effectively a deportation center.
Rachel’s son Joseph had two sons–Ephraim and Manasseh. 
And the whole northern kingdom was nick-named “Ephraim” after him and his tribe. Rachel was the grandmother of the northern kingdom. And now they’re in exile. One by one, shipped off.
And so, metaphorically, this Rachel who tried so hard to have children (Read about who hard she worked at getting children in the book of Genesis!) weeps at the fate of her children lost to the enemy. It’s like her spirit watches them march off to death and exile. And she weeps inconsolably.
And do you know where Jeremiah 31:15 is quoted in the New Testament?
Matthew chapter 2, verse 18. Part of the Christmas story! The darkest, saddest part.
Matthew says, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’” (Matt. 2:16-18 NIVO).
The quintessential expression of a mother’s grief over children lost to the enemy.
And those mothers were right to mourn and wail. Heather and I lost a child in April of 1999, and I wailed in that hospital room like I have seldom wailed before or since.
But the LORD also has another message for the metaphorical Rachel, and that is that her sorrow will one day be turned to joy.
Because He is going to (v.13 again), “turn their mourning into gladness...[He] will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.” Look at verse 16.
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,’ declares the LORD. ‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future,’ declares the LORD. ‘Your children will return to their own land” (vv.16-17). 
“A hope for your future.” Does that sound familiar? It’s different words in the Hebrew, but it sounds a lot like 29:11 to me! “Hope and a future.”
They had reason to rejoice.
And so do we!
We have such a great future! We have every reason to rejoice.
We have reason to weep, and so it’s is right to do so. But not just weep. We also have every reason to rejoice.
And every reason to repent. That’s number four.
#4. REPENTANCE.
When we finally understand the LORD’s everlasting love, we finally wake up to our need for repentance. 
See how LORD says it in verse 18. “‘I have surely heard Ephraim's moaning: 'You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the LORD my God. After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth'” (vv.18-19).
Now, this is a prophecy. This is still down the line. Israel has not yet repented like this, but the LORD can hear it coming! "‘I have surely heard Ephraim's moaning!" It's going to happen!
And Ephraim will be like, “I was so dumb. I am so ashamed. I repent! Your discipline. The exile. The judgement that came through Assyria has worked its work on me, and I finally have woken up to repentance."
And how will LORD respond to that?
Will He say, “Sorry! Too late!” 
No, way. Look at verse 20.
“Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,’ declares the LORD.”
O, He loves Him! “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
He’s the Father in the story of the prodigal son. His heart is full of love. Everlasting love. That’s the heart of the Father for you and me. So, when we finally realize that, we finally wake up to repentance. Like the prodigal son, finally waking up and heading home.
The LORD tells His people to make sure they mark the way back home. Verse 21.
“‘Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to your towns. [There’s that word “shuv” again. Repent! Come back. V.22.] How long will you wander, O unfaithful daughter?” (vv.21-22).
“Stop wandering. Stop vacillating. Stop fence-sitting and repent. Come back!"
If you are running from Him today, He’s saying this to you right now. His heart yearns for you. He has great compassion for you. Stop running. And return to Him. Run into His fatherly arms!
And be restored, redeemed, and...refreshed.
#5. REFRESHMENT.
His everlasting love is so great that we who are His children will experience everlasting refreshment!
Look at the end of verse 22.
“The LORD will create a new thing on earth–a woman will surround a man.”
Now, I’m not sure what that means. And I don’t think that anybody else really knows either. It’s very hard to translate and interpret. Some people even see the virgin birth in that verse, and I guess that’s possible because many have seen it. I’m just not sure. It could be translated that a woman embraces or encircles or shelters or protects a man. It’s hard to translate, and it’s hard to understand.
My best guess is that it’s like a saying from the time that means something like, “Pigs are going fly. Wonders will never cease. ‘A woman will surround a man.’ We’re living in a time of miracles!”
What is clear to me is that the LORD is saying that He’s going to create a new thing on earth–a wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles.
And I think that He’s talking about the New Covenant that He’s just about to announce and the New Creation that comes from it.
How He’s going to give His people new hearts and eventually new bodies and a new world to live in! And how everything will be restored to how it was supposed to be in the first place and then even better! 
Look at verse 23.
“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: 'The LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain.' People will live together in Judah and all its towns–farmers and those who move about with their flocks. I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.’ At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.”
It turns out that this prophecy has come as a product of a prophetic dream.
Jeremiah wakes up and says, “Man, that was a good dream! I can’t wait for that dream to come true!”
When will this prophecy be fulfilled?
Well, verse 23 says, “When I bring them back from captivity.” And here’s He’s talking more to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They will once again say, “The LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain.” The LORD bless Jerusalem. The LORD blessed the new temple. The LORD bless Mount Zion on which it was built.
And that happened in 538 and beyond when the exiles straggled back home after the Book of Daniel. After the Book of Esther. After Babylon. After the Medes and the Persians. During the book of Nehemiah.
But I think that that was just a prophetic foretaste of the refreshment to come. "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” I think that this is fully fulfilled in the One who was born on Christmas day.
The One said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29 NIVO).
Tidings of comfort and joy!
A hope and a future.
Restoration.Redemption.Rejoicing.Repentance.Refreshment.
All because of the LORD’s everlasting love.
That’s the message of Christmas, isn’t it?
That “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16 NIVO).
He says to us today: 
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”

***

Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-3223. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24

Advent Candle #4: The Days of Righteousness Are Coming

LEFC Family Advent Readings: The Days Are ComingThe Advent of Christ in the Prophecy of JeremiahJeremiah 23:5-6 :: December 18, 2022Week #4: A Candle of Righteousness 
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
Our Advent readings this season focus on the coming of the Messiah prophesied in the book of Jeremiah. Our first candle was a candle of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
In the last dark decades before their exile, the nation of Judah was ruled by bad kings who scattered instead of shepherded the people of God. But God Himself promised to gather His flock once again under a new and good Shepherd. Hope was on the way. Our second candle was a candle of peace. 
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]
The LORD declared that when the new and good Shepherd would come, God’s people would will finally feel safe and secure with no fear of any kind. Peace was on the way. Our third candle was a candle of wisdom. 
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE AGAIN.]
Jeremiah predicted that the coming King would reign with discernment, discretion, prudence, and justice. He will know how to lead perfectly and always do what is just and right for the people of His kingdom to flourish. 
[LIGHT FOURTH CANDLE.]
Our fourth candle is a candle of righteousness.
[READ JEREMIAH 23:5-6.]
The Messiah will be so full of true righteousness that it will actually be His name! The Righteous Branch will overflow with moral goodness and ethical perfection. And He will share His own righteousness as a gift to His own people.
In the kingdom, we will possess His righteousness and be holy and blameless because of Jesus Christ.
The days of righteousness are coming.

“I Will Surely Save You Out of A Distant Land” [Matt's Messages]

“I Will Surely Save You Out of A Distant Land”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchDecember 11, 2022 :: Jeremiah 30:1-24
“A hope and a future.”
The LORD’s plans that He knows He has for His people are plans not to harm them but to “shalom” them (to give them peace and prosperity and wholeness) and to give them a hope and a future.
That’s what He promised the exiles in chapter 29, and that’s what these next four chapters of Jeremiah are all about.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
I love how the LORD has gotten us right to these four chapters right in time for Christmas! I didn’t plan this, but the LORD certainly did. 
The prophecy of Jeremiah has a lot of sadness in it. You’ve probably noticed! There’s a lot of weeping and tears. There is a lot of anguish over the foolish and evil choices that the nation of Judah had made year after year after year after year.
And the Prophet Jeremiah was sent to call Judah to repent. For forty long years he was a broken record about their broken covenant and the judgment that was inevitably going to come.
He wasn’t happy about it. Jeremiah didn’t enjoy bringing this message, but he was appointed to do it. Remember the words of his commissioning? Chapter 1, verse 10, “See, today I [Yahweh] appoint you [Jeremiah] over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Over the last 8 months, we’ve heard a lot about the first four of those, especially uprooting. And we’ve heard a little bit sprinkled throughout about the last two. But in chapters 30 through 33, it’s almost all about building and planting, re-building and re-planting! It’s all about restoration and hope. “A hope and a future.”
And you know and I know how that hope eventually came to pass. Jeremiah wrote these words down more than 580 years before Jesus was born. Almost 600 years! And yet, here in this ancient scroll are prophecies of the Messiah and all that He promises to be for His people.
This section of Jeremiah is often called “The Book of Consolation” or “The Book of Comfort,” because it’s four chapters of high octane hope. It’s full of promise. Which is just perfect for the Advent Season, isn’t it?
Let me show you what I mean. Let’s look at chapter 30 together today.
We don’t know when these words were written down. Many Bible scholars believe, for a few different reasons, that chapter 30 was written during the last fateful year before the exile. 587 BC.
Right when things were getting to be at their worst, Jeremiah was finally able to say more about how things were going to turn around for the best.
When things were at their darkest, it turns out that the future was actually going to be quite bright.
Chapter 30, verse 1.
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,' says the LORD.’”
You might have picked up by now that this little phrase is one of Jeremiah’s favorites, “The days are coming...”
“The days are coming...” That’s the theme of our Advent Readings this year. It will be the theme on Christmas Eve. “The days are coming...”
The focus of that phrase is the future. Jeremiah has finally gotten to the good part.
I’ll bet that’s how he felt! “Finally, we’re getting to the good stuff. I like talking about this. I like talking about the restoration of Israel and Judah (both of them! North and South. The North went into captivity a century before this. But they are going to be restored in some way, too!). I like talking about that.”
“I like talking about the future when it’s full of hope.” “The days are coming...” 
They aren’t here yet, but they are on the way.
Judah has not yet even gone into captivity, but Jeremiah is predicting beyond that to the restoration.
It’s going to be a while (at least 70 years from top to bottom), but “The days are coming...”
Now, it’s important to understand how these promises in the prophets often operate. How they are fulfilled.
This is one of the trickiest parts of understanding the Old Testament prophets. Because it’s not that straightforward. Some prophecies are, but many of them are not. The LORD promises something through the prophet, and says that it’s surely, certainly going to happen, but He’s somewhat vague on the HOW and especially the WHEN.
And you might think that the WHEN is going to be all at one time. But, often, it’s not. You might think it because there isn’t necessarily anything in the prophecy to indicate that the fulfillment is going to come in stages. And yet, it does come in stages.
Some people use the analogy of a mountain range to illustrate this. Like if you see a range of mountains in the distance, some of those mountains are closer than others, right. But you can’t necessarily tell which ones are closer and which ones are farther away, right? And if they look about the same height, the closer ones are actually smaller, right? And the ones that are farther away are the bigger ones.
You’re actually looking at multiple horizons, but you see them all together. The Bible teaches that the prophets can be like that.
It’s kind of like if somebody told you that at Christmastime, you’re going to get presents. At Christmastime, you’re going to get a tricycle, a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, and a pair of suspenders. And you’re going to absolutely love your presents at Christmastime! Now, you might guess that it’s actually different years, right? But it’s all “Christmastime.”
Or let me give you one more. It’s like a promise that this glass is going to be filled.
“The days are coming...” when this glass will be filled with delightful refreshing water. [ILLUSTRATE WITH GLASS OF WATER.] But then the glass only gets a little bit of water at first.
Has the promise failed? No. It’s just not all here yet. But “the days are coming” when it will be filled.
That’s a lot like what we see in Jeremiah 30. There are promises of restoration, and they obviously about the people of Judah (and Israel) returning to the Promised Land. But they are obviously also about MORE than that.
And it’s not clear when all of the fulfillment is going to come. Some of it obviously comes when the seventy years are up. The seventy years predicted in chapter 25 and 29 that we talked about last week.
But some of the things that Jeremiah said were going to happen didn’t come about in 538 BC. Some of it came about at the first Christmastime. And some of it–the tallest peaks in the mountain range–is still to come. We’re still waiting for it today. The greatest thing about those promises that aren’t yet fully fulfilled is that they are the biggest ones and they include the most people.
This was originally written to Israel and Judah, but over time, the recipients snowball, and you and I get caught up in them, too!
The LORD promises through Jeremiah a great salvation. An amazing turnaround. In verse 3 he called it being brought “back from captivity” and restored to the land.
We sing about it this time of year, like we did last Sunday, when we sang:
“O come, O come, Emmanuel,And ransom captive Israel;That mourns in lonely exile here,Until the Son of God appear.”
What a turnaround! The Hebrew there for “back from captivity” and “restore them” in verse 3 is another play on the word “shuv.” Remember how that word could be translated “Repent” because it means to “turn back?” Well, here it’s “turn the turnings.” “Shuv Shuvuth.” “Turn the turnings.” Effect the greatest reversal of all time! The greatest comeback of all time.
Because these promises start out talking about Israel’s return from exile, but they end by describing our salvation both now and forever! Isn’t that amazing?! Let me show you what I mean. Look at verse 4.
Now, remember, Jeremiah is a realist. And so is the LORD. He doesn’t just paint a rosy picture. He has to tell it like it is. Before the dawn, comes the night. Before the hope, comes the judgment. Verse 4. Here’s what’s going to happen next.
“These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: ‘This is what the LORD says: ‘ 'Cries of fear are heard–terror, not peace. Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.”
Do you see how this works? The next thing on the schedule is the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of Solomon’s temple, and the exile of Judah to Babylon. And it will be a time of distress. Pain, anxiety, anguish, horror. Like going through labor but knowing there is no baby on the other side, just more pain. Jacob’s Trouble.
But also! “A hope and a future.” Verse 7, “He will be saved out of it.” On the other side of the exile is salvation! And here’s what that salvation will look like. It will look like emancipation. V.8
“'In that day,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them” (vv.8-9).
Remember that yoke that Jeremiah had to wear around town? We don’t know for how long. And how Hananiah dramatically tore it off of him? And how the LORD said, “Okay, not wood but iron.” An iron yoke. Bowing down and serving Nebuchadnezzar.
Hananiah was not 100% wrong. He was 100% wrong about when. He said in wishful thinking out of his own head that it would only be two years. But he was not wrong that the LORD was going to break that yoke. The LORD is going to break that yoke. Even the yoke of iron. Nothing will stop Him from breaking that yoke! Tearing off those bonds. 
Enslaved no longer! Freed!
But when? He says, “In that day,” and I think that’s kind of like saying, “Christmastime.”
There’s this “day” predicted in the Bible, called “The Day of the LORD” or the “Day of Yahweh.” And a lot is predicted to happen in the Day of the LORD. A lot of terrible things, judgment, and wonderful things, blessings. And I think that day is not just a 24 hour kind of day, but a way of talking about a time when God faithfully keeps all of His promises and all of His threats.
Some of that Day of the LORD has already come. The glass is filling up. Some of it is yet to come.
For example, did you see what’s going to happen next when they are freed? There in verse 9. “...no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them” (vv.8-9).
Who is that? That’s the Messiah, isn’t it? That’s the King that the Lees Family was teaching us about in Jeremiah chapter 23 in the Advent Reading this morning. 
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness’” (Jer. 23:5-6 NIVO).
“They will serve the LORD their God and David their king,” meaning great David’s even greater Son. 
And Who is that? It’s Jesus! When the cup is filled to the brim of this prophecy, Jesus will be reigning over His freed people.
I have four simple points this morning, and they’re all about this great salvation that we have in Jesus. Prefigured in Israel’s return from exile and fully fulfilled in our salvation both now and forever.
#1. FREED TO SERVE.
Did you notice that in verse 9? That the people in verse 8 who are emancipated fom the foreign nations are not freed to do whatever they want. They are freed to serve the LORD their God and His Messiah.
We are freed to serve. The Lord breaks our bonds to free us, yes, but not so that we run off and do willy nilly whatever comes into our heads. That’s a different kind of enslavement. Instead, we are saved to serve. We are rescued to obey our wonderful Savior. We are freed from our sins, from Satan, and from ourselves. To serve the Lord and to serve others in His name.
Are you serving the Lord? In what ways? Jesus has broken off the yoke around our necks and put His own yoke on us.  Thankfully, His yoke is easy, and His burden is light because He is gentle and humble in heart, and in Him we find rest for our souls (cf. Matthew 11:28-29).
And that’s actually the second point. 
#2. RETURNED TO REST.  
Look at what the LORD says in verse 10. “So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. I am with you and will save you,' declares the LORD. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.' (vv.10-11)
Again, he’s a realist. He doesn’t give them a Pollyanna promise like a smiling televangelist saying everything is going to be fine. “There won’t be any problems.” No, there will be problems. There will, in fact, be punishment. But there will also be a remnant. And there will be a future. A hope and a future.
This is where we get our sermon title for today. “I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Place.” The people of Israel will be returned to their own land from the land of their exile. And that should give them peace and rest.
Did you hear those words of comfort?
“Do not fear...”“Do not be dismayed.”You “will again have peace and security, and no one will make [you] afraid.”
How come? “I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD.”
And if that was true even just a little for those straggling exiles who came back under Nehemiah, how much more is it true for you and me who have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ?! Returned to rest.
What are you afraid of these days? What makes you dismayed? Verses 10 and 11 are going to show up just about verbatim in chapter 46 which we’ll get to sometime in the Spring, Lord-willing.
I think the LORD wants us to hear this message.
“Do not fear...”“Do not be dismayed.”You “will again have peace and security, and no one will make [you] afraid.”
The word for peace there is not “shalom.” It’s “shakat.” It means to be tranquil. To be quiet. To be undisturbed. And word for security is “sha’awn,” to be at ease to be able to rest securely.
The CSB says, “calm and quiet.”
Because of Jesus you and I can be calm and quiet. I’m not good at that, but that’s something for me to work on. Because I have been saved out of a distant place, I don’t have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off over every little thing. Or even over anything big.
How about you? Are you calm and quiet? Because Jesus came at that first Christmastime, no matter what we are facing in life, we can be calm and quiet in Him.
Now, in verse 12, the LORD goes back to the bad news.
You see the pattern here? He starts with how hopeless they truly are, and then He injects this potent powerful hope! Look at verse 12.
“‘This is what the LORD says: ‘ 'Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many. 5 Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.” (vv.12-15).
He’s back to being a broken record. 
He’s back to pointing out how many times they have hit the snooze button, right Katie? “Snooze. Snooze. I don’t want to wake up and repent. Snooze.” “Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you." Your wound is incurable. Your case is hopeless...on your own.
But look! Verse 16. “'But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'” (vv.16-17).
#3. HEALED TO HOPE.
The LORD Himself is going to heal them.
It will take a miracle, so He will do a miracle. We’re going to find out in the next chapter just how big a miracle it will take. It will take a New Covenant that is better than the old one. A New Covenant that we said last week will be ratified in blood of Jesus.
But LORD is going to do it. “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.” Where Judah had NO HOPE. They now have hope. The turnaround of turnarounds! Where they were outcasts, uncared for by their foreign gods and foreign nations who promised to help them but never came through.
They are now people of hope with a future.
And so are you and I!
Do you see how we get into this as the promise snowballs? Because He doesn’t just heal and forgive Israel. He forgives the church, Jews and Gentiles together who repent of our sins and put our faith in the blood of Jesus. And He doesn’t just heal us. One day, when the cup of this promise is full to the brim, the whole creation will be healed!
It’s groaning right now. But one day it will be released from its bondage to decay and “brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:21 NIVO) 
Wow! And what a day of rejoicing that will be!
#4. RESTORED TO REJOICE! 
Look at verse 18. “‘This is what the LORD says: 'I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place. From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained. Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them” (vv.18-20). 
The LORD promises to make everything the way it was before and the way it was supposed to be. He’s going to turn everything around.
The Hebrew there is the same words as we saw in verse 3. “Turn the turnings.” “Restore the fortunes.” [Study Psalm 126 for more on this concept.]
Bringing the people back from exile. But more than that. Make everything the way it was supposed to be in the first place. Including, their leader. Their leader will be exactly what He should be. What all of the leaders were supposed to be but were miserable failures at being.
They were all so many thumbs down. But this leader will be all thumbs up. Look at verse 21.
“Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?' declares the LORD.”
Who do you think that is? Who will dare to come close to the LORD? Who will dare to come this close to Yahweh? 
There is only One Who even could. The One who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (cf. John 1:14).  Jesus. This is another prophecy of the Messiah buried deep in the Book of Jeremiah.
And here’s the result of the Messiah’s work. Verse 22.
“'So you will be my people, and I will be your God.'”
It doesn’t get any better than that. What a privilege! What a responsibility! The covenant will be renewed and God’s people will be God’s people again. They will know Him. They will walk in relationship with Him. We call it a “life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ,” and it’s what our church is all about.
“So you will be my people, and I will be your God.”
But first comes the judgment. Verse 23. Same thing he said in chapter 23. “See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.”
We may not “get it” right away. But one day, we will. And we can be assured that He will accomplish all of the purposes of His heart. All of His judgment and all of His blessing. Because He is perfect in every way. We can’t understand all of that all of the time. 
Just look at the Cross and marvel at what was happening there. The fierce anger of the LORD was not turned back until justice was done and seen to be done on all of our sin. But at the same time, that was opening up the way for us to be saved. To be brought back from a distant land, the land of sin and exile.
To be freed.To be healed.To be returned.To be restored.
To be replanted!
When? “At Christmastime.”
When did this prophecy come true?
Well, it began to be filled up when the exiles returned to Jerusalem in the book of Nehemiah. And then the promise began to snowball as it headed down the mountainside. And it began to engulf you and me.
Jesus was born. He came as the Messiah prophesied in verse 9 and verse 21. Son of David. A Hebrew. One of their own. One Who drew near to Yahweh. Who was perfectly devoted to Yahweh.
And Who even laid down His life before the wrath of Yahweh. But there is still more fulfillment to come.
When? On “that day.” Look at the first verse of chapter 31.
“‘At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.’” 
You know what that sounds like to me? Revelation chapter 21! "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” (Rev. 21:3-5 NIVO).
That’s the final fulfillment of Jeremiah chapter 30! That’s our hope and our future.
And what should you and I do in response? Verse 19 told us very clearly: “From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing!”
“Good Christian friends, rejoicewith heart and soul and voice;now ye hear of endless bliss:Jesus Christ was born for this!He has opened heaven's door,and we are blest forevermore.Christ was born for this!”

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32

Advent Candle #3: The Days of Wisdom Are Coming

LEFC Family Advent Readings: The Days Are ComingThe Advent of Christ in the Prophecy of JeremiahJeremiah 23:5-6 :: December 11, 2022Week #3: A Candle of Wisdom 
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
This year, our Advent readings concentrate on the coming of the Messiah prophesied in the book of Jeremiah. Our first candle was a candle of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
In the last dark decades before their exile, the nation of Judah was ruled by bad kings who scattered instead of shepherded the people of God. But God Himself promised to gather His flock once again under a new and good Shepherd. Hope was on the way.
Our second candle was a candle of peace. 
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]
The LORD declared that when the new and good Shepherd would come, God’s people would will finally feel safe and secure with no fear of any kind. Peace was on the way.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]
Our third candle is a candle of wisdom. Jeremiah predicted that the coming King would reign with discernment, discretion, prudence, and justice.
[READ JEREMIAH 23:5-6.]
The kings of Judah reigned in folly and their foolishness harmed God’s people. But when the Messiah comes, He will know how to lead perfectly. He will make no mistakes. The Righteous Branch will not be confused nor confounded but always do what is just and right for the people of His kingdom to flourish.
The days of wisdom are coming.