SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will, to Jeremiah 29, 11.
SPEAKER_01: This is a very famous verse.
SPEAKER_01: If you go into a Christian bookstore, you're liable to see it as a some kind of a verse on a picture or something.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you have those in your house, which I think is great.
SPEAKER_01: The Old Testament talks about when God taught the children of Israel how to teach their children.
SPEAKER_01: He said that we should put Scripture that visibly all around our homes and in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's great to do that.
SPEAKER_01: But this is an interesting verse in that when you read it just by itself, it is very encouraging and it is a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: And it certainly is a fundamental principle of Scripture that God has plans for our lives.
SPEAKER_01: But as you're going to see in a moment, it's really not as encouraging as you think it is when you understand it in context.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it was written in a very difficult and significant time in the lives of the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: And so I think it has an even richer value and promise for us when we understand the context of the Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: And so I've entitled today's message, The Promise in God's Plans.
SPEAKER_01: And so what the intro tells us is that this is a letter that God instructed Jeremiah the prophet to write and is being delivered to the children of Israel who are living in exile.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, the nation has been judged because of their consistent rebellious sin.
SPEAKER_01: They were conquered by the Babylonian nation, and massive numbers of Jews were taken out of Jerusalem and the land of Judah as a conquered nation and were placed in exile.
SPEAKER_01: Then you had a number of false prophets who came and they were telling everyone, hey, we have a word for you.
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to be here very long.
SPEAKER_01: And what we're going to find out is that this is a letter written from the Lord to those children of Israel in exile, telling them that he was serious about the judgment that he exacted on them.
SPEAKER_01: So let's read the letter and we'll talk some more about the context.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4 says, This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, and I think he gives that intro to his letter to the children of Israel to give some strength and authority to it, some forcefulness.
SPEAKER_01: I am the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: I am allowed and have the authority to pronounce these judgments.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles, I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: You see, God takes responsibility for this, and he makes it clear this is his plan.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire that uh conquered Israel and deported them off out of the nation, out of their home.
SPEAKER_01: God says, I did this.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 5, Build houses and live in them.
SPEAKER_01: Plant gardens and eat their produce.
SPEAKER_01: Take wives and have sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_01: Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage, so that they may bear sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_01: Multiply there, do not decrease.
SPEAKER_01: Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to.
SPEAKER_01: Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it has prosperity, you will prosper.
SPEAKER_01: For this is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: For this is what the Lord says.
SPEAKER_01: When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, you're going to be in exile for seventy years and don't let anybody tell you differently.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, some people reading this letter, who were hoping they would be returned to Israel, are being told, Nope, you're in Babylon, live there, give your kids in marriage there, you're going to die there because you're not going to live seventy more years.
SPEAKER_01: And then here's what he says in verse 11, our verse.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: Plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
SPEAKER_01: You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
SPEAKER_01: You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 14 goes on to say, I will be found by you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: And I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: I will restore you to the place I have deported you from.
SPEAKER_01: So it's interesting when you read this letter, everything is context.
SPEAKER_01: When you're understanding a teaching of Scripture, you really have to understand the context.
SPEAKER_01: So here's what God is telling them.
SPEAKER_01: He is saying, Listen, you sinned, and if you came up to this point, if you understood the history up to this point, you understood that God warned them about their sin.
SPEAKER_01: Then he said, Because of your sin, I am going to have you deported, and I'm going to allow you to be conquered.
SPEAKER_01: And then after 70 years, then I'm going to begin to work in you.
SPEAKER_01: Again, this was prophesied.
SPEAKER_01: It was understood.
SPEAKER_01: Now at this time in the life of the nation of Israel, there had been a major civil war, and the twelve tribes that make up the nation of Israel had been divided into two nations.
SPEAKER_01: The ten tribes in the north, and they had sinned and walked away from the Lord and had a history of being rebellious to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And they had been conquered by the Assyrian Empire.
SPEAKER_01: And they had been deported and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: Then you have the two tribes that were left in the southern part of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: And Jerusalem is the capital, and that's the nation of Judah.
SPEAKER_01: It's referred to as Judah.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the group that God was going to continue to work with to bring Jesus the Messiah into the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so what you have now is the people of Judah have times when they walk with the Lord, and then times when they walk away from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: In the time of the prophet Jeremiah, early in his ministry, there was a good king, and they followed the Lord, and they were obedient to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But then the next king came in, and he was evil, and they walked away from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And in that time the northern nation was conquered, and they were taken out in exile, and there were all those problems, and the children of Judah could see that.
SPEAKER_01: And Jeremiah and certain other prophets began to prophesy and tell them, Listen, if you don't repent, God's going to judge you.
SPEAKER_01: And they did not repent, and God is always at work, and so what he does is he said, Listen, I'm now going to judge you, my people, because you have not repented, and you have worshipped false gods, and you have walked away from me.
SPEAKER_01: And so he allowed the Babylonian Empire, used them as his tool to conquer Judah, and they began to deport people out of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: This would be the book of Daniel, and Daniel and many of his friends and others were in that group of exiles who were deported from Judah, as the Lord says in this letter, by the Lord himself, and took them off into Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what you have in this Babylonian time is they are living in exile and in judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And the question is, what is going to happen to the children of Israel?
SPEAKER_01: Well, we know that God had a purpose for his children.
SPEAKER_01: He had established the nation of Israel to be the funnel through which he brought the Messiah and redemption into the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so God clearly has a plan, but in that plan is the children of Israel to live for him, to point the world to him, to prepare the way for the Messiah, to help folks understand that the God of Israel was the one true God and he had a plan for redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And when they walked with the Lord, they created that testimony.
SPEAKER_01: And when they walked away from the Lord and they worshiped false gods, they were damaging to the work and the redemptive plans of God.
SPEAKER_01: And so what you have here is God speaking to the children of Israel, because you had all these other folks that came and these political leaders and they were erstwhile prophets claiming they were from the Lord and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: And they're saying, Listen, we're not going to be here very long.
SPEAKER_01: Don't really dig roots.
SPEAKER_01: Don't unpack your bags.
SPEAKER_01: God's going to take us back.
SPEAKER_01: And so God speaks into this moment.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why he writes this letter.
SPEAKER_01: That's why he continues to repeat, this is what the Lord says.
SPEAKER_01: I am the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_01: This is what I say.
SPEAKER_01: That's why he says in verse 9, these prophets that are claiming that are falsely prophesying.
SPEAKER_01: Because I have told you, as he says in verse 10, that you sinned and you're going to be judged, and I'm going to discipline you and you are going to be deported.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, In fact, I'm the one who did it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm in charge of this deal because you have walked away, and I have got to deal with this sin issue.
SPEAKER_01: And then he comes back and he says, Even in this time of judgment, though, my people, my plans are not evil for you.
SPEAKER_01: You have a future and a hope.
SPEAKER_01: So, with that context, let's take a minute and look at a few key truths that we see in this passage of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is an interesting passage of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: One of the things that I struggle with at times as a preacher is what is the balance between calling out sin and illustrating God's grace?
SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't have a problem doing either one of those.
SPEAKER_01: That's not the struggle.
SPEAKER_01: The struggle is where is the balance in that?
SPEAKER_01: It's not a struggle calling out sin because God calls out sin and we're called to be holy.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus stepped out of heaven and went to the cross to pay the price for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: Sin is real and God judges sin, and we must call out sin.
SPEAKER_01: It's a part of sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: All of us are sinners by birth, by nature, and by choice.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes in him will never perish, but have everlasting life.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to die because of our sin.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus loved us and he stepped out of heaven, lived a sinless life, went to the cross so that our sin could be placed on him and he could die in our place to pay the price for our sins as a substitutionary death for us.
SPEAKER_01: He rose again, conquering death and sin, and then he offers us the opportunity to repent of our sin and turn to him and trust his death, burial, and resurrection to be the payment for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: Never a problem to call out sin.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture calls out sin.
SPEAKER_01: When we call out sin, we are calling people to Jesus and the forgiveness that only comes through him.
SPEAKER_01: But you also have sin is hard and it's difficult and it leaves baggage and wounds and struggles.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Satan comes and he lies to folks and he says, listen, if it you've done so many things, God will never forgive you.
SPEAKER_01: God will never forgive you.
SPEAKER_01: And so we have to speak into the love and grace of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
SPEAKER_01: God loves you, and that's why Jesus went through that process.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus was not satisfied with our sin being judged and condemning us to being separated from him for all of eternity in hell.
SPEAKER_01: He loved us so much that he stepped out of heaven and took the payment for our sin on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: But where is the balance in that?
SPEAKER_01: And if you if you if you push too hard in the sin and you never tell people about salvation and grace in Jesus, how are we redeemed?
SPEAKER_01: But if you only spend time talking about the grace and God forgives you and all that, when do we ever take seriously the importance of repenting of our sin?
SPEAKER_01: And in this passage of Scripture, you see very clearly here that God is serious about sin.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is a great passage for us to see how those two things work together.
SPEAKER_01: How there is no, there is no grace without understanding the sin that must be forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: And the calling of sin is to help us see the grace of God and the salvation that is in his name.
SPEAKER_01: And in this passage, you see both of those things.
SPEAKER_01: There's another interesting thing that we struggle with in this passage of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I think it's great that we use this verse, for I know the plans I have for you, and we turn that into a personal verse because there are times we need the encouragement to know that God has a plan for our lives.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it is a biblical principle throughout Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: In Psalm 139, the Bible says that God knew you and planned you before you were formed in your mother's womb.
SPEAKER_01: It also says in Ephesians chapter 2, 8, 9, and 10 for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
SPEAKER_01: Because we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, that he has prepared beforehand for us to walk in.
SPEAKER_01: So it's clear that he has a plan for us.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the deal: God has saved you to something greater than you.
SPEAKER_01: Salvation is not just about you or me as individuals.
SPEAKER_01: And when you are saved, you were grafted into the flow of the gospel, and you were grafted into the body of Christ, and you, your identity as a believer means that you are a part of the people of God and God's plans for the people of God.
SPEAKER_01: And this letter was not written to individuals.
SPEAKER_01: This letter was written to the children of Israel as a nation, as a people.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a personal verse, this is a collective verse.
SPEAKER_01: And so, how do you mesh those two things together and where do we fit in that plan?
SPEAKER_01: Well, let me show you some principles I think are inherent in this patch of scripture that'll help us with some applications.
SPEAKER_01: First, God is always engaged in his redemptive work.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 11, for I know the plans I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: Plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
SPEAKER_01: What those plans are does not mean that in a moment of difficulty in your life, God is going to make a way for you as an individual to come out of that difficult situation.
SPEAKER_01: That is not what this verse means.
SPEAKER_01: This verse is, you have a future and a hope because Jesus gave you one through salvation on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: This verse, written collectively to the children of Israel, is listen, everything I've promised about bringing a Messiah to the world through you as my people, I will accomplish.
SPEAKER_01: I know the plans that I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: My plans are higher than your plans, and my plan is to use you to bring the Lamb of God into the world, which will save the world from their sins.
SPEAKER_01: That is my plan.
SPEAKER_01: And your future and your hope rests in your repentance and your getting back in the flow of that plan.
SPEAKER_01: And I am going to use you, and I'm going to use you dramatically and spiritually and powerfully and eternally as my people to continue my redemptive work.
SPEAKER_01: When they sinned under this evil king and walked away, God was not going to let them sin and not besmirch the testimony of him as the God who brings the Redeemer into the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so he is always at work, even in discipline with his children.
SPEAKER_01: It is all about him flowing the plan of redemption.
SPEAKER_01: Everything in this book, from the beginning to the end, is about the promise of redemption through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: And God is always involved in his redemptive work.
SPEAKER_01: You see that all working out through here.
SPEAKER_01: He says this stuff about build houses and live in them and plant gardens and take wives or sons and daughters and all that.
SPEAKER_01: Multiply there, do not decrease.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because he needs them to be a strong nation and he wants to bless them.
SPEAKER_01: And he is going to use them and continue to use them to bring Jesus, the Messiah, into the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so he does not want them to wane.
SPEAKER_01: He wants them to understand even in discipline you can flourish because I am about creating this nation to be the testimony that I will use to bring the Redeemer into the world.
SPEAKER_01: Next thing you see, God always disciplines sin, and he disciplines with grace towards his plans.
SPEAKER_01: He says, in this context, look where it says, verse 10, for 70 years for Babylon, when 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you then after 70 years and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, I'm going to leave you there for 70 years.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to learn this lesson of being faithful and walking with me.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, this is not the first time God has judged his children.
SPEAKER_01: You think about the famous time where the children of Israel, God brings up Moses to lead them out of Egypt, and he's going to lead them into the promised land he's created for them, all a part of his redemptive work.
SPEAKER_01: He takes them from there, he takes them to the banks of the river Jordan.
SPEAKER_01: This was verse 10, if you'll remember, with uh Joshua 1 9.
SPEAKER_01: Because at that moment the children of Israel fail and they do not place their faith in God as their redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: And he pronounces judgment on them for their lack of faith, and they wander 40 years in the wilderness for that generation to die off and to train the next generation to trust him in his provision.
SPEAKER_01: And then he brings them under Joshua to the River Jordan, and they place their faith in the Lord, and they go into the land of Canaan.
SPEAKER_01: God always disciplines sin.
SPEAKER_01: We always have to understand and deal with sin.
SPEAKER_01: God is always going to deal with sin.
SPEAKER_01: You can never take for granted the significance and the faithfulness that God will discipline our sin as his children.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot get away from that.
SPEAKER_01: But in the midst of that discipline, you see in the beauty of this picture that it is always with grace.
SPEAKER_01: He is not just stamping down on them, stepping on them, destroying them.
SPEAKER_01: In the midst of this, no, you're going to stay here for 70 years because I said you would, and because you need to learn this lesson.
SPEAKER_01: But even in the midst of that, he encourages them.
SPEAKER_01: I know the plans I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: When the years are up, I will attend to you and confirm you.
SPEAKER_01: He says, These plans are for your welfare and not for a disaster to give you a future and a hope.
SPEAKER_01: I am going to accomplish my plan.
SPEAKER_01: I am going to use you to bring redemption.
SPEAKER_01: There will be forgiveness of sins because of that.
SPEAKER_01: He even encourages them in verses 12 through 15.
SPEAKER_01: You will call to me at that point, and I will hear you, and I will love you, and I will restore you, and I will continue this journey that we have together as a people.
SPEAKER_01: Even there in Babylon, he says, Listen, I want you to multiply there.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to have your kids grow and have grandkids and have great grandkids, and I want you to flourish there.
SPEAKER_01: He even says, I want you to pray to me that I will bring peace to this pagan nation.
SPEAKER_01: You are viewing this as a conquering people, and I'm telling you, you're going to live there 70 years, but I'm going to protect you even in Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: Pray and ask me to give peace and welfare to the city in which you live so that it will bless you.
SPEAKER_01: Why does God do that?
SPEAKER_01: Number one, because he loves his people.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, he is bringing grace even in the midst of that discipline because he doesn't want to push them away from him.
SPEAKER_01: They were running away from him in their sin.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to restore and bring them back to him.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to establish the testimony of his people.
SPEAKER_01: Look, where there are Jews there, we want to live there because there's peace there.
SPEAKER_01: That city flourishes because of what those people do and because of who their God is when he does that.
SPEAKER_01: And he brings grace to them even in those moments.
SPEAKER_01: God always desires to work in the lives of his people.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the deal: he is working at the collective level and the individual level at the same time.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't forget about you as an individual when he's dealing with us as a church.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't forget about us as a church when he's dealing with us as the body of Christ in the country of America or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: He balances both of those.
SPEAKER_01: And so he makes it clear this was a collective sin of the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone has walked away.
SPEAKER_01: And someone may say, Well, I didn't worship Molech.
SPEAKER_01: Why in the world am I being deported?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but were you a part of calling the children of God back to him?
SPEAKER_01: Were you a part of discipling and impacting people spiritually so that the nation did not walk away from the Lord and worship Moloch?
SPEAKER_01: And we're all in this together.
SPEAKER_01: We are collectively attached.
SPEAKER_01: And so when God exercises judgment on his people, we're all there.
SPEAKER_01: And yet at the same time, he brings home to them his love for them.
SPEAKER_01: You take wives and have sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_01: In your life, I still want to bless you.
SPEAKER_01: In the city where you are, if you will pray for peace in that city, I will hear you and I will answer your prayers.
SPEAKER_01: He is building some balance between those.
SPEAKER_01: But because God is always at work in his redemptive plan, we have to understand we are attached to the whole.
SPEAKER_01: And then finally, God will accomplish his plans.
SPEAKER_01: He repeats over and over again in this passage of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Look how many times he says this.
SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 11, I know the plans I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 14, I will be found by you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: God always accomplishes his plan.
SPEAKER_01: Satan could not stop the eternal plan of the Lord for Jesus to be born of a virgin, to live a sinless life, to go to the cross and sacrifice himself for their sins and rose again, conquering death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: Satan could not stop that.
SPEAKER_01: On Wednesday nights, Pastor Matt and I are teaching a Bible study through 2 Peter.
SPEAKER_01: And he addresses a question that we have at times.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we've been waiting for a long time for Jesus to come back and take us home.
SPEAKER_01: As a dad, I really didn't like this passage of Scripture about giving your daughters in marriage and stuff.
SPEAKER_01: That's really not a fun experience for the dad of a daughter, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's really not.
SPEAKER_01: And I believed, I just adopted this theology that Jesus is going to come back before my daughter has to date.
SPEAKER_01: Because he loves us, right?
SPEAKER_01: I know the plans that I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to have to go through that, son, because I love you.
SPEAKER_01: Some rotten hair-legged boy showing up at my house trying to take my precious daughter out.
SPEAKER_01: And then when that didn't happen, I just knew that God was going to return and Jesus was going to call us home before I had to walk her down the aisle to one of those rotten sinner hair-legged boys is going to take my daughter out of my house.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Now he's gotten a little better now that we're going to have a grandchild, so he's improved a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: But we're waiting for Jesus to return, and they had waited so long in the book of 2 Peter that they begin to have this struggle.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is not going to come back.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul says, listen, no, God is not slack in any of his promises.
SPEAKER_01: It may take longer than you think, but God is in his redemptive work and he is always going to accomplish his plan.
SPEAKER_01: And one day when you do not expect it, Jesus is going to return and call his people home.
SPEAKER_01: And God is not slack in that promise any more than he was slack in the promise to bring Jesus the first time as our Redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: And we must understand that God will accomplish his plans.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's look at just a few applications to us as individuals.
SPEAKER_01: First thing you understand, we must never lose sight of the advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Listen, I know the plans that I have for you, not for evil or not for disaster, but to give you a future and a hope.
SPEAKER_01: And the only hope that there is for you as an individual or for us as a human race is the fact that Jesus came as the Redeemer and conquered death and sin on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: That he rose again off offering life and eternal life to everyone who will trust him as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And we must never lose sight that God is always in that plan of redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And you were not saved just for you.
SPEAKER_01: You were not saved just so you would not have to go to hell and you could go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Now you were saved so you would not have to go to hell and you would go to heaven, but you were saved for other people not to go to hell and to also go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: God puts you in your family so that there is an example of Jesus in your family so people can be saved.
SPEAKER_01: He puts you in the place where you work and kids in the school where you attend.
SPEAKER_01: He puts you on the street where you live.
SPEAKER_01: When you were saved, you were saved into the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And you were saved into the advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And there is never a moment in our lives where we are free to walk out of the advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: I wake up sometimes on Sunday mornings and I'm having my quiet time this morning, and there comes the rain.
SPEAKER_01: And all I can think about is my pastor where I grew up used to say, every time a raindrop falls, a Baptist stalls.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, seriously, the rain keeps people from church.
SPEAKER_01: Why does that happen?
SPEAKER_01: Because we do not have a true understanding that our identity rests in God's people being used to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: You have people in the world and in the culture who are far more passionate about whatever it is that they are into than we are about advancing the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: I've been in churches where people fought over we have got to pay that millage because we've got to support our schools and all that, and I love our schools.
SPEAKER_01: Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01: Let me finish.
SPEAKER_01: They are mad about somebody who invites against the millage, and they don't ever tithe.
SPEAKER_01: How can that be?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just how wrong-minded is our perception when we get wound up about stuff that's not the gospel, and we are limited in our commitment to the advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: We got people who call the hogs and they'll get mad at us if I don't call the hogs.
SPEAKER_01: I got people who resent that I drive an orange car.
SPEAKER_01: I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all get the movie, and listen, I think we ought to call the hogs.
SPEAKER_01: I love call the hogs.
SPEAKER_01: I paid tuition at the University of Arkansas.
SPEAKER_01: I've earned a right to call the hogs, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But here's the deal.
SPEAKER_01: If you call the hogs louder than you sing in worship, man, we don't understand our identity in advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And so many times we have taken our individual situation and we put it above the advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And we've got to understand, man, this wasn't written to get you out of a tight spot.
SPEAKER_01: It's not this verse.
SPEAKER_01: And when it hangs on the wall in our home, and it should, it should remind me constantly who have I prayed for that needs Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: What have I done to advance the kingdom?
SPEAKER_01: Am I teaching my kids that it's more important to go visit my grand their grandparents every weekend?
SPEAKER_01: Or is it more important that they be in the body of Christ and dig roots in the church so that they grow up to be missionaries for the gospel?
SPEAKER_01: God always desires for us to walk with him in his plans.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, he is telling you, he's telling them, even in judgment, listen, I have not moved you away as my people.
SPEAKER_01: You are still my people.
SPEAKER_01: In verses 4 through 7, where you are, pray to me for the peace of the city that you are in, because I want to bless you there.
SPEAKER_01: Even in the midst of struggle, I want you to increase as my people there.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the end of this.
SPEAKER_01: He tells them in verse 12, you will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what he says in verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
SPEAKER_01: He even says in that next sentence, I will be found by you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord's declaration.
SPEAKER_01: I will be found by you.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I am saying with my name attached to this, if you will search for me with your heart, you will find me.
SPEAKER_01: I am here for you.
SPEAKER_01: That's the whole point of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: That's why sin is serious.
SPEAKER_01: He so desires to be with us that our sin takes us away from him.
SPEAKER_01: Application number three: God will discipline us as a loving father.
SPEAKER_01: Make no mistake about it.
SPEAKER_01: You will be there for 70 years.
SPEAKER_01: I warned you, I told you, you sinned.
SPEAKER_01: I have deported you.
SPEAKER_01: You see what he says?
SPEAKER_01: Twice he says, I have deported you.
SPEAKER_01: And only I can return you.
SPEAKER_01: He disciplines us for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot play around with those matters.
SPEAKER_01: But he disciplines us as a loving father.
SPEAKER_01: As a loving father.
SPEAKER_01: It is a picture of his grace and it is the balance of that.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be there 70 years, but I want to prosper you while you are there.
SPEAKER_01: I want to continue to prepare you as my people.
SPEAKER_01: Do not decrease, increase and grow so that when I return you, we get back on track and have the opportunity to continue to advance the gospel so that you can have that hope.
SPEAKER_01: You see, God's grace is there to forgive our sin, but our sin has to be dealt with so God can forgive us of our sin.
SPEAKER_01: Never doubt his love and grace, even when being disciplined.
SPEAKER_01: Never doubt his love and in the book of Hebrews, the Bible says this do not despise the disciplining of a father because that proves you are his child.
SPEAKER_01: It is the fact that he loves you.
SPEAKER_01: We say it in the office sometimes when I've been leading staff through the years.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, when I stop coaching you, that's when you need to worry and get your resume ready.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that true?
SPEAKER_01: Because when you are a part and I care about you and want you to flourish, I'm going to invest in you and I'm going to coach that and correct that and debrief that and help that grow because I believe in you and I want you to flourish as a leader.
SPEAKER_01: That's what we do with our children.
SPEAKER_01: One of the reasons we get so intense in coaching our kids in sports or music or whatever is because we believe in them, not because we're mad at them.
SPEAKER_01: We know what they can be.
SPEAKER_01: We want them to learn that discipline.
SPEAKER_01: Son, daughter, if you just practiced a little more, you would be so awesome.
SPEAKER_01: I see a future for you that you don't see yet, and I want you to know it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm passionate for you.
SPEAKER_01: The disciplining of a father.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why he says, listen, I know the plans that I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: And they are plans for a future and a hope.
SPEAKER_01: These are not bad plans for you.
SPEAKER_01: I have not put you here, and I am not leaving you here for 70 years because I'm mad at you.
SPEAKER_01: It is because I love you and I have a plan for you.
SPEAKER_01: And I am working to restore you and bring you into that plan so that I can use you for that.
SPEAKER_01: Don't doubt his love and his grace, even when you're having to spend some time in Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: Just another simple application.
SPEAKER_01: Our testimony always matters.
SPEAKER_01: The testimony of the children of Israel mattered to the Lord when they were in sin, and it mattered so much that he brought judgment to fix it.
SPEAKER_01: But even in Babylon, their testimony mattered.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Give your sons and daughters into marriage.
SPEAKER_01: Flourish as a people, do well, increase, do not decrease, because you are still the children of God.
SPEAKER_01: You are still the people that show the God of Israel and his strength and power and love and plans.
SPEAKER_01: He said, pray for the peace and the place that you live so that I can answer those prayers.
SPEAKER_01: And wherever you go, you flourish and you bear fruit, and people will know hey, the God of Israel is God.
SPEAKER_01: He is a God who takes care of his people.
SPEAKER_01: In all times, our testimony matters.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's important to remember that.
SPEAKER_01: Man, you mess up something and you and we've all been there.
SPEAKER_01: You mess it up, and the Satan crawl in the back of your head.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible refers to him in one place as the accuser of the brethren.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: He's trying to tell you, oh, you messed up so bad, God can't use you anymore.
SPEAKER_01: God can't do anything with you.
SPEAKER_01: You are a doubter.
SPEAKER_01: Shame on you.
SPEAKER_01: God can't use a doubter.
SPEAKER_01: You don't even believe it's true.
SPEAKER_01: And he pokes at us and he tries to hold us down and he tries to kick us where we're down.
SPEAKER_01: And what he's trying to say is listen, I am afraid of your testimony as a child of God.
SPEAKER_01: Because when you repent and see God's favor and restoration, it makes me look bad and it shows the world who God really is.
SPEAKER_01: Even in mistakes, even in failures, even in struggles, our testimony matters.
SPEAKER_01: And in the restoration, our testimony matters.
SPEAKER_01: And God says, Listen, you're going to come to me and I'm going to restore you and I'm going to restore your fortunes because I am going to accomplish what I promised and I'm going to bring salvation through you.
SPEAKER_01: And our testimony continues to matter.
SPEAKER_01: As he restores us, he is continually building that testimony.
SPEAKER_01: And then when he puts us back in place, he uses us and we continue to serve him faithfully because our testimony matters.
SPEAKER_01: Because a world that doesn't know Jesus, they meet Jesus through Jesus' people.
SPEAKER_01: Children's ministry.
SPEAKER_01: One of the reasons I love our emphasis on children's ministry and Pastor Eli and all the people that serve there and the student team that we've invested in.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what happens.
SPEAKER_01: Some pastor told me when I was young in the ministry, he said, listen, Greg, you got to always remember, man, your people got to love folks down in the children's student ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Most important thing you can do is love folks.
SPEAKER_01: Because kids on their way to falling in love with Christ fall in love with the body of Christ first.
SPEAKER_01: Best way I know to explain why our testimony matters.
SPEAKER_01: Why it matters.
SPEAKER_01: Matters to the Lord and it needs to matter to us.
SPEAKER_01: And finally, the encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: God says, I know the plans that I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: Thus says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I will accomplish the Lord declares it.
SPEAKER_01: God always accomplishes what he plans.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came to bring salvation and Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: Salvation is real and God accomplished it.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, judgment is real and hell is real, and someone who is paying their own price for their sins will spend an eternity in hell judged by a holy God.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, that's why it's so important to understand God accomplishes his plans.
SPEAKER_01: He put them back in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: He sent Ezra and Nehemiah to restore, and he put his people back there as a promise so people would know.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus stepped out of that tomb and he conquered death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: And if he can conquer death and sin, he can sure conquer sin for all of eternity.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said in John 14, Do not let your hearts be troubled.
SPEAKER_01: I am going to prepare a place for you, and if I am going to do that, I will come again to receive you to myself.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is coming back because God promised it and he always accomplishes what he promised.
SPEAKER_01: Heaven is real.
SPEAKER_01: And if you know Jesus as your Savior and your sins have been paid for on the cross because you've trusted Christ as your Savior, you will spend an eternity in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why there is the book of Revelation in the end, so we will know that God will accomplish His plan.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody God's going to use to take the gospel to the River Valley.
SPEAKER_01: Because God loves people in the river valley, and Jesus died for people in the river valley to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: God is going to accomplish that through his people.
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
SPEAKER_01: I want to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: I want my identity to be attached to the advance of the gospel, and I want us to experience it.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we've been baptizing, and it's awesome, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: And we got more baptisms coming, and I'm excited about it.
SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
SPEAKER_01: There's a whole lot more people that don't know Jesus than we've baptized so far.
SPEAKER_01: And I believe that God will accomplish his plans.
SPEAKER_01: So let me ask you: do you know Christ as your Savior?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know and understand that yes, your sin must be punished, and God is serious about sin, but do you also know the grace of God that he has a plan for your life and he brought Jesus into the world to be the Savior so that you could be saved and you could step into the plan that he has for your life?
SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, in just a moment, I'm gonna pray, and then God's people are gonna stand and we're gonna sing an invitation hymn.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have pastors at the head of our aisles, somebody in the balcony.
SPEAKER_01: And if you need Jesus, I'm gonna ask you to come.
SPEAKER_01: If you are not a member of a Bible preaching, advancing the gospel church, we are that church, and I'm gonna ask you to come and join our church.
SPEAKER_01: Men at the head of these aisles know to help you do that.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, we don't have the privilege to be a sidelined believer, to be a Lone Ranger Christian, to be doing whatever we want to do.
SPEAKER_01: If you need Jesus, you need to be a part of a body.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of good Bible preaching bodies in our church.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, in our city, there are some great sister churches here.
SPEAKER_01: They are doing the same things we're doing.
SPEAKER_01: You need to pick one of them and be a part of it.
SPEAKER_01: But if God's brought you here, dig roots.
SPEAKER_01: Come be a part.
SPEAKER_00: Join us in the advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to chapter and first, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.