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Sunday Morning Sermon Summary 

 Plea Bargains (a study in Jeremiah)

(Part Seven) “No Excuses” Jeremiah 25:15-38
Pastor Paul Lundberg

Sunday, October 26, 2008

►#1  -  BLANK

►#2 – TITLE

►#3 – WINE CUP OF GOD’S WRATH

Jeremiah 25:15-38 - This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them."  So I took the cup from the Lord's hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it:  Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn and cursing, as they are today; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and all his people, and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); Edom, Moab and Ammon; all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who are in distant places; all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the desert; all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other — all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach will drink it too.

"Then tell them, 'This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword I will send among you.' But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: You must drink it! See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the earth, declares the Lord Almighty.' "Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them:"'The Lord will roar from on high; he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth. The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword,'" declares the Lord.  This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth." At that time those slain by the Lord will be everywhere — from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. Weep and wail, you shepherds; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For your time to be slaughtered has come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery. The shepherds will have nowhere to flee, the leaders of the flock no place to escape.  Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasture. The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the Lord.  Like a lion he will leave his lair, and their land will become desolate because of the sword of the oppressor and because of the Lord's fierce anger.

AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU CAME TO CHURCH THIS MORNING?

ME:  Parts of the scripture are really hard to get a hold of.  I don’t like this God. The worst kind of serial killer. If you think radical Islam is bad, get a load of this.  And this is just one of dozens of passages like this. Doesn’t the Bible say God is “slow to anger”? Doesn’t the Bible say “God is love”? 

WE:  What would you say to someone who read this and asked about it? Think about it: what’s good to say about a God like this?

The Bible is about God: What does a chapter like this tell you about Him?

►# 4 JESUS: Luke 19:42-44 "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

Revelation 6-14 makes this look like kids playing war in the backyard

►With God ►________ news is ►_____________ news!

►#8 THE WINE CUP OF REDEMPTION. God’s promise to HIS PEOPLE

Isaiah 51:21-22 Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine. This is what YOUR Sovereign Lord says, YOUR God, who defends his people: "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again.

►#9Matthew 26:38-39 Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may THIS CUP be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Jesus drank the Cup of God’s wrath so we could drink the Cup of Redemption

YOU:    What if?

►#10Rom 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

WE:     What now?

►#11 Israel learned that with the Lord on their side, Jerusalem couldn’t be destroyed.

With the Lord against them, Jerusalem couldn’t be defended! M. Minatrea

►#12 God reckoned with Jerusalem because it learned so much of the way of the nations

God reckoned with the nations because they learned so little of the way of Jerusalem. M Henry

Three kinds of people suffered God’s judgment.  God’s promise applied only to the remnant

         (How good, how much good you do won’t matter; All have sinned, wages of sin…)

►# 13 Illustration: WHAT IF YOU’RE WRONG?

►# 14 The more things change, the more they stay the same. Message of Jeremiah is relevant         

         ► “Nothing will change until we change what we care about”

         ► “What we can’t change, we can exchange (God will exchange)

         ► “God takes full responsibility for the life fully devoted to Him”

►#15  With God ALL NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

In all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose

► #16 BLANK

John 1:10-13 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…

Revelation 7:9-17

                After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."  All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!"

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes — who are they, and where did they come from?"  I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.  Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Legend:

Green: Mission and Vision
Blue: Illustrations and quotes
Red: Scripture

Note to the visitor:  These are Pastor Paul’s sermon notes from Sunday Morning.  They probably won’t make much sense if you weren’t in the service.  Feel free to contact Pastor Paul if you’d like more detailed information.
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