Hope in Disasters: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:00 Okay, we’re going to go to Jeremiah chapter 31 and 32, but we want you to understand and remember when these chapters were written. Okay? You remember a few lessons ago we showed you that Josiah was the last good king of Israel. All right, looks like Israel was going to avoid the captivity and everything, because Josiah really turned to God, got the nation to turn to God, reinstituted the feast and the things of God. But then his son came on the throne. How many of you had children that didn’t follow your ways? Jehoiakim came up. He reigned 11 years, and he burned the Scriptures, just burned them, and he did evil before God. He shed innocent blood. He committed abominations. Abominations is sexual immorality, homosexuality, idolatry, stealing, murder. In Proverbs 6:17, you remember, there’s seven things

▶ 1:01 that the Lord, it’s called abominations: a lying tongue, a proud look, hands that shed innocent blood, he that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift to running to do evil, a false witness that repeats lies and speaks lies, and he that sows division among the brethren, and there’s many others. Okay? And he committed them. He committed them all. All right, he had wars, there were famine, there were plagues, and the first captivity came at the end of his term. Then [unclear] arose, and he was king, made king by the king of Babylon, and he only lasted three months, but the Bible just summed him up and said he did evil like [unclear] did. Now it was in this condition that chapter 31 was written.

▶ 2:01 Hallelujah. I mean, we got serious calamity. America’s got calamities, but nothing this bad yet. So if Israel had hope, do we have hope? If Israel would have listened to Jeremiah, 31 and 32 could have saved them a lot of pain, and so can we. Hallelujah. Then we go down to Zedekiah. He reigned 11 years, and the second captivity came in the 11th year, and this time the king of Babylon destroyed and burned the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the temple. He imprisoned the preacher of righteousness, Jeremiah, and this is when Jeremiah 32 was written, okay, about 10 years later.

▶ 3:00 Now you got the picture. Things are really bad here, and the people keep being bad, they keep rejecting, and God keeps giving them hope. And this is what God says as we’re coming up. Remember, the false prophets are still prophesying falsely. How many of you know we got false prophets today, false teachers teaching their own doctrine? Temple leaders, the citizens, his own hometown tried to kill Jeremiah, tried to silence the Word of God. Everybody’s wanting to kill Jeremiah. The temple leaders tried to kill him, imprison him. And if you’re going to stand up for right, people are going to dislike you, and that’s one of the reasons we don’t stand up for right, is we don’t want people not liking us. Jeremiah 31:31: “The days come.” Here’s God talking in the midst of this, and watch, this is really simple.

▶ 4:00 It’s just plain, clear English. This is what God says: “I will make a new covenant,” a fresh covenant, a fresh contract, “with Israel and Judah.” A covenant is a contract. If I go to buy a house, I promise the lender that I will pay the payments, I promise the government that I will pay the taxes, and they let me buy that house, live in it. If I don’t pay the payments or I don’t pay the taxes, they kick me out. See, they do their part, I have to do my part. So this is God’s covenant, this is God’s contract, and this is God’s part. This is what God says, this is what I will do. Who will do it? God. Not the Pope, not Billy Graham, not Martin Luther, not [unclear].

▶ 4:55 God says, “I’ll do this.” And how many would rather have God than any preacher that we’ve ever heard? Yes. “I will put My law in their inward parts and in their heart.” The inward part is that third part of us, that spirit. All of us have a spirit within us, and He says He’s going to put His Word in that spiritual man, that spirit man that’s in you, and in your mind: “I’ll put My law, I’ll put My Word in there.” And if He doesn’t, you don’t know nothing. Can I hear an amen? And He says, “I’ll do this.” I’ll do this next: “All shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.” All shall know Me. All right, as we’ve taught you before, the Bible says in John 17:3 that this is eternal life, that they may know God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. Have a relationship with Him, a personal relationship.

▶ 6:01 All right, a personal encounter. But not only that, it says in First John that we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. See, all will know Me, all will keep My commandments, all will have a relationship with Me. Hallelujah, that’s powerful. From the least to the greatest, no matter how little you think you are, no matter how puny of a Christian you think you are, God says you’ll know Me, and you’ll keep My Word, to the greatest. Hallelujah. That’s your promise. Can God lie? No. All right, next: “I will forgive your iniquity,” your immoral, immorality I should say, and the punishment for immorality. You see, I will forgive it. The breaking of moral laws comes with a punishment. He said, “I’ll forgive it, I’ll render it zero, I’ll look at it like it never happened, and I will remember your sin no more.” And if God forgets our sin, shouldn’t we? Yeah, you got to. If God forgives us, shouldn’t we forgive ourselves? Yes. If God erases the sin and doesn’t bring it up again, shouldn’t we? Yeah. Hallelujah. Very powerful, very powerful.

▶ 7:39 “I will be to them,” now Hebrews 8 repeats this in the New Testament, repeats it word by word, but adds this: “I will be to them a God of supernatural power, and they shall be My people.” Who needs a supernatural power? Hallelujah. I’ll do things that humans can’t do, “and they who come into covenant with Me, they will be My people.” Well, I like that. If God before us, who can stand against us? Amen. God’s on my side, even when I’m the least. Even when I’m the least, He’s on my side. He’s not going to keep me, the flea on the dog. Jeremiah 32:9: “I will give them one heart and one way.” One heart, one way. We got all these denominational Protestant churches and everybody thinks their little camp is the best.

▶ 8:54 That Paul plainly says there is one Lord, one Savior, one body, one baptism, one church. Amen. We got to get rid of these tags, and all of us have to line up to that. God, putting a name on your church building and saying, “Well, we believe this,” doesn’t count. All of us have the responsibility to line up to Him. I don’t care what the tag is out on your church. And He says, “I’m going to do that.” Do we need this one answered in America? Amen, and throughout the world, “that they may fear Me forever.” For how long? Forever. What is the fear of the Lord? Depart from evil and hate evil. That’s the Bible definition of the fear of the Lord. He said, “I will give you one heart and one way.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He is the way. No man comes to the Father but by Me. All right, and He says, “I’ll do this so that you fear Me, you hate evil, and you depart from evil, and I’ll do this for the good of them and their children.”

▶ 10:18 See, the whole thing is to do you good. And the reason God wants to do you good is because the world looks at success. They measure everything by success. And so if God can get you to obey His covenant, He’s going to make you good. He’s going to bless your finances, bless your health, He’s going to bless your life. Why? Because He wants to get the attention of your neighbor, that they see it pays to what? Serve God. Now, “I will make an everlasting covenant with them.” So is there another covenant coming after this one? No. This is the what? Everlasting. There was the Adamic covenant, God’s covenant with Adam. There was the Noah covenant, God’s covenant with Noah. There was the David covenant, God’s covenant with David. There was the Moses covenant, God’s covenant with His people Israel. And now He says, “I’m going to bring in the last covenant, and it’s going to be forever.” So there ain’t no other covenant coming. This is it, and this is a good one. We don’t need another one. See that? “I will not turn away from them.” Man, that is so encouraging. How many of you ever just really messed up, to where you thought God didn’t hear you anymore, didn’t even like you anymore? Yeah. Well, the covenant says He will what? Not turn away from you, even in your despair, even in your stupidity and your rebellion. He’s going to be drawing you back to Him to

▶ 12:07 bless you and do you good. And if you are like the prodigal son and you wake up in the pigpen, just remember what the father said. That’s what the prodigal son did. He remembered what the father said. He remembered what the house of the father was, and he went back to the house, back to the father, and the father restored it. And that’s exactly what God said He would do in this covenant. So never let Satan or people around you talk you into giving up. God is for you. And again, He won’t turn away from you, because He wants to do you good. “I will put My fear in their hearts.” There it is again: My fear in their hearts, I’ll do it. “And they shall not depart from Me.” You know, from the day I got saved, backsliding and going back to the world was never even a temptation with me, because I really met God, I really had a born again experience. “They shall not depart from Me.” Wow, I love it.

▶ 13:17 See, nothing can separate us, Paul said, from the love of God which is in Christ. Nothing: principalities or powers, things to come, things behind, things here present, nothing. Jeremiah 32:39: “I will rejoice over them to do them good.” Here’s that word “good” again. That’s three times God’s out to do you good. Don’t you listen to this world, because God does you good. “I will plant them in this land.” His kingdom, His kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. His kingdom is what we enter into, and He said He will plant us. “Like as I have brought this great evil upon these people.” See, God corrected them. God brought, or allowed Satan to come and plague them with plagues, and the king of Babylon to conquer them in war. You see, famine, He allowed the famine to happen, because if He didn’t allow it, Satan can’t do anything, and nations can’t do anything. He’s the Lord of it all.

▶ 14:26 “So will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised.” There’s that word “good” again. That’s four times. Is God wanting to do you good? Yeah, we get the hint. Following Him, you will wind up with a good life, I guarantee you. God will come and correct us, and God will allow your sins and your rebellion to bring corrections in your life. The Bible says their sin will correct them. Sin has a punishment, sin has a correction. You see, but He says if I do that, I will also what? Bring all the good upon them. All they got to do is get back to My covenant and I will forget all of that stuff and bless them again. Now that’s powerful, and it’s very clear, very clear. As you see the development of a butterfly here, is our part. This is our part, this is what we got to do. People say, “Not by works.” I’m sorry, not by works of the ceremonial shadow laws of the Bible, but you’ve got to apply the spiritual laws to get the spiritual answers. Are you with me?

▶ 15:48 So this is what you got to do. This is what you got to put an effort in. Mark chapter 1:15: “Repent.” See, repent: turn from your evil ways, adultery, stealing, and turn to right ways. You got to turn, you got to leave sin behind, the drugs, all that stuff that Satan puts out there to try to lure you. You got to turn from it and “believe the gospel.” So you got to put your trust in the gospel. These astronauts that went into space to go to the moon, they had to trust that spaceship, the engineers that built it, the mechanics that put it together, the architects that drew it, and the scientists that studied all the laws that hindered them from getting into space and how to overcome. They had to trust them, and they didn’t know if it would work or not, and that’s the way it is here. You got to trust God. You got to put your life on the line. You got to trust Him, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

▶ 17:08 Luke 13:5 says, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Doesn’t say except you get baptized, doesn’t say except you witness. It doesn’t say that. It says except you what? Repent. You turn. See, and then also, “He that believes not shall be destroyed.” You see, so our trust has to be in Jesus, not a church, not a pastor, not our own opinions, and we’ve got to turn from our sins. Number two, 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So I have to admit I was wrong. I have to admit that the things I was doing were wrong. I have to admit it with my mouth: “Lord, I’m wrong in this adultery, I’m wrong in homosexuality, I’m wrong in stealing, I’m wrong in lying.” You see, then He is faithful to forgive, and not only forgive, but wash it off, cleanse me of the contamination.

▶ 18:28 Now number three, Romans 10:9. You can’t just confess your sin, you also have to confess the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks, I tell you, Muhammad does nothing for anybody, Buddha does nothing for anybody. So you got to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ. How many can say, “Jesus Christ is my Lord”? Let’s say it: Jesus Christ is my Lord. See, you got to say that. Not Buddha, not Muhammad, not Allah. The name is what? Jesus. Don’t you believe that nonsense that Allah is just another name for God. No. The Bible plainly tells us His name is who? Jesus Christ, and that’s the name you’ve got to confess. You got to speak it and give Him credit for you, and then the power comes, it works. Believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, so His death, burial, and resurrection took my sin and gave me a new life. That’s what he’s saying. Jesus Christ died for me, rose again. My old man of sin is dead. I come out of the water a new creature in Christ. You will be saved: delivered from sin, delivered from the lake of fire, and delivered from the kingdom of darkness.

▶ 19:47 John 1:12: “As many as receive Him, to them gave He power,” supernatural ability, “to become the sons of God.” Isn’t that what it said in Jeremiah, that God will do this stuff? Huh? “I will put My Word in their heart. I will put My fear in them.” Ain’t that right? I will do this. “As many as receive Him.” Accept Christ, you see, and that’s what we got to do. We cannot only confess our sins and confess Jesus, but then we have to say, “Jesus, come and live in my life.” The Bible says we are the temple of God. “Jesus, come in. I accept You. I am Your kingdom. Come in, King, and rule in my life.” As many as accept Him and receive Him, “to them gave He power.” He gives us power to become the sons of God. The Bible says in First John that the sons of God obey His Word. See, “to them gave He power” to obey His Word, to them that trust Him. Say, when you put your trust in Christ, He will get you into orbit, get you into the heavenlies. He’s the engineer, He’s the architect,

▶ 21:01 He’s the mechanic, He’s the power, He’s the fuel, He’s everything to rocket us into the heavenly places. Now number five, 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We all,” how many of us all? All of us, “behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord.” That’s the Word of God. We see in the Word of God the glory, the honor that God, Jesus Christ has. “We are changed,” metamorphosed. From one being to another we are changed. You see, from one kind of creation to another kind of creation, just like this butterfly. Into the what image? Same image, His image. I don’t care how good my pastor is, I don’t care how good the megachurch minister is, I don’t care how good the Pope is, it’s not him that I want to imitate. My Bible tells me God will empower me to be like Jesus in character.

▶ 22:10 Now, amen. And isn’t that what we need, the character of God? Yes. “From glory to glory.” So it’s going to be in stages, isn’t it? I’m not going to be zapped. Hallelujah, I’m mature. Hallelujah, glory to God. That’s what us old Pentecostals used to think. “Boy, we get the Holy Ghost, come up, feel that, hallelujah, man, I’m just totally, I’m totally mature now.” No, no, no. You go from what? Glory to glory, honor to honor. You see, the Bible says we go from faith to faith. Your faith starts out little, but your faith, your persuasion in God and His Word, grows. And the Bible says we go from salvation to salvation. You can’t forget this stuff. He delivers you from this thing, then He delivers you from another thing, then He delivers you from another thing. So don’t get down on yourself while He’s delivering you in one thing and you still got a problem in another area. Are you with me? And so we have

▶ 23:25 metamorphosis, the changing from the egg to the cocoon to the beautiful butterfly that lays the egg, and it starts all over again. Hallelujah. And this is the message the American church has got to get. We can’t be satisfied with staying where we’re at when God has given us a covenant to make us like Himself and to do us good. 1 John 2:12 and 14 plainly lays it out to us. Babies. See, he talks about the babies: “Your sins are forgiven.” He tells us who babies are: your sins are forgiven. That’s it. And my sins are forgiven. They may have still, and most of them do have, habitual sin still in their life. See, this is the egg to the caterpillar.

▶ 24:30 That caterpillar comes out and eats the egg. It goes back, turns back. You’ll see him, if you had have seen it, he crawled out and then he went back to that egg, that old life, and he partook of it. And this is what baby Christians do. They have habitual sins still in their life, and so that’s babies. So babies, when they’re making mistakes, church, understand what stage they’re in and keep feeding them, keep nourishing them, so they overcome these things. Amen. They grow. And then you got Christians that are 15 years old and claim to be mature, and they have habitual sins. How many of you know that’s not maturity at all? That is still baby level. They haven’t grown up. Remember, it only took three years for the tree in the Bible to produce fruit. This isn’t, you know, a lifetime thing. God said He would do a quick work.

▶ 25:38 Number two, children. He mentions the children. He says, “Children, you know the Father.” See, you know the Father. “All shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.” They don’t know the Father yet. These know the Father. They’re delivered from sin now, but not from bad doctrines. “Be children no longer, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.” It’s the doctrines that children get tripped up on. They may not be committing adultery and stealing and doing bad things, but their doctrine is really lacking. See, you see, they may not embrace the doctrine. “They that are planted in the house of the Lord.” Assemble yourself together, even the more so as you see the day approaching. “Where two or three are gathered together, I will be in the midst,” and when He’s in the midst, He builds, and He does things. And so, you know, they don’t know doctrine, they do stupid things, they haven’t made Jesus Lord of their life yet. They’re still running their life, they don’t read their Bible. They’re children.

▶ 26:55 And then he says, “I speak to you young men. You have overcome the wicked one. The Word abides in you, and you are strong.” See, these guys have conquered the doctrines, got back to the apostles’ doctrines, got back to following and obeying those doctrines, applying those doctrines, and they are strong, and they have overcome the wicked one. See, the Word is how you overcome the wicked one, and so they are strong. So this is the cocoon stage. This is the better-looking caterpillar stage. This is the ugly caterpillar stage, you wonder if they’re even saved. And then you got the cocoon, you see something is working inside of them. Hallelujah. Didn’t Paul say, “Was strengthened with might in the inner man”? And see, you can identify where you’re at today. Are you still a baby Christian, you know, because you got habitual sin in your life? You need to grow. Don’t know the doctrines of Christ, believe in false doctrines, believe in your own doctrines, you’re just a child.

▶ 28:27 You know the Bible and you overcome the wicked one. He can’t tempt you, test you, lead you astray. You’re just immune to it now. Satan is no problem. He just, “Get away from me, Satan. Get back. Get back off.” Not even a struggle for you. See, something’s going on inside of you, deep inside of you. See, that’s God working His work in you. And then the fathers. You see, fathers, you know Him. That’s Jesus from the beginning. You see, now they know God is Jesus. Now they know that Jesus was there at the beginning, to the end of the Bible, and they love Jesus, and they can birth others. See, fathers can birth others through Christ’s gospel. Children can’t birth. See, the father is married. The Bible says that Jesus is our Savior. That’s what babies rely on. But the Bible also says that He’s your Lord. See, are you there? He also says He is your rabbi, your teacher. These guys need to be taught the Word of God. Am I getting this across to you?

▶ 29:54 See, too many people rely on the Savior stage. The Savior stage is the stage we got to go through. The caterpillar had to be hatched from the egg. It had to be done, but that wasn’t the goal. What was the goal of the egg? A beautiful butterfly. And so we got to have Jesus the rabbi, Jesus the teacher, and then Jesus the Lord. And these young men made Him Lord, so they studied the Word, they took time out for God, they did what God said to do, and they overcame the wicked one. They overcame the world, you see, by the Word of God, and a work was going on in them, transferring them to young adulthood, to fatherhood, into the image of Christ.

▶ 30:43 Fathers, you know Him, and you can birth others. And this is the image: they birth people in the image of Christ. They make beautiful Christians out of non-believers, out of baby Christians, out of children. They nourish them and they bring them into the image of Christ. Isn’t that powerful? Hallelujah. And that’s the covenant. That’s it, it’s that simple. Most Christians cannot tell me the covenant. Over 90% of them, if I ask them what is the new covenant, they have no idea. How can you live in something that you don’t have knowledge of? How can you inherit things that you have no knowledge of? How can you just be satisfied with just being a saved Christian and not know the promise of the covenant that God promised to you, if you would do these simple things: turn from your sin, confess your sin, put your trust in Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, confessing Him as Lord, accept Him in your life? Then He said, “I will do all these things.”