The Plowman

The Horror of Godless Religion [ 35:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1365)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, September 30, 2007, and was taken from Jeremiah 7:30-8:8.

“For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste. “At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts. (ESV)

The passage before us records what may well mark the low point in the book of Jeremiah. When you presume upon God’s grace (from last week’s message), how does it impact the rest of your life. The wicked culture of the day had greatly influenced the nation of Judah. God doesn’t go after the surrounding pagan culture, but his own people, Judah.

Jeremiah’s sermon on the Valley of Slaughter displays the absolute horror of godless religion. And Jeremiah was preaching to Judah, not to the neighboring pagan nations.

Note three things about this passage:

1. The presence of an unconscionable evil (vs. 30-31).
   1. The nation of Judah was hedging its bets by including other gods in its worship, by bringing idols into the temple. They added the gods of the nations around them, just in case there might be some benefit. The only problem with this is that to trust in God plus anything else is not to trust in God at all.
   2. Judah was sacrificing their own children to pagan gods by throwing them into the fire. This was forbidden in Leviticus 18:21. Abortion is an obvious parallel in our culture today. Another lesson would be how you raise your children. Are you sacrificing for them, or you sacrificing them for your own desires?
2. God is coming in judgment on account of this unconscionable evil vs. 32-8:3).
3. All that remains is a graceless pit. This valley shall be known in the future as the Valley of Slaughter. This sermon ends with absolutely no relief, no offer of hope in the gospel. Why? Because there is no gospel preached in hell, only judgment.

While there is life there is hope. The gospel is still preached.

Resting In, Or Presuming Upon? [ 34:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1513)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, September 23, 2007, and was taken from Jeremiah 7:16-29.

One of the most precious doctrine of the Christian faith is eternal security, or perseverance of the saints. It is also one of the most abused doctrine of our faith, sometimes called “once saved, always saved.” The difference between perseverance and presumption is the difference between heaven and hell.

While resting in God’s grace is a precious reality, to presume upon God’s grace is deadly deception, leading to destruction.

1. There is this startling, terrifying command in verse 16: “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. (Jeremiah 7:16, ESV) Thank God, that those of us who are children of God have an advocate with God, in the person of Jesus Christ. We should tell the unrepentant there is hope when they flee in repentance to Jesus, but we should not give an unrepentant sinner any hope of assurance, because there seems to be evidence to the contrary.

2. There is a devastating critique, beginning in verse 17: Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.” (Jeremiah 7:17-20, ESV)
A. perv of worship
B. God has given them over to their complete lack of obedience.
C. Because of their stubborn refusal to acknowledge they are wrong
3. There is only left for God to announce a fixed and final judgment in verses 27-29: “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. “ ‘Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.’ (Jeremiah 7:27-29)

There is hope in Christ, in that, while there is life we can say to sinners “Flee to Christ.” If the truth of this message disturbs you in any way, rejoice and flee to Christ. There is hope.

I Didn't Go to Church for That [ 37:32 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1549)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, September 16, 2007, and was taken from Jeremiah 7:1:15.

Chapter seven is Jeremiah’s temple sermon. In a time of great upheaval and uncertainty God sends Jeremiah to preach this sermon at the gates of the temple. Any time God speaks to us, it’s a good thing, even when it is a message of judgment, because God always gives his people what they need. This sermon can be summed up in one sentence: If you change your ways, I’ll let you live here. If you don’t, I will cast you out of my sight (vs. 3, 15).

One of the precious doctrines of our faith is the immutability of God. God does not change. We like that when we talk about his grace. But we must not loose sight of the fact that there are two sides of the coin. This same immutable God also rained down fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

1. God righteously confronts sin wherever he finds it (v. 3).
Identification with the people of God is not a license to sin. Reformation and revival always begin with the people of God. Notice that Jeremiah was preaching in the gates to the temple, blocking the way, strongly implying

2. Elaborate devotions to the outward trappings of religion is no substitution to a living faith. These people were doing everything right, by outward appearances, but God confronted them.
a. They substituted silly superstition for a true and living faith (v. 4). Today we are just as bad, for we trust in the fact that our name is on a church roll somewhere, or are trusting in an experience.
b. They simply refused to walk in obedience to God’s commands (v. 5). In the verses that follow, God gives the people a laundry list of their sin. In the midst of all of this they continued to go to temple regularly, as if nothing was wrong.
3. Persistent, stubborn evil carries devastating consequences (v. 12).

We need this kind of message from time to time, because it is very easy for us to presume upon the grace of God. Closing comfort: Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. We have one who prays for us at God’s right hand, and God does not say “Do not pray for that one.”

But I Thought Grace Was Infinite? [ 39:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1526)

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, September 9, 2007, and was taken from Jeremiah 6:16-30.

You are certain something is in the Book, but you just don’t know where it is. It has to be there, so you check a concordance. It’s not there, so you ask the pastor, and he’s no help. You finally realize that it is not in the Bible, but it is in the hymnal. More often than not our hymnody shapes our theology more than Scripture.

A good example is found in the question “Is God’s grace infinite?” A hymn may say that it is, but God’s word does not. The third stanza of “Grace Greater Than All Our Sins” (329 in the Baptist Hymnal) begins with “Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace…” God indeed suffers long, but not forever.That was Jeremiah’s message to Judah.

God’s offer of grace and mercy does not override his declaration of divine judgment on sin and unrighteousness. Yes, God is loving, but he is also full of wrath. In the end, God’s righteousness will not be overruled.

1. God in grace continues to offer mercy and grace to a stubborn and prideful people. Verse 16 proclaims the Gospel, and it is our only hope. God gives the people both a promise and a pathway to peace. Even though he has announced his coming judgment in verse 15, he declares there is a path to peace and forgiveness in verse 16. What does it mean to walk in the “ancient paths”? It certainly doesn’t mean to return a pattern of former days. It means to go back and order ones live according to the will of God. We are called to walk in obedience to Jesus. It is the only hope for arrogant, prideful sinners. What happens if we neglect this offer?
2. In verse 17-20 the rejection of Gods gracious offer invites the full force of God’s burning wrath. We haven’t preached the gospel until we proclaim both sides. God’s grace does not cancel out his fierce wrath. Our God is a consuming fire. What happens as a result of their rejection? What does the judgment of God look like when it comes in full force?
   1. Their rejection guaranteed their doom (vs. 17-19, 21-23).
   2. Their rejection corrupted their worship (v. 20).
   3. Their ultimate rejection unmistakably revealed the wickedness of their heart (v. 27).

Jesus hung on the cross to vindicate God’s wrath for us. There is hope and peace in Christ, but if we reject God’s salvation, there is no hope left. There is only God’s wrath.