Worship service 12/21/25.
Greetings and call to worship.
Greetings and good morning, saints and fellow Christians. Grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you abundantly through the love of the Father and the gift of the Son of God Jesus Christ. We come before Him once more to worship Him on His holy Sabbath day, which He hath appointed for our salvation and learning, that we might be sanctified by the word, and increased in grace by His Spirit. Col. 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Let us come before Him with joy and singing, for that He hath delivered us from so great a death and so great a destruction and is worthy of our hearts and lives. A Puritan minister writes,
“call the Sabbath a delight.’ Call it a delight, that is, esteem it so. Though the Sabbath be not a day for carnal pleasure, yet holy pleasure is not forbidden. The soul must take pleasure in the duties of a Sabbath. The saints of old counted the Sabbath a delight: the Jews called the Sabbath dies lucis, a day of light. The Lord’s day, on which the Sun of Righteousness shines, is both a day of light and delight. This is the day of sweet intercourse between God and the soul. On this day a Christian makes his sallies out to heaven; his soul is lifted above the earth; and can this be without delight? The higher the bird flies, the sweeter it sings. On the Sabbath the soul fixes its love on God; and where love is, there is delight. On this day the believer’s heart is melted, quickened, and enlarged in holy duties; and how can all this be, and not a secret delight go along with it? On a Sabbath a gracious soul can say, ‘I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.’ Cant 2: 3. How can a spiritual heart choose but call the Sabbath a delight? Is it not delightful to a queen to be putting on her wedding robes in which she shall meet the king her bridegroom? When we are about Sabbath exercises, we are dressing ourselves, and putting on our wedding robes in which we are to meet our heavenly bridegroom the Lord Jesus; and is not this delightful? On the Sabbath God makes a feast of fat things; he feasts the ear with his word, and the heart with his grace. Well then may we call the Sabbath a delight. To find this holy delight, is to ‘be in the Spirit on the Lord’s-day.’
Prayer unto the public reading of the Holy Scripture:
Our holy and righteous Father,
Full of all glory, justice, and righteousness,
Merciful and faithful—The Covenant God who will by no means clear the guilty, taking vengeance on them that follow after other gods, yet showing mercy to thousands that love thee with the whole heart and keep thy commandments:
We come before thee solemnly and sincerely, as those whom thou hast elected from before the creation of all worlds and purchased by the precious blood of thy Son, called out of darkness and brought into the fellowship of the gospel and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We bow in all reverence before thy throne, knowing the severity of thy law, the holy requirements of the gospel, as well as our own vileness and unworthiness to draw so near unto thee.
We freely confess, O Lord, that apart from the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are denied access to the covenant promises, are under the wrath and curse of God, and must be cast from thy presence as an abominable thing. Moreover, we confess that without faith in the Mediator, consent to sound doctrine and a repentant heart, endeavouring to walk evenly and zealously for thee, which is the gracious work of the Spirit, we have no evidence of fellowship with thee. For we are by nature guilty and polluted, unable of ourselves to repent or return, and altogether unfit to render thee any service that is not defiled by sin. Therefore, do we confess our utter dependence on the Father’s love, the Son’s righteousness and the Spirit’s work in our hearts. We believe that thou art our God, and the rewarder of them that diligently seek thy face. Therefore, inasmuch as we are convinced of our sin in Adam and the redemption in Jesus Christ alone, we cry out to thee for mercy: For pardoning mercy to cover our iniquities, And sanctifying mercy to make us meet for thy presence. Hear our prayers, deliver us from all trouble, cleanse us by the blood of Christ and the washing of the Spirit by the word. Sanctify us by the truth of thy word. Defend us from all evil, Strengthen our faith, subdue the lusts of the flesh that swell within us, And enable us to perform this holy service, Not in our own strength, But in the virtue which thou dost supply of thine own free goodness. And now, O Lord, as we come to the reading of thy holy word, we pray for a special blessing upon this portion of Scripture, that it may be effectual to build up thy holy church, which thou hast called thy special possession, and thy little flock. Open our hearts to receive it with meekness; Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and cause us by thy grace to live by it; And may the same Spirit who breathed life into the church in all ages; the fathers, apostles and prophets, the reformers and Puritans, so guide our whole lives, That we may grow up in Him in all things, even He who is the Bridegroom and Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, our Prophet, Priest and King. All this we ask in his most worthy name, Amen.
Devotional and doctrinal exposition on the Psalms:
Psalm 27 [11] (Verse 4): 1 David maketh this Psalm being delivered from great perils, as appeareth by the praises and thanksgiving annexed: 6 Wherein we may see the constant faith of David against the assaults of all his enemies. 7 And also the end wherefore he desireth to live and to be delivered, only to worship God in his Congregation.
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I request; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When thou saidst, seek ye my face; my heart answered unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
9 Hide not therefore thy face from me; nor cast thy servant away in displeasure: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 Though my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a right path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as speak cruelly.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
Exposition:
We saw previously the sincerity and truth required in the heart when approaching the Lord in His holy temple—for God does not receive the sacrifice of the hypocrite. As it is written: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?” and again, “I will not accept an offering at your hand.” And again: “What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.” These solemn words reveal the kind of spirit David possessed, for his enquiry of the Lord was marked by uprightness. All who would draw near and plead their cause before God must be cleansed from wickedness. They must be righteous before Him—walking in all His commandments and ordinances blamelessly, as it is said of Zacharias and Elisabeth (Luke 1:6).
Moreover, their doctrine must be consistent with the plain teaching of Scripture, and their lives ordered by the word of God. This is the necessary frame of those who would truly behold the beauty of the Lord in His temple.
We must further observe that to enquire of the Lord is to do so in the appointed way—in His temple. David does not presume that God will bless his private meditations or receive his personal devotions as sufficient. These may indeed be fruits of true religion, but they are not the root of it, nor are they the appointed means of grace. For the Scripture saith: “Blessed is the man… whose delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.” And again: “My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.” And again: “When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.”
Such meditations are noble effects of grace—but they are not the means by which grace is conveyed. These are the high and holy workings of God within us, wrought by the operation of the Spirit through His word. For it is by the word that we are sanctified, and by the word that we are saved, as it is written: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” And again: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” And again: “Being born again… by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” And again: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
David understood this. Therefore, he did not rest content with private devotion, but longed to behold the beauty of the Lord in the sanctuary. As the Psalmist elsewhere declares: “When I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end.” It is through the public preaching of the word that grace is increased in us and our hearts are stirred to holy meditation.
Among the fruits of such grace is the desire to worship God according to His ordinances—publicly, in the sanctuary, on His holy day. The Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath. This, David would not forsake, but desired above all else.
Opening Prayer.
Our merciful and faithful Father in heaven,
The righteous Lord and sovereign King over all the earth,
Thou who with thy right hand smote the nations and they were destroyed,
Thou raised up Assyria and Babylon to be rods of thy anger against thy people,
And destroyed them in thy wrath for their idolatry and cruelty.
Therefore we believe and know that thou art very kind and compassionate towards the sheep of thy pasture, surely we may forget in weakness, but thou wilt never forget us.
Let our eyes gush with water if we should depart from thy ways. Let us smite upon the thighs and be ashamed, and let us return again to thee in true faith. Turn us to thyself, and we will be turned, O Lord God of Hosts. Correct us in judgment and in measure, not in thine anger, lest thou bring us to nothing. Deliver us from the enemy for they are cruel and they hate us and would destroy us. But thou art our strength. We look not for salvation from the hills, or from idols or carnal things, but we look to thee for help. Save us for thy mercies sake and deliver us from all evil. Guide us through the valley of the shadow of death and cause us to fear thy name, and not the rage of our enemies. Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not and upon them who would trample the poor. But have mercy upon us for thy name’s sake for we are thine. Thou art our God and we are thy people, O Lord. We pray for salvation and mercy only through the Mediator of the covenant of grace, Jesus Christ. Our King and blessed Savior. Amen.
Lesson 63. [1.2.37.] The Contents of Holy Scripture: The Prophets. Jeremiah. Part 2.
Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2.
Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments,
Genesis—Isaiah, Jeremiah.
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.
Intro.
I. Jeremiah and our Confession of Faith.
1. The weeping prophet against a foolish nation that has no relish for spiritual mysteries. (since the WCF is hardly ever referenced as authority, even in Presbyterian churches.)
2. The authority of the Reformers to speak the word of the Lord.
Jer. 7:13 — “I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not.”
Jer. 25:4–7 — “The LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them… Yet ye have not hearkened.”
Jer. 23:28–29 — “He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully… Is not my word like a fire? saith the LORD.”
3. The breaking of the covenant and national rebellion against sound doctrine. Jer. 11:1-14
4. The heresies of the nation and turning from the God of the covenant. Jer. 23:9-40
5. England’s glory turned to shame and America as her cursed progeny. Jer. 2.
6. Israel rebuked for clinging to the name of the ordinances without the substance, so how much more the nations that don’t have the ordinances? Jer. 7
7. The rarity of true faith even among those who possess the ordinances. Jer. 5:1-5
8. Who is a Jew? Jer. 22. Royal privilege despised. The result of rebellion is destruction. Moral uprightness is the sign of God’s people. Rom. 2:26-29
II. Christ in the book of Jeremiah.
9. Jeremiah as a persecuted prophet.
Jeremiah is called, consecrated, and sent by the LORD (Jer. 1:5), yet his ministry is marked almost immediately by rejection:
Priests oppose him (Jer. 26:8)
Prophets mock him (Jer. 28)
Kings imprison him (Jer. 37–38)
The people seek his death (Jer. 26:11)
This anticipates Jesus Christ, who is likewise:
Rejected by the priests
Contradicted by false teachers
Condemned by rulers
Delivered up by His own people
The opposition is not accidental. In both cases, it is hostility to the Word of God, not merely malice towards the man.
“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?”
(Acts 7:52)
Jeremiah answers that question long before Stephen asks it.
10. The LORD is our righteousness. We have rebelled. He alone is righteous.
11. The LORD teaches his people righteousness through the prophets. Jer. 23.
12. Christ is the fulfillment of the Davidic line of Kings. The reigns of Jehoiakim, Coniah, and Zedekiah end in wretched failure. Christ is the Son of David sent to rule God’s people in righteousness. Luke 1:31-33
13. The LORD will bring us into conformity to the doctrine of Christ. For He is the way, the truth and the life. Jer. 32:37-42
Introduction to Jeremiah.
“Inasmuch as the Lord our God, in His rich and abundant mercy, hath been pleased from the beginning to send His servants the prophets for our instruction, admonition, and consolation (WCF 1.1; 7.5; 25.3), so their message and their very affections are ordered by God, in agreement with His own revealed word. For as Jeremiah is rightly called the weeping prophet, whose lamenting denunciations fill both his prophecy and the book of Lamentations, so we behold in him the proper frame of spirit in every true minister of the gospel—sorrow for sin, zeal for God’s honour, and grief over a rebellious people that have broken covenant with their Maker. ‘Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears’ (Jer. 9:1).
And shall the men of this nation claim reprieve because they have never been exposed to the true gospel or the worship of God in its purity? Shall ignorance be their shield in the day of visitation? Nay, but. ‘This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light’ (John 3:19). For though they now bow to the Roman harlot, to Pentecostal frenzy, or to Baptist free-will superstition, yet ‘the times of ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent’ (Acts 17:30). Their ignorance is inherited apostasy, not accepted innocence.
For their fathers rejected the word of the Lord and walked after vanities, and carried their vain traditions into this new land, defiling a fruitful country with a false gospel. As Israel brought her idols into the good land and provoked the Holy One of Israel “And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.” (Jer. 2:7), so hath America done—England’s shame being passed down to her treacherous offspring. And if the root be corrupted, the branches cannot be clean. Therefore the word of the Lord is against her, and against her rulers, and against her false prophets, and against her people (Jer. 23:1–2; Jer. 23:30–32).
For covenant-breaking nations will be punished according to covenant curses (Lev. 26, Deut. 28; Jer. 11:7–11), and the peoples that reject the truth of God’s word are and will be ‘given over to strong delusion’ (2 Thess. 2:11). Thus the wrath of the Lord shall not be light upon them but heavy—so heavy that it shall crush and grind them to powder (Matt. 21:44), for ‘unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required’ (Luke 12:48). And the gospel their fathers have despised shall rise up in judgment against them in the last day.”
THE STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH
Jeremiah is the longest prophetic book in the canon when measured by Hebrew word-count. Its structure is not strictly chronological; but theological, covenantal, and judicial. The Spirit has ordered the oracles according to themes of indictment, warning, judgment, and promised restoration.
The book divides naturally into the following sections:
I. Jeremiah 1 — The Call and Ordination of the Prophet
1. The divine claim upon the prophet:
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:5)
2. Jeremiah’s weakness and God’s sufficiency:
“Say not, I am a child… be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee.” (1:7–8)
3. The nature of the prophetic office:
“Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” (1:9)
He speaks not his own mind but the covenant of God.
4. The prophet set over nations:
“To root out, and to pull down… to build, and to plant.” (1:10)
A judicial ministry: destructive to wickedness; restorative to the remnant.
II. Jeremiah 2–6 — The First Great Oracles of Indictment
1. Israel’s covenant infidelity declared:
“I remember thee… the kindness of thy youth… But my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters…” (2:2, 13)
2. A judicial record of idolatry, spiritual adultery, and national corruption:
“As a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me…” (3:20)
3. The call to repentance and the promise to the remnant:
“Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” (3:22)
4. The certainty of judgment:
“I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.” (4:6)
A theme repeated throughout the book: judgment raised by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
5. The depravity and moral inability of the nation:
“O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness… How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” (4:14)
“They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” (4:22)
III. Jeremiah 7–10 — The Temple Sermon and the Hypocrisy of Formal Religion
1. The false security of outward ordinances:
“Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD…” (7:4)
2. God rejects all worship devoid of righteousness:
“Will ye steal, murder… and come and stand before me… and say, We are delivered?” (7:9–10)
3. Shiloh as precedent of judgment:
“Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh… and see what I did to it.” (7:12)
A warning to those who trust in names rather than substance.
4. The idols of the nations contrasted with the true God:
“Their idols are… the work of men’s hands… they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.” (10:5)
“But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king.” (10:10)
IV. Jeremiah 11–20 — The Broken Covenant
1. The covenant lawsuit:
“Hear ye the words of this covenant… Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant.” (11:2–3)
2. Judah’s conspiracy and rebellion:
“A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah.” (11:9)
3. Jeremiah’s sufferings:
Plots of his own town (Anathoth):
“We will destroy the tree with the fruit thereof.” (11:19)
4. The burning compulsion of the prophetic word:
“His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones… I could not stay.” (20:9)
5. Laments of Jeremiah:
Chapters 12, 15, 17, 18, 20 record his inward wrestling; a picture of the godly minister’s soul under persecution.
V. Jeremiah 21–29 — The Siege, the False Prophets, and Letters to the Captives
1. Judgment on Zedekiah:
“I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good.” (21:10)
2. The sword against the kings of Judah (chs. 22–23):
A sequence of condemnations: Shallum, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.
3. Condemnation of false prophets:
“I sent them not, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied.” (23:21)
4. The promise of the righteous Branch:
“Behold, the days come… that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch… and this is his name… THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (23:5–6)
5. The letter to the exiles (ch. 29):
“Build ye houses… seek the peace of the city… after seventy years be accomplished… I will visit you.” (29:5–10)
VI. Jeremiah 30–33 — The Book of Consolation (Restoration and the New Covenant)
The theological heart of the book.
1. Restoration of Israel and Judah:
“I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.” (30:17)
2. The everlasting covenant of peace:
“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” (31:3)
3. The new covenant foretold:
“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts… for I will forgive their iniquity.” (31:33–34)
4. The perpetuity of God’s promise:
“If heaven above can be measured… then will I cast off all the seed of Israel.” (31:37)
5. The sure mercies of David:
“David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne…” (33:17)
A messianic assurance fulfilled in Christ.
VII. Jeremiah 34–39 — The Last Days of Judah and the Blindness of Zedekiah
1. Covenant-breaking exposed (ch. 34):
Israel frees their slaves and then forces them back.
“Ye were now turned… but ye turned and polluted my name.” (34:15–16)
2. Jeremiah’s arrest and persecution:
Smote, imprisoned, cast into a dungeon (37–38).
3. Zedekiah’s fear and unbelief:
“Obey, I beseech thee… so it shall be well unto thee.” (38:20)
He refuses, bringing ruin on himself and the city.
4. The fall of Jerusalem (39):
The city burned, the walls broken, Zedekiah blinded.
VIII. Jeremiah 40–45 — After the Fall: The Remnant’s Rebellion
1. Gedaliah appointed; rebels arise (chs. 40–41).
Murder, intrigue, fear of Babylon.
2. Jeremiah consulted, but the people refuse the word:
“Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey…” (42:6)
Yet they do the very opposite.
3. Flight to Egypt:
Against the explicit word of God.
4. Judgment on the fugitives:
“I will watch over them for evil, and not for good.” (44:27)
IX. Jeremiah 46–51 — Oracles Against the Nations
A series of judgments on:
- Egypt (46)
- Philistia (47)
- Moab (48)
- Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar (49)
- Babylon (50–51)
A reminder that JEHOVAH is Lord of all nations.
X. Jeremiah 52 — Historical Appendix
A narrative summary paralleling 2 Kings 24–25:
- The fall of Jerusalem
- The burning of the temple
- The exile to Babylon
- The preservation of David’s line in Jehoiachin’s elevation
A final whisper of hope that the messianic line endures even under Babylon’s chains.
Conclusion.
Closing Prayer.
Fearless Puritan: 