Thanks, Pastor Jekyll. Well, good morning, everyone. It's good to see you and good to be here. Again, I'd just like to express gratitude to Pastor Jekyll for the invitation to come and share the word this morning and also gratitude to the church. We thank the Lord for your faithfulness and your love for the Lord and your service for the Lord. And the church has a very, this church is a very special place in the hearts of Jess and myself and especially Jess's heart. You're all very dear to her and the place that she grew up and most of you have seen her and known her since she was a Little one and now to have her bring her little ones here. I'm sure that's a blessing and an encouragement to you So thank you again, and it's good to be here to fellowship and to bring the word Well, we've come to a start of another new year And the start of a new year, a lot of us, myself included, we like to take personal inventory, do a bit of self-examination. And I'm a sentimental person, so I enjoy looking back over the last year and seeing what the Lord has done and being thankful for what He's done. And also looking ahead to what the Lord might do. And a lot of us, we have plans and goals and we have ambitions and things that we would like to accomplish and see the Lord do in our lives. We may have those ambitions and plans and things that we want to do, but just like last year, a lot of those things may not happen. We planned for things that didn't happen and things happened that we didn't plan for. But that's just life anyway, not necessarily just for 2020. And the Lord knows all of that. In the reading this morning, we saw two men, James and John, the disciples of the Lord Jesus, And they had some pretty big ambitions, didn't they? They had some pretty big goals, some pretty big desires. And we read in another scripture that it was actually their mother who was one of the instigators of that. But it was their desire as well. They desired to be greater than all the others. They desired to have a more prominent position. They believed that the Lord Jesus, he would come and create a revolt, a rise up, and rise up against the Romans and establish his kingdom. And they wanted a bit of that. They came to the Lord and said, Lord, when you come and you set up your kingdom and there's glory and the rain, and you will start your rain, can we share in a bit of that glory? Let me sit on your right hand and let my brother sit on your left hand. And we saw the Lord's response to that. And we may be pretty critical of James and John for that desire, but let's not forget that in other scriptures we see that the other disciples had the same desire as well. In Matthew 18 verse 1, it says that at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And another scripture says that the Lord knew that they were arguing amongst themselves about who should be the greatest. And the Lord Jesus' response was, whosoever shall humble himself as this little child. And we know that account, how the Lord took a little child on his lap and whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. There was an ambition, but it was an evil ambition. There was a wrong mindset, but the Lord corrected their thinking. Spurgeon said that many through wishing to be great have failed at being good. Failed to be of effective service for the Lord. Failed to be meet for the master's use and we'll be looking at that tonight. And as Christians, we're not to have that mind, we're not to have that evil ambition, but we're to have the mind of Christ as it says in Philippians 2. that let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus our Lord and that goes on to talk about how he humbled himself and took on the form of a servant and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. We're to have the mind of Christ laying down our life humbling ourself. A wrong mind seeks to be great a right mind seeks to be the least. A wrong mind will come into someone's house and presume the honourable seat where they can have the most notice and to be where he is seen and not just to have the best view but where he himself is the best view. But a right mind doesn't think more highly of himself than he ought, but is willing to stand at the door as the guests come in a towel in one hand, a basin ready, and said, let me wash your feet. That's the right mind. The disciples, they sought great things for themselves. And the title of the message for this morning is Seeking Great Things. Perhaps the disciples, they saw the Lord doing his miracles and people falling before him and worshiping him and praising him as they ought to and being thankful for him. And maybe at the back of their minds, they thought, I'd like a piece of that. I wouldn't mind sharing some of that. And maybe we too might look around at others and consider their wealth, consider their position, consider the opportunities that they have that we don't and we might think, well, I'd like a piece of that. How can I get a piece of that? But the Lord Jesus says, whosoever shall humble himself. A correction of thinking. we read of another correction of thinking in the book of Jeremiah in chapter 45. And we'll read Jeremiah 45 and then we'll open up in prayer. But Jeremiah 45, only five verses. The Lord speaking to a man named Baruch. And the Lord is needing to correct Baruch's thinking. Jeremiah 45 in verse one says, The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch. Thou didst say, Woe is me now, for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. Thus shalt thou say unto him, The Lord saith thus, Behold, that which I have built, I will break down. That which I have planted, I will pluck up, even this whole land. And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. For behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord. But thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. Seeking great things. We'll ask the Lord's blessing on our time now. Great Heavenly Father, thank you that we as your people can gather and worship you. And we're here not for ourselves, we're here for you. To worship you and adore you and to have our eyes focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, the things that would distract and discourage us from having that view, please help us by your grace to lay those things aside and just have our hearts directed upon you that we might grow in our love for you and our worship for you and our devotion for you. Lord you know the hearts of all of us as your people here this morning and even those who perhaps haven't been born of your spirit and do not belong to you and I just pray that you would meet the need where whatever it may be through the singing and praising of your name and the preaching of your word. I ask for your help in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Chapter 45 in Jeremiah isn't necessarily chronological, as in it doesn't follow after chapter 44 or chapter 43, but rather just like the whole book of Jeremiah, it's a collection not of just a story or narrative or record of things that happened, which it is, but it's a collection of the prophecies that the Lord had given Jeremiah to the people of Judah for his day. And Baruch was a scribe who would assist Jeremiah in his ministry and write down those prophecies for him. So chapter 45, it should be read in the context of chapter 36. And let's go back to Jeremiah 36. just to sort of find out what's going on here and what's happening in the heart of this man Baruch. So in chapter 36 in verse 1, it says, and it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Now that's what we read in chapter 45 verse 1, the fourth year of Jehoiakim. So it's the same year, it's the same time. The son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord saying, and he tells Jeremiah to take a role and to write everything that the Lord had told Jeremiah from the very first day right up until then, write it in a book and give it to the King of Judah. And Baruch's responsibility was to be there and writing those things down as well. And the purpose of that was to deliver it to the King. And as it says in verse three, it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. And then in verses four to six it says, then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which he had spoken unto him upon a roll of a book. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up. I cannot go into the house of the Lord. Therefore go thou, and read in the roll which thou hast written from my mouth the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fasting day. So Jeremiah has given Baruch a job. He's given him a responsibility, and that is that the things that they have written down of the word of the Lord, it was Baruch's responsibility to go into the temple and deliver that to the people of Judah. And that's not an easy thing. It's not a simple thing. Jeremiah says that I am shut up. Other words, I cannot go, whether that be that he was forbidden to go by the authorities or he knew that if he went, he would definitely be killed. Because we know in the book of Jeremiah that when the last time Jeremiah did it, it didn't go too well. The Lord's message went out, but there was a riot and because Jeremiah, he had gone out and he preached the word of God that the people of Judah, that they were in gross idolatry and adultery against the Lord. But they still thought that they could come before God and worship Him and everything would be fine because He's our God. We've got the law. We've got the temple. It doesn't matter how we live. We can still come before Him and everything's fine. And that may be the attitude of many Christians today. It doesn't matter how I live because it's all under grace. It's all under grace. The Lord's bigger than my sin so it doesn't matter if I do these things because it's all under grace and that's just not the right attitude of a Christian who wants to live for the Lord. But at that time when Jeremiah preached the people got so enraged that they were wanting to kill him and they had to set up a court on the spot to try and deliver Jeremiah from the hands of the people. To Jeremiah feels as though he cannot go. He says, I'm shut up. But Baruch, you can go. Go thou into the house of the Lord to face the people, to put his life on the line for the sake of the Word of God. And the rest of the chapter tells us what happened when Baruch did that. But if you look in verse nine, of chapter 36, it says, and it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim. So the Lord told Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim what needed to be done. It didn't happen until the fifth year of Jehoiakim. So there's a period of time from when the instruction came to when it was actually fulfilled. And I wonder what was going on in the heart and mind of Baruch during that time. What was he thinking about? He's known what happened to Jeremiah that when he was there preaching in the temple, nearly killed. And he's thinking, not what happened to me. Now we don't know exactly what he thought, but that's where Jeremiah chapter 45 comes in. It's in the fourth year. He hasn't gone out and delivered the word of God, but he's thinking through. and he's got some hard things that he needs to accept. And so in seeking great things, the first I'd like for us to see in verses one to three is a great pain. There was a great pain in the heart of Baruch. It was a lot for Baruch to think upon between receiving God's word and doing what God had said. God knew his thoughts, and he spoke to him. And he says, and seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them not. A correction of thinking, a pointing out of what his ambitions were. The Lord knew what was happening in Baruch's heart at that time. Baruch had seen God speak to Jeremiah. He had seen God speak to Judah. He had seen God speak through the prophecies directed to the king. But Baruch had never had God. directly in this way, as far as we know, speak to him. But now the Lord has a message specifically for him. He was a scribe. He knew God's word. He wrote down God's word, but had never himself heard the voice of God. I'd like to take a quick moment here and just ask, are we closed to the word of God? Are we closed to the voice of God? If our Bibles remain mostly closed, then we are mostly closed to the voice of God. When was the last time that we had the Lord speak to us, whether it be through prayer or through the reading of his word and deal with us about certain things, are we close to the voice of God? But Baruch is now having the Lord speak to him. He was a scribe. He was intelligent. Josephus, a Jewish historian, tells us that he was a of a very eminent family and exceeding skillful in the language of his country. We know in other scriptures that it talks about Brooks family. In second Chronicles chapter 34 verse 8, we see Brooks grandfather that he's a governor. He's a governor of the King Josiah, a very high position, a very noble family. And we read later in the book of Jeremiah that his brother, Baruch's brother, was a quartermaster for the king, a servant close by to the king. Good position. Is grandfather a good position? His brother had a good position? All Baruch had to do was pull a few strings and he himself could easily have a good position. He had the intellect, he had the education, he had the family heritage. It was very easy for Baruch to just leave the work of God behind. an easier life, a better life, where he wouldn't have to lay everything down for the sake of the Lord. But he did. That's what he's doing. He's serving Jeremiah. He wasn't taking advantage of those family connections, but he's laying it down for the Lord. And what a good characteristic that is of anyone. But the best of men are men at best. Baruch, he had his ups and he had his downs just like we do. John the Baptist, he had his ups and he had his downs, as we read, and the disciples as well. And there was a temptation, I believe, to that pain over being obedient to the Lord, knowing opportunities that were out there and things that he'd be giving up. He says, woe is me. In verse 3, woe is me now, for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sigh, and I find no rest. There's a great pain, a great pain. There is a cost to following the Lord Jesus, and we need to count the cost. In Matthew chapter 16, verse 24, a familiar verse about discipleship and following the Lord. says Matthew 16 verse 24, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, if anyone wants to follow me, anyone wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Jesus makes it clear to his disciples that It isn't simple that being a Christian or following the Lord isn't as simple as just saying a prayer and turning up to church a couple of times a week. But it's a call of no reserves and no retreats and no regrets. Deny himself, the Lord says. If we were to follow the Lord, we must deny ourself. 1 Corinthians 6 says that we are not our own. We don't belong to ourself. So what rights do we have? We no longer own ourselves, don't have the right to our life, but it's all in the Lord's hands. We don't seek great things for ourselves. We don't have those worldly ambitions because if we're truly pursuing a discipleship with the Lord Jesus and following him, we've denied ourselves. We've abandoned those things. We count them but dung, as Paul said. Following the Lord, there is a need to deny self. And they're at the need to take up a cross. It's the laying down of our lives for the Lord Jesus. Because we see his worthiness and the Lord is worthy for that, isn't he? The Lord is worthy for taking up our cross. We know the destination. It's Calvary. It's a place of death. being crucified with Christ, as Galatians 2 says. Not a simple thing, being a Christian. To deny ourself, take up a cross and follow Him. Following Him, we obey Him. We count His words as precious and we hide them in our hearts and we obey them. Not out of following a set of rules, but out of love and devotion for the Lord. And we say where He leads, I will follow. He's my God, He's my Saviour. I will follow Him. Deny self, take up a cross, and I will follow Him. What does discipleship of the Lord Jesus cost you and I? What does it cost? What has it cost? It'll cost freedom. It'll cost the losing of the life and abandoning of personal ambition. It'll cost rejection of the world and even rejection of family. It's the price that's paid that when a little girl from a Buddhist family comes to Christ, their family may disown her and they may set up a pyre of all her belongings and set it ablaze. And that becomes a funeral for this little girl because she has followed Christ, they're saying, you are now dead to us. You have chosen Jesus over your own family. You are dead to us. That's the kind of cost that happens in the world today. And there is a great pain in all of that. There is a great sacrifice in all of that. And Baruch, he's counting the cost. And there is grief and there is pain. And when we're tempted to think like Baruch did, The evil one, our enemy, may come to us and whisper, come down from the cross and save yourself. Why deny yourself? Why take up a cross? Why follow him? You know what's in store. Look at all these opportunities that you've got. You're smart, you're intelligent, you're a hard worker, and you've got these family connections. Why give that up? That's a fool's thing to do. Come down from the cross and save yourself. Brooke, in the midst of that personal turmoil and in that darkness, he doubted. A great lesson that someone told me was don't doubt in the dark what God has revealed in the light. And yet we know as believers that all this pain, it'll be worth it all. It'll be worth it all when we see Christ. So in seeking great things, there is a great pain. But there's also a great perspective I'd like us to see here in Jeremiah 45, in verse four. Thus shalt thou say unto him, the Lord saith thus, behold that which I have built, I will break down. That which I have planted, I will pluck up, even this whole land. A great perspective, the Lord's perspective. What is the Lord's view on all of this? What does the Lord feel? What does the Lord say about these things? See, we know that the Lord had already told Jeremiah and Baruch was aware that the Lord was going to do a work of destruction in the land of Judah if they did not repent and turn away from their sin. The Lord had his pain and his sorrow of his own. The Lord says, what I have built What I have built, I will break down. What I have planted, I will pluck up. Can we see the heart of God here? The Lord's love for the people of Judah. The Lord built them. The Lord planted them. A desire and a purpose for the people of Judah. In Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 21, the Lord says to Judah, Yet I planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? I built you, I planted you. In Malachi 1 verse 2, it says, I have loved you, saith the Lord. 1 Kings 10 verse 9 says, Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighteth in thee, and set thee on a throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever. Hosea chapter 3 verse 1, Then the Lord said unto me, Go thou, Hosea, that great book of the Lord's love for the people of Israel. And he says to Hosea, Go yet and love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel who look to other gods and love flagons of wine." The Lord loved the people of Judah. He loved the people of Israel. Baruch is here and he's lamenting over his own loss. He's lamenting over the loss of his own ambition, his own dreams, his own opportunities. But what's the Lord lamenting over? He's lamenting over these people of Judah that he loves, that he has planted, that he has built, but he has to break down and he has to pluck up. And Baruch's moaning and groaning over his own loss. The Lord's love for Israel. It's strong, it's faithful, it's unbreakable, it's enduring. Can we see the heart of God? We know that the word says that he takes no delight in the death of the wicked. And that's why he sent Jeremiah. We may look at Jeremiah and all the prophecies of the destruction and the doom, but it's also a book of God's love, his redeeming love for his people. And that is the great perspective. Lord was wanting to show Baruch that great perspective that not only of the Lord's love for Israel, but that also everything on earth is temporal. It's temporal. It's fading away. All of Baruch's dreams, all of his ambitions and hopes and opportunities, they weren't gonna be there anymore. Pretty soon the Lord was going to break what he has built and pluck what he has planted and all those things that Baruch is thinking of are gonna be gone. Temporal, fading away, dust. What's the point of pursuing those things and seeking after great things like that? It'll all fade away. Baruch's temptation was to seek great things for himself but it all means nothing as the Lord was going to tear the land apart. If you turn to Luke chapter 12 the Lord Jesus gives us a parable that I think is helpful as we think about this great perspective that everything is temporal. Luke 12 16. Verse 16. And it's the time when a man came to the Lord and said to speak to his brother, to divide the inheritance with him. And the Lord is then to teach this man a few things and he does it through the means of a parable. And verse 15, sorry, it says, and he said unto them, take heed. and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, Ah, this will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, thou fool, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. A great perspective. The things of this earth are temporal, they are fading away, and they count as nothing in eternity. What is the great perspective for a Christian? To have eternity in view. Having our eyes on eternity. We give so much time and energy to earthly things, things that will perish and fade. And of course there are responsibilities that we have. Of course there are things that we need to be stewards of. We need to be good stewards of our property, good stewards of our time, and we want to be able to provide for our families, and it's not as if we want the worst things and the worst opportunities for our family, it's got nothing to do with that, but rather where is our heart set on? Is it set on the earth, the temporal, or is it set on things above? Eternity. people may have the desire, got to get that house, got to get that car, got to have that job, got to have the best and what makes me appealing and without realising it we may just be seeking great things for ourself. Are we living with eternity in view? What are we living for? You may have heard the quote of Lennon Ravenhill, is what you're living for worth Christ dying for? Jesus says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And where is our treasure this morning? 1 Corinthians chapter 3 you don't have to turn there I'll read out some verses here. Chapter 3 verses 13 to 15 says that every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. When we live with eternity in view, we know that our works will be examined by the Lord, not for salvation, but as an accountability, as his servants, as his people. And he knows everything that we've done. He knows everything that we've said or that we've thought. Rewards may be given or they may be lost. Wood, hay and stubble. It's just the surface material. There's no depth to it. Seeking great things for self. If it's all done for self, what's the purpose of ministry, what's the purpose of work, what's the purpose of family, and if it's not done for the Lord. Only one life will soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last. If God were to put a stop to everything right now, and everything that we've done up until this point is examined, to how many would he say, well done? To how many would he say, thou fool? sobering stuff. And back in Jeremiah 45, great pain, but a great perspective. And in the start of verse five, we see a great pursuit, a great pursuit. And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. A while ago I had a friend, a friend that I grew up with, and he was from a Christian family, a professing Christian himself. And he went over to the States for a few years and came back and we caught up and we were just going over the things that were happening in our lives. And I was sharing with him what the Lord was doing in my life and part of the youth group and all the things that, just excitement over the Lord. And he said, you know what, that's great. That's fantastic. I, on the other hand, I just sort of want to enjoy my life first. You know, that Christianity stuff, I believe in it, sure, yeah. But, you know, I just going to leave that till later on, till I'm a bit older. I just sort of want to live, you know, young, lots of opportunities. Just want to live and enjoy my life. To me, that showed that he wasn't really a Christian. He wasn't interested in the Lord or anything like that, but seeking great things for himself, that was his great pursuit. That's what he was chasing after, pleasure, enjoyment. What was Baruch seeking after? Verse five gives us the key to why he was grieving, because he was seeking great things for himself. When people, when we, complain about the hardship, what the Lord has done in our life and that the Lord's done wrong. We're drawing attention to ourself because that's where our heart is, it's on self. But the Lord says, seekest and seeking, it's a pursuit, it's a chase, it's purposeful, it's intentional. It requires effort and it requires time. It requires sacrifice and willingness and commitment. And Baruch was tempted to turn aside from his calling, and he had a completely wrong understanding of what a great thing truly was. In man's eyes, a great thing, it's high, it's lofty, it's important, it's successful, it's profitable, it's better than what someone else has got. In God's eyes, those things are foolish, they will perish, it's wood, hay, and stubble. And this is what Baruch and perhaps what many of us attempted to pursue, give our effort, give our time, give our commitment to temporal things. But what does it show? Well, it shows discontentment. It's basically saying what God has given me is not enough. Discontent. God hasn't gifted me enough. He hasn't made me pretty enough. He hasn't made me wealthy enough. I can do a better job at running my life than God can. Whereas we read Paul in Philippians 4.11 that in all circumstances, no matter what happened, he had learned to be content. And he said to Timothy that having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. So in pursuing these great things for ourself, it can show discontentment, but it also shows covetousness. When we're discontent, we look at what others have and it can be an evil desire. And seeking great things for ourselves can make us easily jealous and envious of others. That what they've got is better than God's given them. better things than what He has given me. But what are we to seek? What is our great pursuit? The Lord Jesus in Matthew 6.33, a great verse that puts a lot of things into perspective about seeking first the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you, all the things that we have need of. It will be added unto us, but our priority is to seek first his kingdom. This is a life that puts God first. The Lord takes care of our needs. We need not worry about building up our own little kingdom, which is temporal, but to focus on the Lord's kingdom. This is the servant's great pursuit. and it's all with eternity in view. I'd like to turn to Philippians chapter three. I've referred to it before, but we'll just read some verses here. But the Christian's great pursuit is seeking the kingdom, but it's also seeking the king. Philippians three, verses seven to 10. He says, but what things were gained to me those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and to count them but done that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. And in verse 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. Paul's pursuit, his desire, is to lay all those earthly ambitions aside so that he may know Christ, grow in his knowledge of him, in his walk with him. And the Christian's great pursuit is seeking the kingdom. And it's also seeking the king, to know the Lord more, to grow in our love, to grow in our adoration and worship of him and to have a better walk with the Lord daily. Baruch. didn't realise that by giving up earthly ambition and honour, he was actually gaining something of heavenly value, of eternal value. We wouldn't know Brooke's name if he had gone off and become some great popular scribe. His name wouldn't be recorded if he had turned away from Jeremiah and turned away from the Lord and sought to be noble and have excellent position, but his name is recorded forever because of his commitment to the work of the Lord, even though he had his times of doubt and down. For the Christian, I believe our great pursuit ought to be for the Lord's kingdom, but also for the Lord. I've got a little quote here by Tozer that I think is helpful. And it's in his book, The Pursuit of God, a wonderful little book. And he says, I want to deliberately encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present lower state. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of a lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to his people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us he waits so long, so very long in vain. Pursuing the kingdom but also pursuing the king, a love and devotion for him. Jeremiah 45, seeking great things, there's a great pain, there's a great perspective, there's a great pursuit, and I'm thankful that there's also a great promise, the Lord's great promise. As he says in the rest of verse five, for behold, I will bring evil upon all the flesh, saith the Lord, but the promise, but thy life, will I give unto thee for a prey, in all places whither thou goest." Baruch was fearful for his life, I believe, and there was a very real danger. He'd seen it firsthand with Jeremiah, but God is a God of comfort. He promises Baruch that though the land will be destroyed, his life will be given to him for a prey. Or that's like referring to a reward that Baruch will leave with his life intact. He will have his life. Nothing to worry about. It'll all turn out well. We're told that after Jerusalem's destruction, Jeremiah and Baruch having survived, were taken to Egypt. His life was spared. The Lord's great promise. And as believers who desire to be disciples of the Lord, to deny self, take up the cross and follow him, though we go through a great pain and there's the eternal perspective and we're pursuing the kingdom and the king and just how exhausting all that is and discouraging it can be, We can hold on to the Lord's great promise. The Lord's great promise. And a verse I'd like to refer to that is John chapter 14. Again, you don't have to turn there. You might have it memorized. But John 14 verse 3, the Lord says to his disciples, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there you may be also. A great promise that despite all the things that we go through in this life, we will be with the Lord. He's coming again. He's coming back for his people, for his church. Our eternity is secure. in Christ for those of us who are born of the Spirit of God, know the Lord Jesus as our Savior. That is the Lord's great promise for his people. It's the promise of forever being with the Lord. We're told in this life that we shall have trouble because we live in a world of darkness, surrounded by people who reject and despise the Lord. But we have an enduring hope, a great promise of our Lord that we will be with him. This world that God has built, he will break down. This world that God has planted, he will pluck up. But we who are in Christ will be spared. The disciples, they were eager to have great names and prominent positions. Seeking great things for self. As Baruch was tempted to Perhaps to leave the work of God behind and grieving over the opportunities lost for him. Let us not be guilty of that. But let us pursue great things with a great perspective, holding on to a great promise. And the great things that we're seeking is not for self, but it's for the Lord. Living with eternity in view. So at the start of 2021, what is the goal of our life? What are we seeking? What are we pursuing? Is it temporal or is it eternal? Let's pray. Father, thank you for the great promise for your people, for Christians, those who have been redeemed and bought by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. We have a great hope and enduring hope that though there is trouble in the world, that though we may not have a life of comfort and of ease, we have a life that is eternal. Lord, correct our thinking if it's needed. and help us to pray through some things that you might lay in our hearts to accomplish for you and do for you and for this coming year. And not just for this year, but even today, Lord, that we take things day by day. And Father, and as we go about the rest of the day and help us to just remain in a heart of worship, and of love and devotion to you because you are worth it all. Again we pray in our Saviour's name.