And good evening or morning. I want to turn your attention under the book of Jeremiah, chapter number 31. And the title of the message is down in verse number 21. Who would otherwise risk his life to approach me? Who would risk his life to approach God? And what he's saying is that he is a very great God and that this little small God that has no fear, he has no dread, he has no wrath, that isn't really even worthy of our respect, that is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The God of the Bible is so holy and so fearful and so awesome in power that he gives of the kingdoms of men to whom he pleases. He'll even put on the throne or in the White House the most base men. is he revealed that unto Nebuchadnezzar. He raises up kingdoms, he puts down kingdoms. And he is awesome, and he is fearful in his holiness. And not one of us would even dare to approach him if we knew who he truly was. And so the God that men decree at and the God that men command, and the God that men approach with great flippancy. As the old preacher would say, they're on the way down the aisle to shake the preacher's hand and to confess Christ, and they're throwing the bubble gum from one side of their mouth. They have never come into contact with the true God. And the reason that men don't fear and that men don't tremble is they don't know him. It is not because he's all sweets. It's not even that he's easy to approach. There's only one way to approach him. Now, through this door of our Lord Jesus Christ, that great mediator whose blood was shed, I can approach unto God. but the message of this text and scripture is that God is gonna rub our nose in our sin, and he's gonna make us to see him for who he truly is in his greatness, in his impeccableness, in his unflinching glory, in his absolute holiness. And then he's gonna draw this person who trembles at his word unto himself. He's going to make us come to God for who he truly is. And if you think it's easy to approach God, You just don't know him. If you think it isn't a big deal, you're dealing with an idol. You're dealing with a false god. You're dealing with a very small god who is not holy. But in the inflexible justice of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he satisfied the judgment of God, the wrath of God, the furious anger of God, he made a way for a broken and ruined sinner to approach unto God Almighty himself. And I'm saying, my brethren, it's an awesome thing. That's why our text says in Jeremiah chapter 30, Verse number 21, I will invite him to me, and he will approach me, for who would otherwise risk his life to approach his maker? There is nobody that would come unto God in his perfections, in his holiness, in his justice, in his judgment. All of us would run like Adam and be just afraid, and we'd run in vain. but through Christ and by the grace of God and by Him not only convicting us that we're sinners, but by opening our eyes unto His mercy and the value of the blood of Christ. It's not the value of you and me, except for that value He placed on us when He loved us with that special, particular, saving love. That's in Christ Jesus. That love that's on Jacob, but isn't on Esau. That's on Moses, but isn't on Pharaoh. That was on Israel, but was not upon Egypt. That distinguishing, sovereign, electing love of God. That's what draws us into the fellowship of Christ. That's what opens our eyes. He will be merciful. That's what makes a sinner who's been broken. And you really can't come to Christ until you realize that you're depraved and you drink iniquity like water. But that's the subject of this text. And I want to go back to verse number 18 and then to work down to verse number 21. And our theme is that when God has humbled the sinner until he's afraid, until he reverences God, he respects God, he fears God. Then it's the job of the Holy Spirit by the gospel to bring that sinner unto himself through our Lord Jesus Christ. And after he's chastened us, he may make us think he hates us. It's an old country preacher said that when God gets to dealing with the soul, he'll make you think that he's dealing with a dog, that he hates you. And what the preacher is saying is that when he shows us our sin, and our inability, and our helplessness, and our failures, and our worthlessness, and how we can't change ourselves and we're are so stained by sin and even our willpower is all corrupted. It'll make a man scared. It'll make a man think he hates me. It'll make a man think I'm going to hell for certain. But there's mercy in Christ for such a one, such a poor sinner each and every time. And he says, come. So let's pick it up in verse number 18. This is what the Lord says. I will certainly restore the fortunes or the captivity. I'm going to bring you out of the bondage that you put yourself into this position. I was chastened by God because I did not listen. It isn't because he's cruel. It isn't because he's too strict. What me and you did was we sinned, we turned our back against God, and then we kept going. If we had come back and said, Father, I can't make it. I'm too weak. I don't have any strength. Help me or I die. And I need you. By the blood of Christ and the power of your spirit, he would never have sent us off into Babylon. But brothers and sisters, he sent us into this bondage because we trusted in ourselves, our own strength, and our own free will. We trusted in our ingenuity. We trusted in our knowledge of the gospel. And we thought, I got this. And so he had to chasten us until everything about us was broken. And that's what he says in verse number 14, verse number 15 of this same chapter. All your lovers, all your pride, all your favoritism of yourself have forgotten you. They no longer look for you. For I have struck you as an enemy would. That's what I mean. With the discipline of someone cruel, this is God talking, because of your enormous guilt. It was our fault. You and I would not listen. We thought that we were so smart, so clever. One thing I did this morning, and I may continue, because it was good for my soul. And I just opened up confessing my sin. And so whatever came in mind, things from yesterday, the things from last month, the things from a couple years ago, the things from my childhood, just confessing my sin unto God. And to see the errors I've made and the rebellion and the pride. the haughtiness, the disobedience. And then, then, how about you? Then come unto His mercy and embrace Him and see how He came and He sought me and He swam through an ocean of wrath just to rescue my rebellious soul. He's saying, look here. I struck you as an enemy with the discipline of someone cruel. I seemed mean and angry, but it was because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sin. Can you say it's my fault? Can you say, I don't blame my ex-wife, I don't blame my dad, I don't blame my mom, I don't blame society, I don't blame the white man, I don't blame the government, I blame me. He chasing me because of me. Somebody else might do something unto me that hurts me. But chastisement is directly because of your own self. Verse 15, why do you cry out about your injury? You didn't need me before, he said. You just kept going. As you went into iniquity, I chastened you. And you said, I don't need you. I'll handle this myself. I'll be happy without you. And there's nothing that you can do about it. Because I know the doctrine of election, and I'm going to hell. I'm going to heaven when I die. I've got eternal security, and there's nothing that you can do about it. I'm going to sin that grace may abound. And so why you cry out now, he says, I have done these things unto you because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins. Is that us? It's me. It's everybody that he brings out of bondage. It's everybody he saves. I was watching something by, there's a man named Todd Friel, and he has a show called Wretched Radio. So he was outside, I think he was at a university, and he's instructing them, he's preaching, he's teaching, and this young lady comes up and points a finger at you hypocrite Christians and blah, blah, blah. And so he responds to her very graciously, very wisely, very kindly. And he says, look, Christians do more than non-Christians to help the sick and the poor and the homeless and the orphan. But we're still sinners. And that's the point. We are sinners, no matter all that we've done. And we need a mediator. and we need a relationship with God by the blood that he shed and we need the forgiveness of sins that makes us love and keep coming back to him in repentance. That's what me and you need. a relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only hope that we have. And so to bring us into this relationship, to bring us into the covenant fellowship of his grace and love, he rubs our nose through the cesspool of our sin. I remember as a boy as to when my stepdad would take our dog after he pooped on the carpet and I didn't understand. And he grabbed him by the nap of the neck and he put his nose in it. And I felt such compassion over this little poor beast. But as I got older and I had my own dog, I had to do it too. I don't want to be cruel now, but I want you to know that you can't be pooping in the house. And when he smells it and he understands your tone, it's how you're trained. When God puts our nose in it, it's the greatest of love. He doesn't love me more as to when he's embracing me in fellowship and communion than when he's rubbing my nose in my sin. Because he rubs my nose for my good and his glory. whom the Lord loveth, he chastened." But he says, in Acts number 18 of Jeremiah 30, I will certainly restore the fortunes. I will bring you out of bondage and the captivity of sin. I'll end your chastisement. I'll take away your guilt and shame. I'll put power in you. I will make you able to serve God. I will give you a brand new understanding of the word that you must bow unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And His will is for us to save other people, to live for His glory instead of our own. And I'll be with you by the power of the Spirit, because Jesus Christ is the reason I forgive all your sins and I accept you in the beloved Son. And Jacob's tense, and I will show compassion on his dwelling. That's what it is. It's when God pities us. It's when he sees I'm helpless. He sees I'm broken. I'm sorry over my sin. I'm wrong. I admit it. I'm hurt. I'm helpless. I confess. I bow down. And then he doesn't stomp us. He doesn't push us away. But whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He embraces us. As me and you come back home like that prodigal, he's spitting up. He's sprinting with kisses and hugs. And he gonna kill the fatted calf and he gonna turn up the music and the dancing. That's coming back home unto God. And so he has to convince us of our sin and of his goodness in our chastisement. Then he has to convince us of his love to embrace us. so that we may come to him with boldness, with confidence, and with assurance. Every city, Jeremiah 30, 18, will be rebuilt on its mound. Every citadel will stand on its proper sides. I'm going to put everything back together again. Everything I've torn down, I sent you in the Babylon. I tore down, I brought in under Bukhanezer, and he tore that temple down to the ground. But they did rebuild it. Under Nehemiah, under Ezra, under Haggai, under Zechariah. They rebuilt that temple. Now they corrupted it again, as you see from the Malachi. But that's the old covenant people. These new covenant people in Christ Embrace him and he puts his fear in our heart and he makes us go in the right direction He puts his he rules over us for our good He saves us look at verse number 19 Thanksgiving will come out of it So that's what coming out of you Is that your relationship with God or is it a bunch of rules? I? I got a call this morning from a very dear friend and brother I haven't heard from in a minute. And he was talking to me about some people that were trying to take him away from the hope of the gospel and his completeness in our Lord Jesus Christ, as if there's some higher level, there's some secret club I have to join, I need the approval of this man or that woman. And we talked about our completeness in Christ from Colossians 2. I don't need anybody's opinion. And that's just the most freeing and the most liberating thing. I must be loving. I must be upright in my character. I must be holy. I must be good. I must be kind. But human opinion? means nothing whatsoever at all. That's a free man. That man is actually governed in his soul by thankfulness unto God. That's what makes him live his life. That's what makes him do good. That's what makes him forgive. That's what makes him repent of mistreating others. I shouldn't have been so cruel. I could have let that slide. I could have said that a different way because his eye is on the mercies of God towards him in our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you thankful? That's what Colossians chapter two, verse number six and seven says. To walk in Christ, let me read that. I think I can't quote it, but just let me read it. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him. Keep going the exact same way you did at the beginning of your race. Rooted and built up in Him, grow more and learn more, but you're complete in Christ than ever to grow to any higher level of acceptance with God from the moment you first believe. And so I'm to grow in what I am just like I was a human from the day I was born. I was a baby, but I'm human. I wasn't a full-grown man, yet I had to become what I am, but you're complete in Christ. And there'll never be anything that you can do to make yourself more acceptable in God's sight. Just keep on fetching the promises and fetching the precious privileges of being in Christ and all that He earned for you and me at the cross. established in the faith, built up in the faith, strong in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude, filled with thanksgiving. That's what God says I'm going to put into your heart by showing you mercy and bringing us from our Babylonian bondage, our captivity. Back to Jeremiah 30, verse number 19. Thanksgiving, it will come out of them a sound of celebration, the joy of pardon, the joy of peace, the joy of power over sin. This is a joy. When the Lord Jesus spoke peace and said to be still unto that raging sea, he's not just talking about the cleansing of the conscience and forgiveness. It would be a curse if I was forgiven but still lived in sin. That's twisting the gospel. That's a peace that comes from the devil. But the peace that God gives, it forgives you of sin and And what grace this is, it gives you power to overcome them. It gives you the ability to go and to sin no more. It enables you and me, according unto Romans 8, to walk in love. That what the law is requiring by the power of the Spirit through no condemnation in Christ, I'm able to do, which is to love my fellow man. Am I able to walk home and to be upright? And that's what he says, a sound of celebration. I will multiply them, and they will not decrease. He's not talking about money. I'm sure Paul had more money as an unbeliever. I'm sure that Brother Barnabas had much, much more money as an unbeliever. But he had God in Jesus Christ, and he had the power to use his gifts to help others. I will honor them. I'll say, I love you. I forgive you. I accept you. You don't need anybody else's of praise or esteem, and they will not be insignificant. This doesn't mean I'm gonna be walking around and I'm gonna floss, and my ministry's gonna pop, and everybody is gonna know my name, and I'm gonna write big books, and I'm gonna be the best seller. Everyone gonna call me and say, oh, I'm blessed, blessed, blessed. Can you see how carnal that is? How flesh, how wicked? to attach Christ and His grace to that self-service? That's the prosperity gospel. It attaches the precious blood of Christ to a man's lust for his own greatness and glory, and it's despicable? No, no, no. When the Lord Jesus Christ is telling us that we will not be insignificant, I'm loved by God. I'm elected. I got communion with Him. I got access unto the throne of grace. I'm forgiven. I'm accepted. I'm adopted into the family. I'm a child of God. Oh, if a man can commune with God in the assurance that I'm his and he's mine, he does not need anything else. He may enjoy other things, health, a wife, his children, his house, his job, his ministry. But that is everything to have God. That's the blessing. That is the blessing of the covenant. I will be his God. and they will be my people. That's exactly as to what it says in verse number 22. You will be my people and I'll be your God. It don't matter if you're in prison or sick. If you have that experienced inside your soul, you're in heaven on the way to heaven. It's the gospel makes us humble. It's the gospel, it's the hand of God to chastise us, to show us that we can't do anything. Then we lean on grace and he comes into our spirit and he lifts us up. He will exalt everyone that's humble. And we got every reasons, Mr. Angelina, to be humble. Every single reason. Because without him, haven't he and you learned that we can do nothing? Absolutely nothing. But in Him, I have peace. I have power. I have joy. Verse number 20. His children will be as in past days. I want to restore your soul. His congregation, it will be established in His presence. That's the joy of the Lord. That is our strength. That's the fellowship of His sufferings. That's a communion with God. And I will punish all his oppressors. And so what he means by this is that when Babylon took Israel captive, he sent the king of Persia. He sent Cyrus. of the Medes, and he conquered Babylon in one night. He slew the king of Babylon. That was on the writing that was on the wall in the book of Daniel, chapter 5. And he's telling us that guilt, shame, and depression lawlessness, licentiousness, love of self, hypocrisy, the vanity and empty life that's been wasted on myself. There's nothing wrong with watching television in its season, but to live my life to just entertain myself to death and watch the world perish, there's something wrong in my heart if that's what's going on. But his word unto us is that I'm going to break the power of sin and unbelief in your life. That which held you captive to rub your nose in it and to make you bow down with a big chain on your neck as your enemies oppressed you, guilt, shame, the fear of man. Isn't that a bad thing that oppresses the soul? And he uses that to make us know that we're nada. We're nothing. We're sinners. It's not worth esteeming the face of man. But then he picks us up. He breaks that fear by giving me and you a fear of God and a communion in the fellowship of his presence. Sister Doreen, it's nice to see you. I have not seen you online in a minute. Nice to have you back. This is a part of old. It's the new club quarantine. have to make the best use of our time. And the best thing I can do is to study and preach. And to help somebody else, it helps my own soul be encouraged. It helps you and others to be encouraged and to keep on passing on this gospel. This is our mission, in season and out of season. This is our life. with whatever gift he gave us. Let's use it for his glory and his spirit. I couldn't be happy if I wouldn't preach it. If I'm living my life just to relax, it can only go so far. It has its season, but let us serve God in this time of our quarantine with prayers, with giving, with preaching, with being kind unto people who even would rub us on the wrong way because he's merciful to us. In this particular text, it is telling us how. I will punish all his oppressors. Hers he put me under the oppressor because of our pride. And then he breaks the oppressor and he lets us go free. And then we love him. And that's what makes us to love our brethren. Thank you, sister. That's what makes us to love people. That's what makes us to forgive. That's what makes us gracious. That's what makes us more kind. That's what makes us give people another chance. That's what makes us talk unto them in a kind way, instead of acting like I'm the big boss. Here in Nigeria, if you have a smidgen of money, there's so much poverty that people are so oppressed. If you have even the smallest amount, they degrade themselves in such a low way. It's part of the culture, but it's part of the poverty. And as an American, I have to make sure that I'm gracious and I'm kind. And it's not just because I'm a nice guy. It's because I can't preach the gospel and his power and be a hypocrite. And I can't preach Christ unless I'm understanding from the text he's showing me mercy. And I didn't do anything, and neither did you. And that's how we live our life. He loves us as dirty sinners. He saves us once He's broken our power. This is what the scripture says in the book of Daniel. And I wonder, my dear listener, if you've experienced chapter 32, verse number 36, the Lord will indeed vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone. And no one is left slave or free. Has that happened unto you? And he rubbed your nose in your weakness. He put your face in the dust. He broke you by being merciful and being loving unto your transgressions. He paid for them in Christ and then he brought you blessings after he finally brought you to the point of I deserve to be in hell. And there's nothing I can do about it. He showed you grace and mercy and kindness. That's what breaks our heart. And we want it broken every day, over and over and over. The grace of God in Christ. Verse number 21, Jacob's leader will be one of them. The old King James is in the plural, but in the Hebrew, it's in the singular. He's talking about our Lord Jesus Christ. Our leader is one of us. He's bone of our bone. He's flesh of our flesh. He's our kinsman redeemer. He's the firstborn among many brethren. He's one who loves us. He's one who keeps covenant. He's one who died for our sins. He's one who's faithful. He's the good shepherd. His ruler, or the ruler of the people of God, will issue from him. And so what he's saying is that it won't be the Babylonians and the Chaldeans or the Persians and the Medes or the Romans. But the leader and the ruler of the people of God is our Lord Jesus Christ who loves us better than any mind could ever have imagined. And then he says this, I will invite him to me and he will approach me. And so come to Christ. He's broken you. He's appeared as if he hated you. But he's appeared unto you now from old in the gospel, preaching his love to you. And he will approach you. Come unto me, all ye that are laboring. For who would otherwise risk his life to approach me, says the Lord. That's what got me, is this great God is saying, come unto me. after explaining how he humbled us and then restored our souls, and he's saying he will approach me, but he's talking about his greatness. He's boasting in himself. He's glorying in himself. He's saying it accurately. Who would dare draw near unto this God with all this power, all this sovereignty, all this holiness? Except I was merciful and gracious in our Lord Jesus Christ. Except I forgive sins. Except I'm the God of a million chances. Except I call you to myself. Except I show you the blood of Christ. It cleanses us from all sins. Except I open a way to you and I show you my mercy. Because you'll never come to God until he's a fearful being. This little puny God that ain't worth your fear, No, no, no, no. The true God always shows himself in holiness and absolute sovereignty upon this throne of glory as the Lord over all. And then he says, come, I am gracious. And he's saying that he's going to draw us to himself. May the Lord bless you. May you come to our Lord Jesus Christ and keep on coming and may you be gracious and may you be more kind and may you be more loving unto other people because he's had mercy on your soul. That's not meaning I'm a doorman. I'm a boss. I have some people I have to oversee. And if you work, you've got to be on time, you've got to get your job done, et cetera, et cetera. But I can be like one who has a master in hell instead of acting like I'm just a big boss. I don't want to be that way. I don't want to be a person that's cruel just because I have power or authority over some children. No, I want to embrace them and I want to teach them how to mind me and to do what they're supposed to do and not be scared of putting that rod on their backside. but pouring out love and compassion and kindness as God does to me and you for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake. And if we're ruled by the grace of God, let us be gracious unto others. Let us get the gospel. Let us be an example of the gospel. And it will be well with our souls. And the Lord bless you for his name's sake. Amen. Thank you, Sister Angelina.