You know, tonight is my favorite book. And, you know, when we think about some of the things we've talked about, the events that have happened just over the past few days, you know, I think the political world is kind of in shock over the election vote last night in Kentucky. And there was a lot of people, ever since polls started, when the race was going, and, you know, Bevin was never leading in any of the polls, ever. And so nobody expected him to win. Nobody expected him to win. And boom, all of a sudden he won. And so it's kind of shocking. But you know, you think about it, we've seen and we've talked about how our nation seems to have gone as far as in a moral decline over the past few years. And when you think about it, think what would the United States look like say 30, 40, 50 years from now? You know, we really don't know, but you know, if you compare it to where we've come from over the past 20, 30, 40 years, you know what? It don't look good as far as just from a human perspective. I had a fellow tell me yesterday, who was a Christian or says he's a Christian, and he told me, he says that we shouldn't really judge people. You know, he was talking about the homosexual issue and marriage and all this kind of stuff, the gay marriage. And he said, we need to be tolerant of people. And I'm going like, this guy's professing Christ and yet he's saying we're not to judge. Well, you know what? The Scripture tells us, judge not lest you be judged, but judge righteous judgment. So, we are to use discernment. We're to use wisdom. And for the culture to be telling Christians in our day and time, don't judge, you know what, that's contrary to the Word of God. We've got to judge, but we've got to judge righteous judgment. Al Mohler, in a book that he has just written and has just come out over this past week, is titled, We Must Not Be Silent. And what he's doing, he takes the culture that we're in and he shows how we've come over the past 20 or 30 years and where things started degrading way before the gay marriage issue even was legalized. In other words, it started very subtly and Christians were silent. But, you know, we've got to a point in our day and time where we can't be silent. He uses a secular person, and he talks about how he didn't really think there was that big a problem, but the more he studied it, he sees that there has been a great moral decline. I mean, even a secularist said that. The fellow I talked to yesterday who said he was a Christian said, you know, there's not been a moral decline. He says things go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. You know what? If you can't see things are different than when you were in school, something's wrong with you. You're willfully blind. And I'm afraid that's what a lot of people who call themselves Christians are like. As we're looking at Jeremiah, we're looking at the fall of Judah. We're looking at the fall of Jerusalem. We're looking at the Jews going into captivity. And remember, I don't remember which sermon I mentioned this in, but it's something recently, Augustine or Augustine, however you pronounce his name, back around when Rome was about to fall. It was in the process of falling. What did he do? He kept faithfully preaching the Word of God. And you know what? That's what God has called us to no matter what happens in the United States. We are to be faithfully following and serving the Lord our God, continually following him. Many say that we're in a post-Christian culture. In other words, Christianity is on a decline in the United States of America. Well, you know what? Whether it is, whether it's not, God has called us, and He's called us to be faithful. And we're to be faithful to His Word, faithful in living out His Word, preaching His Word. But when you look at our society, you can see, you know, some of the things y'all mentioned tonight, you can see that there's a lack of reverence, and a lot of reverence has declined for things such as the sanctity of life. If you look at the Life is precious, is what we believe. It's something that God has given us. And yet, you see abortions, you see the Planned Parenthood, the butchering of babies, and they laugh about it and make fun of it, and some of them even say, God bless Planned Parenthood. You know what? That's sick. There is a degrading of life, such as the officer getting shot. There was somebody shot in Lexington yesterday. Just over this past weekend, there was somebody shot over at St. Martin Villa where Brother Wayne is a manager at. And he followed the blood trail around. Ain't that weird? You know why? It's because people don't respect life. They don't have a reverence toward things that God has given us. You look at marriage. Marriage. There's no reverence for marriage in our day and time, as far as in our culture that we live in. That's why people shack up. And you know what? You probably know people that are shacked up now. I could probably ask each and everybody in here, and everybody can name somebody you know that's shacked up, living together, because they don't have a reverence for marriage, which is what God has ordained. That's why there's homosexual marriage, because there's not a reverence for marriage. There used to be a stronger reverence toward ministers. You tell somebody you are a preacher or a pastor, you know what? People respected that. It's not like that in our day and time. But you know what? God's still on the throne, and God still has a people. And when we look at the book of Jeremiah and we see them going into captivity, God's still on the throne and God still has a people. Though his people are going into captivity and many have been butchered and slaughtered and murdered, God's still got a people. He always has and he always will. That's something we know. God will always have a people. As Judah is led into captivity, what has happened to Jeremiah? Where is Jeremiah in all this turmoil? I want you to look in the first four verses, and it gives us a closer picture of what happened to Jeremiah. The Word of God says in verse 1 that the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, and it says, after that Nebezaradam, the captain of the guard, had let him go from Ramah. Now, what happened? They took all the prisoners that were not poor, and they marched them from Jerusalem to Ramah. That's where they put them in shackles. And when they put them in shackles to march them to Babylon, what happened is that they found Jeremiah was mistakenly taken in that group. And here it says that the captain of the guard recognized him, and what does he do? It says, He had let him go from Ramah when he had taken him from being bound in the chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said unto him, The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place." Now listen, this is a secular guy. This is a sinner. This is not God's child. And what is he saying? He says, The Lord your God, has pronounced evil upon Jerusalem and Judah." Now, he's preaching a sermon. He's preaching truth because that's what Jeremiah's been preaching all through the book of Jeremiah. And here, this captain of the guard is saying, God's brought this about. And he says, "...now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said, because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice. Therefore this thing is come upon you." What is this captain of the guard saying? Because of disobedience unto God, you're gone into captivity. Now, you know how shameful that is? when Christians start living a life of sin, and it takes sinners that are not saved pointing out sin in Christians' lives. You know what? They do it. They're watching you. They're watching me. They're watching us closely. They're watching Matt Bevin because he says he's a follower of Jesus Christ. They're waiting for one little slip-up, one little goof-up, and they're going to start pointing a finger here. The sinner is calling God's people sinners. And he's accurate. They have been disobedient. But I want you to think for a moment, can the world say that of you? As the world looks at your life, and you know what? You're out in the world. You work, you walk, you live in the world. Are there people that are looking at your life that can say, well, look at this person. You know, when I first came to Lexington, I was told this story before. I worked at the Frisch's on Richmond Road. And when I worked there, there was a guy going to Lexington Baptist College, the college I was going to. And as we were going there, I was witnessing to a waitress one time on my break. It was an older lady. And I remember when I was witnessing to her, she said, well, if Larry's going to heaven, I don't want to go. And that was the guy that went to Lexington Baptist College with me. And I'm going like, whoa, what are you talking about? And his testimony was so bad that she didn't want no part of heaven because he said he was going to heaven. You know what? That's a shame. It's a shame to the gospel. It brings shame to the name of the Lord. when sinners point the finger at God's children living the life of sin. But here in Jeremiah's life, notice the focus becomes upon him, and the captain of the guard says, and now in verse 4, Behold, I loose you this day from the chains which were upon your hand. If it seem good unto you to come with me into Babylon, come, I will look well unto you. But if it seem ill unto you to come with me into Babylon forbear, stay. Behold, all the land is before you, whither it seems good and convenient for you to go, thither go." In other words, he gave him the liberty to come or go. Now, what would Jeremiah do? Will he go to Babylon into captivity with his other ones that are in captivity? Or will he stay behind with those that are left behind? You know what? Here is a proverb that comes into play. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. And that's what Jeremiah's got here. He's got peace with the enemies. Why is that? Because the hand of the Lord is upon him. And God's made his enemies to be at peace with him. Therefore, the captain of the guard says, you can stay, you can go. You can do whichever you want to. Wow, what an option. Now, I want you to get in mind, because a contemporary with Jeremiah was Daniel the prophet and also Ezekiel the prophet. Daniel went to Babylon in 605 BC. He's already there. Then you've got Ezekiel who goes in 597 with this group that's going into captivity. So, Jeremiah, what's he going to do? Is he going to go with the other two prophets or is he going to stay behind? I want you to notice what it says in verse 6. It says, Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Hychim, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people, or go wheresoever it seems convenient unto you to go." So the captain of the guard, what he does, he gave him victuals. That means he gave him food. He gave him rations. Gave him whatever he needed to live off of. Gave him drink, food. How much he gave him, I don't know. Word don't say. But you know what, that was a blessing in that day and time because remember, they'd been besieged. And he also gave him a reward. He rewarded him. Wow! And let him go. He gave him his freedom. Wow! Jeremiah was blessed in this situation. God's hand was upon Jeremiah. Now, what happens with Jeremiah? He stays behind because the Word of God says in verse 6, Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahicham to Nisba and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land. Now, who was left behind in the land that Jeremiah went to dwell with? Well, Gedaliah for one, but that's who the king of Babylon had appointed to be the governor over the land. and he was a strong ruler, he was a strong leader. But notice in verse 7 and 8, it tells people's names and people who were left behind in Jerusalem. It says in verse 7, Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahiakam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon." In other words, he left all the poor people behind. He took all the middle class and wealthy on to Babylon. The higher echelon, the smart ones, the brains and all this kind of stuff, he took those that knew how to do trades, he took them into captivity. The poor, he leaves behind. So Jeremiah goes behind with the poor. And it says in verse 8, Then they came to Getaliah, to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Jehonah and Jonathan the son of Kereah, and Saraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephi, the Netophites. and Jezaniah the son of Maekithite, they and their men." Now, you hear all these names. Who are all these people? You know what? These names are unknown to us, but they're precious in God's sight. You know what? People might not know you later on in life after you pass off the scene. But you're precious in God's sight if you're his child. And he knows your name, and that's what counts more than what anybody else might know your name. It's most important that God knows who you are. So, what we find is Goliath, he is a strong leader. And because he's a strong leader, look down in verse 11 and 12. In verses 11 and 12 it says, Likewise, when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites and in Edom, that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahiakam, the son of Shaphan, even all the Jews returned out of the places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mishpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much. What happened? The Jews started increasing. God caused an increase. He called them back to Judah. Now, if you look in verses 9 through 10, what you find is Gedaliah, it shows something of his leadership. It says, "'Gedaliah the son of Hicam, the son of Shaphan, swear unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, behold, I will dwell in Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us. But you go, and you gather your wine, you gather summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, dwelling your cities that you have taken." Now, what he commands them to do? He tells them to go out and gather. Dwelling your land, you'll be okay. So what we find at the end of verse 12, that's what they do. They gather in the wine and the summer fruits, but notice it says, very much. God blessed them. He gave them abundance. God blessed them greatly. But as we look at this, I want you to notice, it doesn't say anything about grain, does it? It just says wine and summer fruits. Where's the grain? You know what? They couldn't plant the year before. Remember, they were being besieged. So there ain't no crops to get no grain from. So here, we see the reality of the situation here. God's calling out his people. It's a remnant. The majority have gone into captivity or have been killed. But here's a small remnant left behind, and God calls his people out from other nations. And you know what? God's still doing the same today. He's calling people out. He's using the gospel, and he's calling people out of this sin-sick world, out of their sin-sick lives unto himself. God is still on the throne. He's still calling, though there might be a small group of people. And you know what? New Life Baptist Church, we're a small group of people. But you know what? We're God's people. And here we are a small group, but God's hand is upon us. And God has always used a small group of people throughout time. Look at it. Remember in the days of Noah, how many people were saved through the flood? Eight of them. Boy, that's a bunch, ain't it? You know, notice how God works. It was only Isaac who was the son of promise. God sent Joseph to Egypt to save his people. He didn't send an army. He didn't send a crew. Just one. How many disciples did Jesus have? Twelve of them. One of them was not too good. But you know what? God used a small group of people. And you know what? God always has a remnant. He's always had a remnant. When you look at who returned from the exile, look back in Ezra, in the book of Ezra chapter 9. In Ezra chapter 9, listen to what it says in verse 8. Ezra 9 verse 8 says, And now, for a little space, grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we are bondmen, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia to give us a reviving, to set up the house of God, to repair the desolations thereof, to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments. which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, The land under which you go to possess it is an unclean land, with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which we have filled it from one end to another. Now, therefore, give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth forever, that you may be strong. Eat the good of the land, leave it for an inheritance to your children forever." What's coming back into the land is a remnant. He's just a small group of people. It's not an overabundance, but this remnant, God always has had a people, God always will have a people. Listen to what it says over in the book of Romans, over in Romans chapter 11. In Romans the 11th chapter and down in verse 2, the Word of God says this, God has not cast away his people which he foreknew, Watch ye not what the Scripture says of Elias, how he makes intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they killed your prophets, they dig down thine altars, and I'm left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time, Paul's saying, even as I'm writing this, at this present time, There is a remnant according to the election of grace. And you know what we can say boldly, even right now, as we are here in this body of believers, there is a remnant, and that remnant is according to the election of grace. You know what? That's why we go preach the gospel, because God's got a people, and God's calling out His people with the gospel. Therefore, we go. You know what? It's the church. Didn't Jesus promise, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it? You know what that means? Very simply, it's not going to go out of existence. It's not going to go into the unseen state. You know what? A church is the safest place to be, I do believe. God preserves his people, and God provides for his people too. Look back in the context there. You notice in the latter part of verse 10 and the latter part of verse 12, it talked about how they gathered the wine and they gathered the fruits. And then it talks about how God provided. He increased it to very much. How does that song go? God will take care of you. You know what? There's a truth to that in it. And we're a testimony to that. Why are you here tonight? You know what? It's by the grace of God. He's taking care of you. He's brought you safely thus far. Boy, Carl had cancer. Carl don't got cancer. You know what? God has brought him safely thus far. But you know what? When it's time for God to call him home, God's going to call him home. Same way with me. Same way with you. It's appointed unto man once to die. And you know what? We've all got a time frame. But you know what? Until God calls us home, He's going to take care of us. And when He calls us home, boy, we're going to be taken care of. That's shouting ground there. God's Word is true. What he says, that he will do. Jeremiah's preached judgment. Judgment's coming. Judgment's coming. Boom! Judgment came. They're in captivity. You know what happened? Jeremiah's also preached there's a remnant coming back. There's a remnant coming back. What's going to happen? A remnant's coming back. We see this little remnant with the poor, but eventually those exiles come back, just like it's said over in the book of Ezra. Here, God's got a people. There is a remnant still today. But now, anytime there's a blessing, if you look at this, that last verse we read in verse 12 in chapter 40, they gathered the wine and the summer fruits very much. They were prospering. Anytime you're getting a big blessing, you better watch out. You know what's about to happen, don't you? Stone's about to come. A little trial's coming. That's what exactly happens here in verses 13 through 16. I want you to notice. Get a lie as captain. He hears about a conspiracy. Boy, you hear conspiracy theories, and you don't know whether they're true or not. Here's somebody that's kind of got the skinny on to everything. He knows something's about to go down. And notice what the Word of God says in verse 13, Moreover, Johanan, the son of Korea, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to get a lie to Mizpah. And he said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baelus, the king of the Ammonites, hath sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to slay you? But Gedaliah, the son of Ahicham, believed them not." Now, you remember, Ishmael is part of Gedaliah's group there in verse 8. He was a part of them, and yet what happened Johanan hears Ishmael wants to kill Gedaliah. So then Jehoanan, the son of Terah, spake to Gedaliah in Mishpah, secretly saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it. Wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? But Gedoliah the son of Ahicham said unto Jehonam the son of Korea, Thou shalt not do this thing, for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael." Notice here, he's got the skinny on Ishmael. But Gedoliah the leader, he don't believe it. He don't think that's right. So he tells him, No, you can't go knock him off. You can't go assassinate him. Now you know what? That's going to come back to bite him. In verses 1 and 2 of chapter 41, what we find is the assassination takes place. In verses 1 and 2, it says, Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishema, of the seed royal and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah, the son of Hicam, to Mizpah. And there they did eat bread together in Mizpah. Here's Ishmael and Gedaliah. Ishmael's got ten men with him. Having a meal together. Now, you know what? If you're eating with somebody, it's just good hospitable rules not to kill that somebody while you're eating. That's just not southern hospitality, is it? Here, they're sharing a meal together. Then arose Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and Smotegetali, the son of Ahiakam, son of Shaphan, with the sword. and slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land." He murdered him while he was eaten. Man, that's pretty low life. Now, think about Ishmael. Ishmael, it says in verse 1, he was of the seed royal. That means he was of David's lineage. That means he was an heir to the throne. But he's trying to take it by force and not wait on the Lord. and therefore he was a bloodthirsty man. And what follows in verses 3 through 10 is murder and mayhem, like crazy. Sounds like ISIS back in that day and time. That's still the Middle East. Look at it. Look in verse 3. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedoliah, Mishpah, and the Chaldeans. that were there, found there, and the men of war. He killed them all that were in Mizpah. And it came past second day, after he had slain Gedoliah, and no man knew it. that there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, eighty men came, having their beard shaven, their clothes rent, and having cut themselves with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord. They were coming to worship. Here's eighty worshipers coming to the house of the Lord. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went forth from Mishpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went. Look at this. He's putting on a front. And it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahicham. Come with me, we'll go to Gedaliah. And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, cast them into the midst of the pit, he and the men that were with him. Boy, he's a cutthroat, isn't he? But the ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not, we have treasures in the field of wheat and barley and oil and honey. So he forbearance slew them not among their brethren." In other words, he killed seventy men, spared ten of them because he thought he could get some goods from them. Now the pit where Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain because of Gedaliah was it which Asa the king had made for Pherabesha the king of Israel. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain." He just dumped the bodies, 70 bodies in this pit. Wow! This is gruesome, trying to usurp the throne. Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mishpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mishpah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedoliah, and the son of Hicam, and Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites. But, now remember the captain of the guard under Gedoliah was Jehonnan. Johanan, the son of Korea, and all the captains of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done. Then they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael." Now remember, it's the Ammonites that's behind Ishmael. And that's where Ishmael's fleeing to. And they went to fight Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon. And it came to pass that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan, the son of Korea, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad. These are all the captives. They were glad to see him. So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mishpat cast about and returned and went unto Johanan, the son of Korea. But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites. So notice here, this chapter closes out, "...then took Johanan, the son of Korea, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah from Mishpah, and that he had slain, Gedaliah the son of Hakim, even mighty men of war, the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon. They departed, they dwelt in the habitation of Chinem, which is by Bethlehem to enter into Egypt. In other words, they take off trying to hide in Egypt. Now, Jeremiah is in this group. Because of the Chaldeans, here's why they go toward Egypt, because of the Chaldeans, for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Galilee the son of Ahicham, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land. So Jehonnan thinks he's got to run to Egypt to escape from the king of Babylon. He made a wrong choice there. He showed great courage in going after Ishmael, But he makes the wrong choice in going down to Egypt to escape. You know what? God's kingdom is still under attack today. Even as in the old times, they're in Jeremiah. But what we see is God has a remnant. And you know what? God's remnant is chosen by grace. And it's the grace of God that make us part of that remnant. Though we may be a chosen few, we are chosen of God. And that's something that we glory in, is the grace of God. And that's something we go and share with the lost and dying world, encouraging people to turn from their sin and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. God's still calling out a people. You know what? We firmly believe God is still calling out His people. And His gospel is the power unto salvation unto all those who believe. You know what? We need to share it. Don't be ashamed of it. Share it. Share the good news because God's got a people and He's calling them out. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we thank You for Your Word and there's so many lessons and stories in Your Word. Lord, we pray that You'd help us to hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against You. Lord, we pray that you would help us to learn from the things that have been recorded. We pray that you would use your word in our lives, make us bold witnesses of your truth. For we know that through all that happens in this life, your truth shall always stand. Lord, make us bold, bold witnesses, bold witnessing by our lives and both witnessing with our lips. We thank you for what you've done in our lives, and Lord, we pray you do an effectual work of grace in others' lives whom we share the gospel with for Christ's sake.