Jeremiah 36 in verse 1 it says, And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah even unto this day. 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. Then Jeremiah called Barak, the son of Neriah, and Barak wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which he had spoken unto him upon a roll of a book. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you again for your mercies and your grace and just another day of life and Lord we ask that you bless thy word this morning as we teach it and Lord to remind us once more of the importance of your holy word the sacredness of thy word Lord and we would have a love not only for you oh God but a love for your holy word that thy word would working our life to cause us to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even as David would say, Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. And so God, bless Thy word this morning. Speak to our hearts. In Jesus' name I ask. Amen. So we come to this important chapter in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 36, titled The Sacred Word of God. And again, just a reminder, this is not in chronological order. This will take us back to the year 605 B.C. In the past few chapters, it was basically like 586 B.C. when finally Nebuchadnezzar comes. It's the last time to Jerusalem and utterly destroys it. But this takes us back a few years, back in 605 B.C., when the Lord instructed Jeremiah to write down all the words that were given to him regarding Israel, Judah, and even all the nations. And even in the aspect of history, that year 605 BC was very important because that's when the Babylonian Empire became very powerful as they defeated the Egyptians and the Assyrians in the Battle of Carchemish. And now we're the main rulers in the world, which is also a fulfillment of the word of God, from Daniel chapter 2 and chapter 7 that God was going to rise up four powerful kingdoms that will rule the world and this was basically the beginning of it. And this year again 605 BC as Nebuchadnezzar became the world ruler he started to invade Judah and he forced Jehoiakim to surrender to him as a nation to Babylon. And so this is what we find here. And in the midst of this, God tells Jeremiah to write these words upon a scroll. And it was for a very important reason, and we'll see in a minute. But it also was kept for us that we would have it even in our day. This was the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign. And it was also about the 23rd year of the Prophet Jeremiah and his ministry. And when you think about it, he started as a very young man. Now he's about 43, I would say, because I believe he was about 20, somewhere in there when he first started. And I think, imagine all the messages that he has preached in 23 years to this nation, and yet they would not. But this particular year, because of what's going on in the world and things are changing now, God tells Jeremiah specifically to take these words, put them in a row, okay? And so in verses one to four, we have the recording of God's word. And this is what we have before us this morning. God amazingly instructs him to make sure that this is written in a scroll, in a word, whether they were written on papyrus or parchment, and then they were put on wooden rollers. And it will take some time to write all of this with ink. You gotta let it dry before you roll it a little bit more, then you let it dry. And it's amazing when you think about it. And some believe it took three, four, five months for all of this to be written and set forth. We're told why God did this in verse three. The commandment's real clear. The word of God came to Jeremiah, verse two. He's commanded to write it down. But then verse three tells us, it may be. I'm amazed by that phrase because I love that phrase. It's a phrase that is applied many a times to God's people, that it may be that the Lord would turn. It may be. Even David said these words, it may be. the little boy that was in the womb of that Shiva. It may be that God might do something but it's amazing now that God is using these words for people. God says you go and you preach these words, you write these words down to be read in the city at the temple gate and God says 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. That again shows the extreme longsuffering of the great God of heaven. Remember, I remind you, he's already been preaching through, or I should say, Jeremiah's been preaching 23 years, and yet God is still being merciful to the people, extending his mercy. that it may be. Oh, I love that. I love it when it's used by men, but that God would use that toward men. And then again in verse four, it says, then Jeremiah called Barak, the son of Nariah. And Barak 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 so in 605 BC, these words are written. God was gonna use it for his honor, for his glory. God chose this man, Barak, who was a friend of Jeremiah that had helped him in the prior chapters. But this young man, Jeremiah, excuse me, young man, Barak, he was the grandson of Messiah, who was one of the governors that was under the king, Josiah, which was Judah's last good king. And so this was a very, for lack of a better term, a noble man, because he was also the brother of a man named Saria, who was the staff officer of the king. And God uses this particular man who knew Jeremiah, and this man submitted himself to this, to start to write. Remember, God didn't call the scribes. He called this man Barak, to specifically write these word down, and he'll bathe, and he did it. And it's amazing when you think about it. Here you have Jeremiah, he's saying all these words which we believe God put in his heart, and everything that is dictated to Barak, he writes it down, word for word, upon a scroll. We know that in the New Testament we do have more light that teaches us about the Word of God, since all scripture is given by inspiration of God. and for the purpose that is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness. But then also Peter would tell of their first, or excuse me, second Peter one, says, notice first in the prophecy of scripture is a private interpretation for the prophecy came not in no time by the will of man, but a holy man of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And here we see a glorious type and picture of this, that God moved upon Jeremiah. to speak these words and then Barak would write these words as God would have him to say. And so in verses one to four, we see the recording of the word. And then in verses five to 10, we have the readings of the word. Not only did he write these words down, but now Barak is gonna go and read these words to the people at the temple. Whenever this was, and it was a few months later, When all the words were finally recorded, finally, Barak goes to the temple gate, the specific place, and he begins to read the word of God to them. He doesn't preach, he doesn't act, he doesn't expound. He just reads verbatim. the Word of God. It says there verse 5, And Jeremiah commanded Barak, saying, I am shut up. I cannot go into the house of the Lord. Therefore, go down and read in a row. Jeremiah was not allowed to go into the temple gate anymore. He was barred from that area because of his Preaching. As a matter of fact, keep your finger there. And I want to take you back to one of Jeremiah's powerful sermons in the Temple Gate. Turn all the way back to Chapter 7. In Jeremiah 7, it says, The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim, This word and say here the word of the Lord all ye of Judah that enter at these gates to worship the Lord Thus say the Lord of hosts the God of Israel a man your way that is repent And you're doing and I will cause you to dwell in this place trusty not a lying word saying the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord and You know, it's no different than today that people like to use that phrase, praise the Lord. You know, somebody, oh, praise the Lord. They're just words without substance. People just being religious and nothing more. But if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, and he continues all the way down, reproving them, rebuking them. Matthew even tells them, down in verse 12, to go to my place, which was Shiloh. He said, well, I first set my name before the people. And he just continues preaching the word of God real powerfully. And because of sermons like this, Jeremiah was barred to no longer go to the temple gate by the Lord's house. Excuse me. and preach the word of God. And this is why Barak is given this duty here. Again, Jeremiah 6 verse 5, And Jeremiah commanded Barak saying, I am shut up. I cannot go into the house of the Lord. Therefore, go down and read in the world Notice again, now Jeremiah uses it. that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every man from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord pronounced against this people." And again, Jeremiah used a specific time when they were going to do this. He told Barak to basically wait until the fast day, because in the fast day, all the people would come into the city. And apparently the king, Veracaya had called for a fast day because now they knew that Nebuchadnezzar was coming toward Jerusalem. And so there was a national day of fast. And so it was that particular day that he goes to read. the word of God verse 8 and Barak the son of Nariah did according to all the Jeremiah the prophet commanded him reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house and he came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah In the ninth month that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem, Dan read Barak in this book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the chamber of Jeremiah, the son of Shaphan, described in the higher court at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house in the ears of all the people. Again, the prophet Jeremiah, the messenger is Barak. He goes and he reads right in the middle of the town in the temple. And again, due to Jeremiah's strong preaching, he was barred from those places anymore. He couldn't go back there. So he picks a specific day, the fast day, when again, the largest number of people would be in the city. And again, just keep in mind why the fest was called, the turmoil that was in the city, the fear that was in the hearts of people, the distress. They had no clue when the army of Nebuchadnezzar would come upon the city gates. And, you know, hanging over them in this fear of impending doom and destruction. And, of course, through it all, Jeremiah was hoping, it may be, hoping that these people would finally hear the word of God, repent, and then the Lord would turn. But what he had said, he was going to do. But sadly, we already know the end of the story that they did not. They did not repent of their horrible sins. And so the Lord was gonna pronounce judgment upon them. Again, if they had repented, the Lord would have removed his judgment. And so again, we have Barak was so faithful. He did exactly what Jeremiah asked him to do. He did it again in the ninth month of Jehoiakim's reign. A national day of fasting was proclaimed. Everyone was there basically at the temple and they heard the word of Barak as he publicly read the word of God and no doubt with great power. And there was an official by the name of Jeremiah who, Jeremiah, Jeremiah, I can't even say it, it's great, Jeremiah, I did it in verse 10, who allowed Jeremiah, or excuse me, Barak, to use his place to stand before the people and read the words of Jeremiah. Think about it, a group, a large group of people are there You know, it's like right now, this is not the best analogy, but nonetheless we know there's fiesta. And you go downtown and there's people by the phones everywhere. Unbelievable. This is the idea, it was a fast, people came together, there was a lot of people, and it was the best time to read the Word of God. And we're that man was, he was able to speak the word of God in power, so all those that came to the fast would hear. And then in verses 11 to 19, we see the response to the word of God. Again, it says in verse 11, when Micaiah the son of Jemiah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all of the words of the Lord, then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber, and Lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishamah, the scribe, the Lila, the son of Jemiah, and Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and Jemiah, the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. Then Micaiah declared unto them all the word that he had heard when Barak read. the book in the ears of the people. Therefore, all the princes sent Jehudi, the son of Taniah, the son of Shalamiah, the son of Cushi, unto Barak saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Barak, the son of Nehariah, took the roll in his hand and came unto them. And they said unto him, Sit down. and read it in our ears. So Barak read it in the ears, in their ears, excuse me. Now it came to pass when they had heard all the words, they were afraid. I think it's the first time that we read in the book of Jeremiah that it had an effect on them. They were convicted to a degree. They were afraid, both one and the other, and said unto Barak, We will surely tell the king of all these words. And they asked Barak, saying, Tell us now, how dost thou write all these words at his mouth? Then Barak answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. Then said the princes unto Barak, Go hide thee, and thou and Jeremiah, and let no man know where ye be. And this, again, the response to the word of God. I guess we could say that the response of these officials in Jerusalem was unexpected. Again, they were stricken with fear. They were afraid. They trembled at God's word. Again, this is to a degree surprising, totally unexpected. You think about it. Jeremiah had been preaching for 23 years. And he's basically been preaching the same message again of what? Of gloom and doom. And it finally had an effect on these officials. They came under some sort of conviction because they were afraid. They were stricken with fear. Convicted. And at least they had the understanding that apparently the king had to hear these words. But because they knew that the king hated Jeremiah, and that's why they told Barak to go and hide himself with Jeremiah, because they basically expected that the king might not like what is being said in those words. At least they had an understanding, but they saw the importance that they had to bring this before the king. And they came as those officials, those high officials of the city. And we just read there that there was a scribe. God didn't use the scribe. God used Barak. That's amazing when you think about it. To write the word of God. And so these men are going to go to the king. And they're going to tell him what Jeremiah has said, through the Lord their God. For the meantime, Jeremiah has told you go and you shut yourself up and you hide both him and Moron. I believe to this degree, the leaders recognize that Jeremiah was a prophet of God. Whether they did before or not, I don't know. But at this point, I believe they believe that this man has something to say. And so they're gonna go to the king. And again, I do like the faithfulness of Baroque because I think he knew also that he might be in trouble because he is dictating, excuse me, he is writing the words that are being dictated to him. So he's writing these words and these are the words that he's gonna tell the people and he realizes these are pretty hard words. Strong word. So from that perspective, I thank God for a man like Barack being faithful, proclaiming God's word, not being afraid. And we must, again, be no different in proclaiming God's word. We must proclaim the word of God, not just a favorite verse or not that which is convenient, but let's say it, the Lord. And we know that this morning many churches will hear the gospel of love. And there's nothing wrong with that. God is love. And the whole aspect of sending his beloved son is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his love. But that's all it is. Just love. They never preach on sin. They never preach on repentance. They never preach on righteousness. They never preach on those things because they know it's going to affect the people. Either it's going to offend them. It's going to make them upset. It's going to make them angry. And they might even lose some people because of God's Word being constantly preached as the Word of God sets forth. So it's no different in our day, and that's why I have to admit, I give props to this man, Barak, that he knew what he was gonna say, because he wrote those words. And he did it, and he was faithful to the end, and he didn't change up the message for anything. And so may God help us and remind us that we are to proclaim, as Paul would say there, acts, the whole counsel of God. Okay? And now the response of the king in verses 20 to 26, which is the rejection of the word of God, the rejection of God's word. At verse 20 it says, and they went in to the king, into the court, and they laid out the in the chamber of Elisha-ma, the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. So the king sent Jehidi to fetch the roll, and he called it out of Elisha-ma, the scribe's chamber, and Jehidi read it in the ears of the king and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in his winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire on the hearth burning beforehand. And he came to pass. When Jihadi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with a penknife and cast it into the fire. That was on the fire that was on the hearth until all the wool was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, Neither the king nor any of the servants that had heard all these words. Nevertheless, Nathan de la Haya Jeremiah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll, but he would not hear them. But the king commanded Jerahamiel, the son of Hamelech, the son of Azriel, and Shalamiah, the son of Abdiel, to take Barak, the scribe, and Jeremiah, the prophet, but the Lord hid them. Wow. Others heard the word of God. In effect, the same group of people, of officials, who took the word to the king, they trembled at the word of God. The same words are read to the king, and he's warming himself by the fire, toasting marshmallows, everything going well. The word of God is read to him, and he cuts it up. My, my, my. Well, things haven't changed, my dear one. People still want to cut up the word of God. One of the dangers that came out of the Enlightenment period, 1800, was known as higher criticism. And I understand there is a place for higher criticism and that's it, but when they start attacking the Word of God so much, that's amazing. You change it up. It's amazing when you, I'm going to say this very carefully, when you look at some of these translations, you'd be surprised some of the things that have been changed, that are very clear cut in the Word of God. Amazing when they take out the blood of Christ. Amazing when they take out things like that. But nonetheless, many, they like to cut up the Word of God. I like this part, I don't like that part. That's convenient, this is not convenient. One who perhaps not literally cuts up the Word of God, but spiritually cuts up the Word of God is Joel Osteen. He cuts out of the Word of God anything that has to do with sin. He cuts out anything that has to do with repentance. He won't preach those things. It's amazing when you think about it, where people pull out of the Word of God Instead of what Paul says, it is hard. We must preach the whole counsel of God. And I admit some things are very hard to preach, but if the Lord says preach it, you're going to preach it. You should preach it. And this King, instead of even considering, wondering should I take heed to what is being said or whatever, cold, cold heart just cuts up the Word of God and throws it in the fire. Think about how many times we witness to people and share with them the Word of God and they take no interest, they don't want to hear it. It might be at work, it could be family members, they don't want to hear what the Word of God has to say. They just want to hear about love, they want to hear that when we all die we're going to heaven and that's it and well that would be great if that was true. But it's not. And again, we've been preaching on Sunday nights, you know, so many hear a false gospel. When they left, they cut up the Word of God. And amazing, when you think about it, this king here, amazing, he had great light, Jehoiakim. He had heard the Word of God. not only from Jeremiah, but even from Josiah. It's not like this man was ignorant. He had light regarding the word of God, regarding, you know, but he acted no different than Pharaoh. Though this man had more light than Pharaoh. Remember when Moses again went to Pharaoh, there in Exodus 5, to let my people go? Who is the Lord? that I should obey Him. I know not the Lord. Jehoiachin might not have said those words, but he acted like he said those words in Wordlet. The Word of God is read to him like, what is this? I don't know this. And he just throws it away like it's no big thing. I'm not going to obey the Lord. I don't know the Lord. Unbelievable. What an awful awful response to the Word of God. Remind me again, and I've shared this with you before in the past, but I think we're competing right here. Again, right at the turn of the Enlightenment period, a very famous philosopher, or as A.W. Tozer calls them, philosophers, that a famous philosopher by the name of Voltaire, which is not really his name. You go look it up. Voltaire hated the word of God, hated Christianity, and resolved in his heart that he was going to destroy Christianity. Might be, you know, those words there in Romans, they profess themselves to be wise. They became fools. And so it brings us to that brilliant fool, Voltaire, the famous French philosopher, who no doubt was a great infidel. He was wicked, despicable, and always made remarks about God, about Christ, about God's word. Even one time he said about the Lord Jesus Christ, curse that wretch. And this is what happens, as he said in Romans 1, when an individual, even like kings, so I can hear. They suppress the Word of God. They hold down. They might not cut it, they might not burn it, but they still hold it down. They don't want to hear it in any form, shape, or manner. And one of the reasons they do this is to justify their unrighteous behavior, their lifestyle. And therefore, what they see as good, they call evil, and what they see as evil, they call good. Again, we'll tell lords in the period of history called the Enlightenment, called the intellectual time of history known as the Enlightenment. But one writer says this, quote, in regard to what transpired during the time regarding Christianity and the Holy Word, what a sad oxymoron, the age of reason gave birth to the fact to the age of fools, unquote. And at that time, deism was very popular, and it's still popular in our day. It was a popular worldview of the Enlightenment. Deism only acknowledges the existence of God. but they don't recognize God's involvement in creation or in the aspect of providence. They might even acknowledge that God created, but God's not involved in the affairs of the world. In other words, to the deist, God is like a giant, or if you want, a cosmic watchmaker. But he's not involved in it. He's not involved in it one bit. God does not intervene in the affairs of man. And so deism was sweeping Europe along with the Enlightenment. In the midst of this sweeping epoch, Voltaire proclaimed that within 50 years, Christianity will be destroyed and forgotten. That Christianity will be a thing in the past. He says, quote, I will show you how one Frenchman can destroy within 50 years. In 20 years, Christianity shall be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice that took 12 apostles to rear, unquote. And as I said before, God must really have a humor. God must really have a sense of humor. Because people might say, ironically, but I say providentially, 20 years after the death of Voltaire in 1778, the Geneva Bible Society purchased his house in order to print Bibles for Europe. He became the headquarter for the British and Foreign Bible Society. And the Bible still is a bestseller. And you can find Voltaire's sixth volume set for about 90 cents here and there. Voltaire suppressed that threefold witness of God to the point of even ridiculing the aspect of death and after death. The three things in Romans 1 that we preach on many times, the commandments, which is the word of God, the conscience, and creation. My, my, my. He suppressed all of that. And I can assure that today Voltaire knows assuredly that there is a living and true God. Right. But as with all men, he finally faced death. And if he faced death, he realized some things, but they were a little bit too late. You see, all of us are going to face death one day. And then what? Because I can assure you, when you know you're going to die, nothing's going to matter except what happens to me after I die. The things of this world, you could care if the Spurs win or lose, or who wins the Super Bowl, or whatever, or your favorite movie, or your favorite this, or whatever. Nothing will matter to you at all. How do I stand before God? On Voltaire's deathbed, one writer put it this way, quote, Voltaire had some of the most intelligent revelations as he began to no doubt, to doubt, excuse me, his doubts. Many skeptics follow his suit, but to do so long before they draw their last breath, Voltaire apparently began to question, and this time correctly, whether there might be in fact a heaven and a hell, because he used to mock that all the time. All is said, after all that was said and done, he clearly understand what would be his eternal address. And right before he died, he would cry out, I wish I'd never been born, unquote. St. Ryders says, quote, Volterra in his deathbed addressed his apparently Christian doctor, Trocan. I am abandoned by God and by man. I will give you half of what I am worth if you give me six months of life. Doctor said, I cannot even give you six weeks. And then Voltaire replied, then I will go to hell. That was some of his last utterances that he cried out. I'm abandoned by God, I'm abandoned by man, I shall go to hell. Oh Christ, oh Christ, oh Jesus Christ. And not long after that, he took his last breath. Amazingly, the nurse that attended Voltaire's on his deathbed, He said, quote, for all the wealth of Europe, I would never see another infidel die, unquote. What a sad ending for a very intelligent man. But he became too wise for his own soul. Wouter professed to be wise, but in the end, he died a fool, a brilliant fool. And this king here was no different. He thought he could just cut up the word of God, burn it, and it's done away with. But no, no, my dear ones. Because in verses 27 and 26, we have the retaining of God's words. Because it says in verse 27, Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the road. And the words which Barak wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, take thee again another road, and write it in all the former words that were in the first road that Jeremiah the king had burned. Oh my, my, my. That is powerful when you think about it. So they, or I should say, the Word of God was written again because the Word of God will be retained, that it will be preserved forever. And then sadly, the conclusion, the rod of God's Word in verses 29 and 32. And again, fathers, I remind you that your sins will affect your children and your children's children. Don't ever forget that. Your actions will affect your children. Verse 29, And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord, Thou hast burned this world, saying, What hast thou written therein? Saying, The king of Babylon shall surely come and destroy this land, and shall cause to seize from that land and these. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out into the day, to the heat, and to the night, and to the frost." Just like he treated the Word of God, God was gonna deal with him. Remember King Zedekiah? What did God tell Zedekiah? You're gonna die in peace. Oh, not this king, because of what he did. Verse 32, excuse me, verse 31, and I will punish him and his seed, there it is, and his servants for their iniquities, and I will bring upon them, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah all the evil that I pronounced against them, that they hearken not. Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Barak, the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book, which Jehiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire, and there were added beside unto them many like words, because the word of God would not be destroyed. This king could not destroy it, Satan cannot destroy it, nobody can destroy the word of God. It is eternal. The word of God is settled in heaven, the psalmist says. So you can't destroy it here. Now you can destroy the physical aspect that has the word of God in it, but as far as the word of God itself, it will go on forever. It is eternal. But this action cost this king dearly. His sons would not succeed him on the throne. His body would be cast aside, cast away, as he did God's word. And not only his children, his officials, even the people will suffer, or suffer, excuse me, for the judgment because of their wickedness. My, my, my. No doubt the blessings were bestowed upon Barak and his family, but not to this king. Jesus Christ says very clearly, verily, verily, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, one tittle. You know that little jot and tittle, in the Hebrew, in the Greek, the little lines on top for the accent, you know, a little jot, a little tittle. Not even that will pass away. One jot, one tittle, shall in no wise past from the law to law be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. 1 Peter 1.25, But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word by the gospel is preached unto you. Again, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharp within any two-edged sword, piercing even what to the dividing ascender. providing to the death of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and as the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That's how powerful the word of God is. Psalm 119.89, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. If it's settled in heaven, it cannot be destroyed here upon earth. Yes, my dear ones, the grass withered, the flower faded, but the word of our God shall stand forever. That is the truth and that is the end of what is the aspect of what we're taught here in Chapter 36 of Jeremiah. Let us make sure that we have a love and a respect for the Word of God and not take it lightly. Because if God doesn't take it lightly, we ought not to take it lightly. We are to love of God and we are to love His Word also. May God add to the teaching. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you again for your mercies and goodness. And thank you, Lord, for putting in our hearts a love for your word. In the last estate, Lord, we were no different than this king, that you had done something for us. You took out the old heart, put a new one. And yet, as we all hear this morning, you wrote your word in our hearts, Lord. And we'd forever be thankful for that. And so God, help us to love thy word, read thy word, preach thy word, but better yet, obey thy word. And so God, may you add to the teaching of thy word this morning. In Jesus name. Amen. Let's take a break.