Please open your Bibles to the seventh chapter of the prophet Jeremiah. Today, we'll begin at verse 16, we'll continue to verse 28. Jeremiah chapter seven, verses 16 to 28. Listen now to God's holy, inerrant, and life-giving word. God says to Jeremiah, as for you, do not pray for this people. or lift up a cry or prayer for them and do not intercede with me for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke, declares the Lord? Is it not themselves to their own shame? Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground. It will burn and not be quenched. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices, but this command I gave them, obey my voice and I will be your God and you shall be my people and walk in all the way that I command you that it may be well with you. But they did not obey or incline the ear, but walk in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts and went backward, not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants, the prophets to them day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. And you shall say to them, this is a nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord, their God, and did not accept discipline. Truth has perished. It is cut off from their lips. May God be praised through the reading and hearing of his holy word. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your Word, and we know that this isn't merely information about a bygone people, but it's the human condition in sin, and particularly the religious human condition. Oh, Father, spare us from the kind of message that God gave to his ancient people. Bring us to life. bear fruit in us through your word, that we might hear and obey and bear the fruits that attend salvation in your son. We pray in his name, amen. The job of a prophet was not only to preach, but also to pray. And when Israel, for instance, fell into the great sin of the golden calf in Exodus 32, Moses went onto the mountain and he interceded for God to show mercy. Or think of the time when the Lord showed Amos a locust plague that he was breeding. And Amos prayed, O Lord, please forgive. And the Lord relented concerning this. It shall not be, said the Lord, Amos 7, 3. A great moment of prophetic intervention, intercession. Prophets like Elijah, Samuel, Isaiah, and Daniel all prayed to the Lord, and the Lord heard their pleas for His people. And the Apostle Paul shows that this trend continues in the New Testament. You'll see in Paul's letter a great statement of soaring doctrine. I think of Ephesians chapter one. It's immediately followed by a period where Paul tells of the prayers that he's been giving. I've not ceased to pray for you, to give thanks to you, remembering you in my prayers, Ephesians 1.16. And so it was only proper that the prophet Jeremiah not only preach, but also prayed for that wicked generation of Judah. In fact, he prayed so fervently and so persistently that it took the Lord himself to tell him to stop. John Guest writes, does that say something about the constancy of Jeremiah? Most of us would have given up on these people long ago. For we know so little about endurance, about perseverance in anything, particularly in prayer. And yet while God heard the plea of many other prophets, he relented in his judgments. The Lord instead commanded Jeremiah, do not pray. Stop praying, the Lord told him. The Lord was so incensed by Judah's sin that he now had resolved to strike them in judgment. And therefore he first commanded an end to intercession on their behalf. Moreover, as we go on in the passage, we see that he was so provoked by their idolatry. He ordered an end to the offering of sacrifices. Those are the two halves of this passage. God's ordering of an end to prayer and an end to sacrifice. Why was that? God's Word had been so despised, the sacrificial rituals were so abused that He now refused to listen. And so this passage, Jeremiah 7, 16-28, reminds us of the great peril before everyone who closes their ears and their hearts to God's pleading in the Gospel because there comes a day When there is an end to intercession and when no sacrifice is available for the forgiveness of sins. Now we can appreciate, I think, begin to appreciate the great character of Jeremiah. When we realize that for all the frustration that he had to feel, we know he did, all the abuse that we're going to find that he was suffering, he remained devoted to prayer on behalf of these people. And he reminds us that a true minister of the gospel today not only preaches what he's urged on by the faith of a fervent congregation, but he persists also in heralding God's truth and of praying in a spirit of love for them when the people revile him. The passage before ours, Jeremiah 7, 1 to 15, records one of his most memorable sermons, the Temple Sermon, where he denounced, you remember, the people's false religion, presuming on the presence of the Lord's Temple. And we know from chapter 26 that when he preached that sermon, they were furious with him. They tried to lay hands on him and do violence against him. And yet we now find he's still praying for their salvation until the Lord himself intervenes. Verse 16, as for you, do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or prayer for them and do not intercede with me for I will not hear you. Now the reason for this prohibition against prayer was the Lord's resolve to bring judgment. And so if Jeremiah prayed for mercy, God says, I will not hear. Now the errors which brought forth God's wrath were not slight. But rather, the sins of Judah were brazenly evident. They were seen daily in the common life of the people, right before the prophet. Look at verse 17. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem? And the Lord goes on to highlight the state of piety, not merely in the high places of the palace or of the temple, but in the homes of the people, an even more significant place. And what follows reads like a joyful family outing. The average Judahite family engaging in some baking, some barbecuing, and some festive drinking. The children are gathering sticks. You remember that scene. Children are getting kindling together. Dad's trying to get the fire going. He gets it kindling. There's mom at the hearth. She's going to do the cooking. And yet this domestic scene is all in service of the worship of idols. The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger." Verse 18. And so the family worship taking place in Judah's backyards was being directed to a female deity, most likely the Mesopotamian astral goddess Astarte, also known as Ishtar. Astarte was associated with the planet Venus. She was worshipped as the Queen of Heaven. And we know that her cult spread from Babylon to Egypt around this time, clearly taking root in Jerusalem along the way, undoubtedly during the wicked reign of Manasseh a few decades earlier. And what made Astarte worship, Ishtar worship, so pernicious was that it took place in private homes. by baking loaves in the shapes of her images and then the pouring out of libations in her name. And therefore, this idolatry could escape the kind of public reformation that Josiah had enforced in the civic institutions. J.A. Thompson says this, such worship could remain hidden by its very nature. All it required was a pinch of incense, a libation, a cake in the shape of a woman, a crescent moon, or a star. The Lord's exposure of Astarte worship highlights for us the vital role of Christian women, the vital role that mothers and wives play in the spirituality of the home, that most vital nursery, either of faith or unbelief. Robert Davidson points out how this form of idolatry was especially appealing to women. He writes, she was a woman's goddess, appealing to certain basic human instincts, in particular sexuality, motherhood, and the desire to know what the future holds in stores. Similar instincts have opened the door to the worship of other female God's substitutes. One thinks inevitably of the veneration of the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. You go to a Roman Catholic church, you've probably seen the statues or the paintings. There's Mary in the center with the crown on her head. And Jesus is there. He's a little baby in her arms. And they'll say, see, it's Jesus. No, no, Jesus is not being exalted in His saving efficacy. It's Mary. It's the heart of Mary. It's the mother's tenderness. That's what we're relying on for salvation, in the piety of the people. Now, let me say that I love Mary, and I'm sure you do too. What a gal. I'll never forget her. I think often of her, saying, Edu-he-du-le-tu-ku-ri-u. Behold the handmaiden of the Lord, as the angel comes and gives that names to her, and she's the earthly mother of our Lord. What a great believer. I love her, but I don't worship her, because she's not God. She's not a goddess. Philip Ryken is right when he says the worship of Mary is not a harmless, quirky addition to the gospel. It is rather a denial of the sufficiency of Jesus and the blood that he shed for us on the cross. And you'll see goddess worship also in the modern feminist movement. which doesn't make any bones about being highly religious. You'll often hear language of the invoking of the sacred feminine in a variety of forms, and just as in ancient days, paganism as a whole will pose a distinctively feminine deity because it's an alternative, it's a rebellion, an alternative to the God who is, the God who speaks in his word, God the Father. the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And among the evils promoted by goddess worship are the breakdown of marriage, the increase of divorce, divisions in the church over the role of women. Those are rife today. A pervasive warping of normal male-female relationships, not to mention the spreading evil of abortion. You know, it's not incidental. that having confronted the people here for goddess worship before this chapter is over, the Lord is going to utterly condemn them for the practice of child sacrifice. That is not incidental at all. The despising of children and the sacrifice of them goes with goddess worship. Now a mother's heart is generally, in fact almost always, very closely knit with the hearts of her children. So in this case, the worship of this false Mesopotamian goddess, it's drawing whole families, a whole society away from God into idolatry and destruction. But in contrast, how blessed are those godly Christian mothers and what power they have to plant the seeds of a strong and lasting faith in Christ. As they teach the Bible, they read the scriptures. Oh, that's one of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see is a young mother reading a Christian storybook, teaching the Bible to little boys and girls on their laps. the prayers that they offer for their children, the beauty of their inner godly life, as Peter talks about in 1 Peter 3, 1 to 5. See, it's for this reason that the book of Proverbs concludes with excellent advice. Now, Proverbs is for everyone, but the form of literature is cast into a wisdom discussion between a father to a young son. And it's not by chance that the final parting shot, the last wisdom, is for the young man to marry a godly woman. Charm is deceitful, beauty is in vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Oh, women of excellent character and strong faith. Now this goddess worship taking place in Judean homes was utterly destructive of the nation. Look at verse 19, the Lord asked, is it I whom they provoke? Is it not themselves to their own shame? This is not to say that God wasn't outraged. Clearly he was, but his point is that it wasn't hurting him. They weren't actually accomplishing anything, this tower of Babel that they were erecting. They weren't actually assaulting heaven. They weren't dethroning him in any way. They were merely destroying themselves. They were casting themselves into a delusion. They were submitting themselves to the curse and judgment of the Holy God. You know, all through Jeremiah, we're going to see it over. We've already seen it over and over again. He makes the point that not only is idolatry wrong, simply false, things like money, power, beauty, pleasure, excitement, the things we worship today, they actually are not worthy of our veneration, our worship. Not only do they evoke anger in God, His righteous justice, but they dissatisfy us. They don't work. They don't bleed to the promises of life they give. They cause us to be deluded on our chosen road to perdition. Oh, what folly it is to turn from the Lord to idols. They were spiting only themselves. And they would only receive God's wrath. Verse 20, therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place. Notice the parallel. They pour out their libations to false God. Well, the Lord pours out his wrath. And it's not just them. The whole society will be consumed upon man and beast, trees of the field, the fruit of the ground. And so these fires set for the baking of cakes that dad was trying to get going in the backyard, they would end up kindling an eternal flame in the unending judgment of the Holy God. You know, many people read the Old Testament, they go, well, I'm really glad I'm not living back then when God was like that. Well, then don't read your New Testament. Because Jesus talks about the final judgment where every one of us will appear. And he speaks of the same fiery end for those who come before God as rebel unbelievers. Depart from me, he is going to say, you cursed into the eternal fire. Matthew 25, 41. And so here's why the Lord told Jeremiah, do not pray. Idolatry had penetrated from distant high places into the homes and the hearts of Jerusalem's families, and God had given warnings. They were unheeded, that the hearts of the people were utterly hardened. In short, the day for the opportunity of God's grace had passed. John Mackay comments, the fate of the people was sealed and so intercession now would have been improper for Jeremiah because it would have been contrary to the Lord's revealed will. Well, you know what happened to Judah can happen to people today and not merely when they die. Oh, when we die, it will happen. It is given man once to die and then comes judgment, but it can happen much earlier. that the day of grace for us will have passed if we harden our heart the way that Judah did. John Gass writes of a college friend many years ago in England who had been willing to attend the Billy Graham crusade in London and he was clearly impacted by the clear presentation of the gospel but he decided that he was going to leave the matter for later. He actually got up in the middle of the sermon and he went out the exits of the arena and as he was walking out just still Dimly able to hear the voice of Billy Graham, he heard him quote Proverbs 29 verse 1. He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed beyond healing. And that verse stopped him in his tracks. He turned back. He heard the rest of the sermon. And by the power of God, his word opened his heart. He believed. He surrendered his life to Jesus. He was saved. But the rest of his life, he would shudder at how close he was literally to eternal doom, a few more steps, and he would have been beyond hearing. What about you? Is that true for you? If you're toying with the idea of submitting to God, you'll leave the matter for later. That man's example, like that of Judah, urges all who hear God's Word to respond in faith without waiting a minute, lest unbelief should consign you to God's eternal judgment. Well, not only did the Lord forbid Jeremiah to pray for this cursed people, but he continued by speaking to them. And he tells Judah not to bother offering any more sacrifices in his name. Look at verse 21, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh. Now what does that mean? Well, the burnt offerings were those sacrifices offered for the atonement of sin. And in that case, the animal was completely consumed on the altar in the fire. None of it was left to be eaten. But now what the Lord is saying is that they might as well add the burnt offerings to the thank offerings, which the people were permitted to eat. In other words, they should not bother offering the more costly sacrifices designed to forgive their sins because the Lord had no intention of doing so. I think it's significant that while the Lord, notice how earnestly the Lord speaks, maybe severely, but earnestly, he speaks to his servant Jeremiah. Oh, but this people under his wrath, for them it is scorn and even sarcasm. He is resolved in their judgment. Why are you so particular, he asked them, about the way you offer sacrifices, since your unbelief is making the whole thing a sham? Don't you think I know that? Why don't you just go ahead and eat the burnt offerings? You might as well. They're going to accomplish nothing in the line of atonement. F.B. Huey writes, the Lord did not care what they did with the sacrifices, since all of them were unacceptable. Now some scholars have argued that Jeremiah and other prophets abolished the sacrificial rituals in the temple. But that's not true. Jeremiah himself makes clear the problem wasn't the sacrifices themselves, and you know, the various sacrificial rituals, the slaying of lambs, the offering of a bull, all involving the shedding of blood. It was a way of directing the people and their faith to the coming of Jesus, God's Son, and the blood of Christ that truly would take away our sins. There's nothing wrong with that. God appointed it. It's a necessary and good thing. The problem was the hypocrisy. in the ritual approach they had to the Lord. And Jeremiah argues this by pointing out that the sacrifices never had been intended by God to be the primary axis of His relationship to the people. Instead, from the beginning of God's covenant relationship with Israel, it was obedience to his word that was to mark out his people for his blessing. Look at verses 22 to 23, Jeremiah explains, for in the days that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices, but this command I gave them, obey my voice and I will be your God and you shall be my people. Now he's referring to those events at the foot of Mount Sinai. God, by His grace alone, it was by grace alone, He redeemed them with power from the bondage of Pharaoh. And then they were led by Moses to Mount Sinai to meet in the presence of their God. Exodus 19 tells the story. And when they got there first, Moses reminded them of the grace God had shown by delivering them out of slavery, verse 4. But then he specified what their response was to be. Listen to Exodus 19.5. It's what Jeremiah's quoting. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all the peoples. Exodus 19, 5. And it was in response to that that the people gathered at the foot of the mountain. Moses gathered them, and here's what they said. All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. Exodus 19a. This is the fundamental nature of their relationship. And the Lord responds in chapter 20 by giving Moses the tablets, the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Here's how they were to keep his covenant by obeying his voice. Now Jeremiah's point, if he looks back on this covenant relationship, was there's no mention at Mount Sinai. of sacrifices and this ritual, that comes later, it has an important part, but it's not the basis of the relationship itself. The sacrifices and rituals came later, and by the way, they came to teach the forgiveness that would be achieved through the death of Jesus, the true Lamb God would send into the world. But here's the point, but absent a faith that listened to God's Word and obeyed His commands, God never intended the performance of religious ritual and sacrifice to become the substance of his relationship with the people. And so here we discover the emphasis, not only in Jeremiah, but also in Isaiah, Amos, and Micah, other prophets. The people were to offer themselves to the Lord. They were to believe his word. They were to trust his grace. Look at verse 23. Jeremiah reminds them, the Lord commanded, walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you. And so in the case of a true faith, like the Lord demanded, well, then the sacrifices were most beneficial. In fact, people will say, how is an Old Testament believer justified? Through faith in Christ, as he was pictured in the Old Testament. How is David forgiven of the sins that he prayed for in Psalm 51? By the blood of Christ, which he's trusting, as it's pictured in the Old Testament rites and sacrifices. But absent true living faith, none of this would avail. Well, this preference, here's the point, this preference for ritual outward religious show instead of a moral, spiritual, covenantal substance, that's not just something you see in ancient Judah. Jeremiah's warning to them applies equally today to so-called nominal Christians. Are you a nominal Christian? I hope not. What's a nominal Christian? Someone who bears the name of Christ, but virtually nothing else. The C&E crowd, Christmas and Easter, that's the worst expression. But those who come to church when mom's on their back, you know, sure. But their lives bear no reflection of a living relationship, of a consecration of life in faith of the Lord Jesus. There are people in this room right now, there is no more urgent need in your life but that you would consecrate yourself in a true faith, not a nominal faith, not an outward show, not the ritual performance of Reformed Southern Presbyterianism. Family religion. No, God's rejection here applies to these are church-going people he's speaking to in Jeremiah. These are religious people. Many today attend church but live the rest of the time as if they had not. Now Jesus made this point. I think maybe Jesus' primary angle on this is the great teaching of John 15, where he described a true relationship, a saving relationship, as an organic living relationship. I'm the vine, you're the branches. That's true saving faith in Him. Whoever abides in me, he it is that bears much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing." John 15, 5. But he goes on in the next verse. See, this is what you want to make sure you are not. Those who have only a superficial, an outward, a ritual, an ecclesiastical relationship to Jesus, but not a living, saving relationship and true faith, he says that these are broken off and tossed into the fire. Jesus included, by this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and thus prove to be my disciples. John 15 verse 8. So what proves a person's salvation is not coming to church, vital as that is. but a life that is fruitful for Jesus through godly deeds. Does your life exhibit a living relationship to Jesus so that by his Holy Spirit, though you still struggle with sin, you're going to struggle with sin until you die or Jesus comes, but though that is true, nonetheless, you are bearing fruit through obedience to his word. If you cannot show the fruit of God's Spirit in a changed and changing life, well, Jeremiah warns you in these verses. Not just ancient Judah, he warns you. Don't put any confidence in outward religion, something like having received the sacrament of baptism. No, it's in this spirit that Jeremiah speaks that the prophet Samuel declared, to obey is better than sacrifice, to hearken than the fat of rams. Open your ears and your heart to the Word of God. Believe in Jesus sincerely. Now it's on these true terms that Judah was found to have broken, not kept, the Lord's covenant. They thought they were covenant keepers because of outward ritual. But look at verse 23, but they did not obey or incline their ear. They walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts. And of course, the history of the whole Old Testament is one of God patiently and graciously speaking to his people. Even when they go badly astray, read Judges. It's one cycle after another. And they go astray. He delivers them. He sends His Word. They respond by the power of His Spirit. But then they have success, and they become idolaters. And here it goes again. But God kept sending the prophets all through the long generations. But you see, what doomed this people was that they simply came to the point where they refused to listen, to believe, and repent. You know, you and I will find ourselves where we are told by God's Word. I hate to trigger you with this. We are told by God's Word that we are wrong. Don't be shocked when that happens, but you maybe have a cherished view. It's really important to you. You read the Bible and the Bible says you're wrong and God's right. You know what? That is true. And what true faith must do is say, I yield my mind. I yield all that's involved in that error that I had. I yield it on the altar of worship to Jesus Christ. Let God be true, though every man was a liar. And there will be times when you're reading your Bible and the Bible speaks of the sin to which you are addicted or which is close to your heart. And the Bible tells you, you must turn away from the sin. And it may involve a struggle, but struggle you must do. That's what true faith involves. And according to Jeremiah, our eternal destiny hangs on this issue. The question is not that between salvation by faith versus salvation by works. That's not the issue here. Rather, it's the issue between a true and saving faith versus a false, condemning profession of faith. Here's what Jesus said of true believers, My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. Do you hear the voice of Jesus in the Bible? Is He speaking in your heart? Are you following Him? Well, Jeremiah's Judah claimed to believe in the Lord. That's why they were so angry when he preached the temple sermon, denouncing their outward religion. But the Lord looked into their homes where the goddess cakes were baking. He looked into their hearts where his word had not penetrated. Look at verse 23 again, because they did not listen when God spoke, the people went backward and not forward. Now, simply reading the Old Testament will confirm the assessment being made around the year 600, probably 605, 606 BC, that things had reached a new low in Jerusalem and that the things that are going to be said in Jeremiah are things that the people of judges would have been scandalized by. By the way, there is a slippery slope. It's an unpopular term today. It's certainly unpopular in the church. When we say that, what we mean is that when you remove the authority of God's word, there is nothing to resist the downward pull of sin and you go from one disobedience to one that you wouldn't have imagined then to another you wouldn't have imagined. This happens in church denominations all the time today. It is happening in our midst. Oh, we cannot afford to remove the authority and the rule of God's word. That's what was going on, gross idolatry in Judah and Jerusalem that would have been unthinking in prior generations. What good were sacrifices for such unbelievers? The Lord explains in verses 25 to 26, from the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants, the prophets to them day after day, but they did not listen to them or incline the ear, but they stiffened their necks. They did worse than their fathers. Well, this is a slippery slope that is now being seen in America and in the once Christian nations of Europe because God's Word has been excluded from our public life. The depravity occurring today, we talk about this all the time, would have been unthinkable how many years ago? Five? Ten? Certainly 15. That's a fact that should fill us with dread for what is yet to come. And the same downgrading occurs in churches and denominations when the voice of God's Word is stilled, so that sermons no longer preach the Bible's message. Instead of the teaching of Scripture, it's the wisdom of the culture that is heard. You know, this same spiritual retrograde can destructively happen in your life if you simply allow dust to settle on the cover of your Bible, or if when you read it, you do not submit your heart to the truth of God's Word. And therefore, in this passage that begins with God forbidding Jeremiah to pray, the Lord concludes with a message that he is to give them. It's in verses 27 and 28. So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. You see, whether or not the people were listening wasn't the point. They were not, by the way. Jeremiah was to go on preaching. Now, what an instructive lesson for us today. Today, church growth wisdom is, if it's not working, find a different approach than the old tried paths of the ordinary means of grace, the preached word, prayer, reverent, God-centered worship. Oh, that's not, but you see, no, we must continue. I think the primary reason here is so that God will be vindicated when his judgment comes, because we continue preaching, his mercy will be shown even in an ungodly generation. Jeremiah's message was to label this nation a people who fell under God's curse for the simple reason that they refused to listen to and to heed his word. Verse 28, and you shall say to them, this is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God and did not accept discipline. Truth has perished. It is cut off from their lips. Well, the Lord's accusation that truth has perished should sting the ears of evangelical Christians today because much the same could be said of our churches. Mounds of data today show that large numbers of so-called Bible-believing or evangelical or born-again Christians are shockingly ignorant of basic Bible teaching. Let me quote a very recent survey of evangelical Christians. It shows that fewer than half of believing evangelical adults are able to name all four of the Gospels. Many cannot name more than two or three of Jesus' disciples. 67% of evangelical adults are not able to cite even five of the Ten Commandments. The same picture emerges about basic biblical doctrine. Ligonier Ministries publishes a biannual state of theology survey. The most recent one, 2020, shows that self-described evangelical Christians, among them, 43% denied the necessity of the new birth for salvation. 46% said that man is inherently good by nature. 42% affirmed that God accepts all worship, whether or not it is offered through Jesus Christ. Now that's a challenge that we must step up to for our children, for ourselves. The point's not the point to figure out there, but to realize the times in which we're living. There is no greater need for Christians in our generations than to know the Bible, and therefore to be taught the Bible. Al Mohler identifies the source of the problem. Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products, he says, of churches that marginalize biblical knowledge. That is undoubtedly true. And Moeller cites a marginalizing of substantial Bible teaching from pulpits. He notes the vast increase of small group fellowships which have only superficial Bible study and youth ministries that aim mainly to entertain and keep them busy. Moeller concludes, the centrality of biblical preaching to the formation of disciples has been lost. and biblical ignorance leads to Christian indolence, or worse. Well, Jeremiah addressed, let's not forget, a church-going, religious, traditional people where God's truth has perished. And in many ways, by the way, they would have been called conservatives. In many ways, they were. But God's truth had perished because his word was not listened to or heeded. And so the people descended into a spiritual adultery that absolutely demanded God's judgment. And in that kind of situation, the Lord advised them to put an end to the sacrifices they would not avail for such an idolatrous people. By application, it is the gospel today that is of no value to religious people who do not know or respond to God's Word today. Oh, we need to keep preaching the gospel. But we also need to point out what Paul said, that it is only through personal faith, your personal heartfelt embrace of Jesus, only that will bring you salvation. Faith, Paul said, comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, Romans 10, 17. Well, let me conclude by saying the most important reason why you should read your Bible and pay close attention to what it teaches is that here we meet Jesus Christ. And there is a one and the one and the true intercessor whose mediation God will never cut off. Jeremiah is one of the greatest figures of all history, excelled maybe only by John the Baptist among the prophets. And yet when Jeremiah wanted to intercede for the salvation of his generation, the Lord said, do not pray. I'm not listening to you, Jeremiah. Well, Jesus also preached to a wicked and adulterous generation. In fact, in many ways, he was a prophet in the pattern and line of Jeremiah. But God never told and never will tell the Lord Jesus not to pray. And the reason is that Jesus came as the one mediator whose life and death were given by God to make a way for sinners to be forgiven. And so even when Jesus was being crucified, there's the culmination of the people's response to the whole line of the prophets, the betrayal and the crucifixion of Jesus. And they're mocking him and scorning him. They've handed him over to the world and Jesus is praying. The cross does not stop Jesus. You know what he prayed. Father, forgive them. He was praying for you, if you believe. He was praying affectionately for the atonement of your sins. Jesus cried, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And while the Lord may reject Jeremiah's intercession, saying to Jeremiah, I will not hear you. Of Jesus Christ, the father said, this is my son. my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And so God did not forbid Jesus either to pray or to offer that sacrifice which God accepted through his blood for the atonement and the satisfaction of our sins. Well, not only did Jesus plead for the Father on the cross, you know He continues to do that today. I think one of the most de-emphasized doctrines among Christians today is the present intercession of Jesus Christ as prophet, priest, and king. If you are in Christ through faith, Christ is praying for you. He's at the right hand of the Father, and He's opening those hands, and on them are the marks of His atoning sacrifice on your behalf. One of my favorite Bible verses, I memorized it long ago, it's been a great blessing to me, is Hebrews 7.25, the never-ending priestly intercession of Jesus for me. He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. And so God never did and never will say to Jesus, do not pray. And you know what? God will no longer tell those words to us. God does not say to you in any circumstance, stop praying, give up praying, don't worry about it, cease praying, no. He tells you to enjoy the access to his throne that you have through his son, the Lord Jesus. Just the way that Jeremiah wanted to do, we are to pray for the lost, we're to keep on praying so long as we have breath. Jesus has ended the great Old Testament sacrifices. He has presented the final sacrifice in the offering of His blood. And so we preach to direct people to the cross. We pray for God to open their minds to the atoning death of Jesus. We remember His cross in our sacraments of baptism in the Lord's Supper. Well, what then will we offer to God? Well, we offer Him our praise and our prayers. We offer our lives to the Lord by walking in His ways, the way that God wanted Old Testament Israel to do. And by that means, we know that we belong to Jesus through faith alone. Because Jesus sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father in heaven, there is no end for our prayers until He returns. And even then, there will be no end to praise. From now to the everlasting years, for those who have Jesus to pray for them, for you to have Jesus to intercede for your sins. Believe in Him. Believe in the Lord Jesus. He will save you. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. In a rather penetrating look into the tendency of our lives, Father, deliver us from a hypocritical outward religion. But let our religion be true faith and belief, trusting in the Lord Jesus, followed by the consecration of our lives in the power of your spirit. And be with our generation, Lord. Cause your word to flourish. Cause there to be a great thirsting for truth among your people, a great hunger for your word. And Father, cause that word to be preached, that Christ would be believed and exalted. We pray this in his name, amen.