Sigh and Cry

Okay, let us begin. Once in a while, I'd like to just start with some scriptures that kind of set the theme for the sermon. So if you bear with me here, if you'll turn with me, I should say, to Matthew 23. I'm going to read three scriptures, and I have much comment on them. And then as we go through the sermon, I think you'll see how they fit in to the message that God has prepared for today. Matthew 23, verse 37. And as we go through Matthew 23, we see where Christ is upgrading, you will, to the Pharisees for their behavior, for their actions, and for their thoughts. But at the end of the chapter, you see the human side of Jesus Christ, and you see an attitude in Him that is very, very becoming, and an attitude that He would like us to have. And verse 37, He says, So Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hand gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. See your house is left to you desolate, for I say to you, you shall see me no more, till you say, Blessed is he who comes, in the name of the Lord. Let's turn over to Luke. A few books forward. Luke 8.

Luke 8, and verse 17.

Again, Christ is speaking.

And He says in verse 17, And finally, let's go to 2 Peter. 2 Peter 3 and verse 9. A very familiar verse. 2 Peter 3 verse 9. It says, So in those three verses, as we go into the sermon today, you know, those will come to mind. They will kind of be themes that are in the background of what I'm saying. But as we go through some of the passages that we read today, I want you to think back on those three verses as they will tie together in what we're talking about today. You know, it doesn't go escaped on any of us, and maybe we're all getting tired of the situation that we live in, because it seems to take a twist and a turn every day as we go through coronavirus shutdowns and then a nation that's beginning to reopen again here in Florida. You know, things are beginning to reopen. You know, churches, I know some of them, some here in Orlando or Jacksonville, maybe wondering when we'll be getting back together for services again. We don't know when that will be, because the governor has not listed, lifted the moratorium on church meetings. That's not even part of phase two, from what I understand. But so, you know, we are monitoring that, and there are some things that we will be looking at. But even as we get to the point where we can begin to meet together again, we need to be prepared. It's not going to be the way it was, you know, back on March 7th, the last time we were together. There will be things that have to be different, because we live in a different age, and this has had an effect on meetings, it's had an effect on society, it's had an effect on all of us. And if we're really looking at it, it should have had a good effect on us. There's many things that we should learn, a lot of things that we should have grown in during this time. And we look at this trial that's come upon the nation and the world, if you will. It has been a time of growth, and a time where God is catapulting us further, or forward, I guess, in our development. And we need to look at it as a time for spiritual growth, a time to get closer to Him. You know, we've been going through the book of James in the Bible studies, as I mentioned, and I mentioned that James talks about some concepts that are for the spiritually mature, things that we need to think about. We may be thinking we're doing everything okay as we keep the commandments, to do the basic things of the true Christian life. But James points us to things that there are always something that we need to work on. If we're going to become the blameless, mature, perfect people, and I put perfect in quotes because none of us will be perfect until the time of the resurrection. If we keep that in mind, you know, there are things that we have to grow in and things that we have yet to develop in our lives.

You know, that came a time, and there's many things that we can look at and things that we might consider as we go through this time. But let's go back and look at some chapters in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Turn with me, if you will, over to Ezekiel 8.

First we have Ezekiel. He was in one of the captivity that went to Babylon, and Judah was about to fall. Israel had already fallen some hundred fifty years before this time. And God, you know, we read a few weeks ago in Ezekiel 1 about God taking Ezekiel in a vision up to his throne room. And as we come to chapter 8 and the intervening chapters, God gives Ezekiel many prophecies about what is going to happen. As we come to Ezekiel 8, we see God giving Ezekiel the vision again of his throne, but he shows him some things that are hidden, that are being done in the land, that may not be just known to everyone. But God sees everything, and he's letting Ezekiel see what kind of state the nation, God's nation has come to. Let's just read some of the verses here. Let's begin in verse 1 of Ezekiel 8.

It says, So here's Ezekiel going back up to the throne of God, re-conqueting the vision that he had before and seeing it again. He stretched out the form, verse 3, of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair. And the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. Now that's a Bible study that you can look into. See, that word jealousy, and track it through the Bible of what that could be that was there at the seat of the image.

And behold, verse 4, Another image, something that God allowed Ezekiel to see.

It means that the house of Israel commits here to make me go far away from my sanctuary. Now turn again, and you will see greater abominations. So whatever God allowed Ezekiel to see, it was an abomination to God. The elders of Judah, it says in verse 1, were sitting there before him. But here's God showing Ezekiel, there's things going on behind the scene. Ezekiel, things may look okay. People may say the right things. But God sees what's going on behind the scenes. You know, today as we sit in our homes and as we haven't been able to meet together now for over two months, you know, God sees what is going on.

He sees us gathered together here. We don't see each other every Sabbath anymore. We don't see each other, you know, much through the week as we were, most of the nation was in a shutdown period for a period of time. But God sees. He watches. And he was showing Ezekiel, look at the abominations. Look at the abominations that's going on. I see these things. There's nothing hidden that won't be revealed.

And so Ezekiel sees what's going on here and begins to see what God sees. Let's go down to verse, I think I read through verse 6, let's look at verse 7. So God brought me to the door of the court, and when I looked there was a hole in the wall, and he said to me, Son of man, dig into the wall. And when I dug into the wall, there was a door. And he said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.

So I went in and saw, and there, every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaz and Aya, the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. They are behind closed doors. They are in their secret places. Maybe they have been espousing loyalty to God or saying the right things, but behind closed doors, they were worshipping something far different than God.

They were worshipping beasts to the field and doing all the things that God said not to do. You know, as we look at America today, and the nations of Israel that God has originally blessed around the world, many things might be said that sound right, but you do have to wonder, and we see things from time to time that are done behind closed doors, what do the leaders of our land really believe?

What do they really do? What is going on? Because we know. We know. We've learned things, not just during this time, this pandemic time, and other times, that there is corruption, and it's rampant in the land. Now, we get. We get the visions, and we see sometimes behind the closed doors and think, what has this nation become? Where is it going? What are our leaders about? The same thing that Ezekiel was saying, that if we keep our eyes open, we begin to see the corruption in the land, and we see things more the way God sees. He has richly blessed.

He richly blessed Israel. He richly blessed Judah. And yet, they turn further and further and further from Him. And we live in a time that's quite similar. Quite similar, and we have no idea, but God does what the leaders of the land do and what they really believe, and what they count on.

What kind of gods do they worship? What kind of things are they looking at? What's driving their thought processes? What makes them who they are? The same type thing that Ezekiel saw. You know, one day we may understand fully, too, what went on, and see the things that God said. He looks down on a nation and sees things differently than we might. Verse 13, God said to Ezekiel, turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing. So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house, and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for temus.

Now, back in December, we talked about Nimrod, and we talked about the abominations and the things that began with Nimrod. Tamuz, if you recall, was reported to be the son of Nimrod's wife. She claimed that he was an immaculate conception, certainly the father of many of the abominations that God would talk about. And he isn't named so much today, but many of the things that began in that pagan religion back then, that was apart from God and against God, are with us still today.

And God says, look at this. Look at this. Here in my house, here in my house, there's women. Women weeping for temus. Can you believe it, Ezekiel? Do you see what they've done?

Do you see how they've turned against me? Can you believe it when you look at it? From my eyes, what is going on with the people that I have so richly blessed?

In verse 15, he said to me, have you seen this, O Son of Man? Turn again, and you will see greater abominations than these. So he brought me into the inner court, to the Lord's house. And there at the door of the temple of the eternal, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men with their backs toward the temple of the eternal, and their faces toward the east, and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

There they were. I mean, now it was clear they were worshipping another God. They were worshipping the sun God, Baal, the things that God had warned them against, the things that they knew better then. But here they were, doing the exact opposite of what God, and they had come to the point where, in secret, there they were, worshipping God. You know, we have to look and see what, you know, we might ask ourselves, what might we be doing as God sees our lives? Are we completely yielded to Him? Are we completely following Him?

And it's time that we've been apart from each other and maybe not going to work. Where are we? Are we growing closer and closer to God? Are we taking the time to reflect and see that we're obeying God the way He would want us to? Or are we drifting a little bit? Because all this didn't happen overnight with Israel and Judah. This happened over a period of time where they allowed themselves to get further and further from God.

And before you knew it, the world, the world and the nations around them had captured them. Verse 17, He said to me, Have you seen the Son of Man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence.

They have returned, for then they have returned to provoke me to anger. Indeed, they put the branch to their nose. And when you look at that little saying, put the branch to their nose, it's like they scoff at God. You know what?

It's not that important. And God says, is it trivial, Ezekiel? Is it trivial that they've done that to me? Might we look at the world around us and say, oh, it's a trivial thing. They're doing the best they can. But God looks at it, and we should look at it. And be very sorry for the way the world has become. Very sorry for what has happened to this nation over the course of the last decades, as we've seen it move further and further and further from God.

And we look at it with clear eyes on how a nation that has been so originally blessed by God has so completely and thoroughly forgotten Him that it's like He doesn't even enter their minds anymore. First they obtain, God says, this is no trivial thing, Ezekiel. Look at what I'm doing. Therefore, I will act in fury. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them. There comes a time when God realizes how thoroughly wicked mankind has become.

As it says in Genesis, the iniquity of the Amorites were complete. God would give the land of the Amorites to the Israelites. There comes a time where the iniquity is so complete that God gets to the point where He says what He says in verse 18. And closer and closer we come to that time in this age where God says the iniquity of the people is complete. And it needs to end. Chapter 9. He called out of my hearing with a loud voice, saying, Let us who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in His hand.

And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with His battle axe in His hand. One man among them was clothed with linen. You know, we see clothed with linen. It often means a man of God or an angel of God. Clothed with linen. Just like in Revelation 19 where it talks about the pride of Christ being clothed in fine and white linen. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer's encore at His side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub where it had been to the threshold of the temple.

And He called to the man clothed with linen who had the royal writers' encore to decide. And the eternal said to him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. Go through and see what the people are doing and put a mark, it's a good mark, on them of the people who sigh and cry over the abominations that are done within it. We'll come back to that in a minute. Let me finish the thought here in verses 5 through 8.

To the others, He said in my hearing, go after Him through the city and kill. Don't let your eyes spare nor have any pity. Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women, but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were before the temple, and He said to him, Defile the temple, fill the courts with the slain, go out, and they went out and killed in the city. So it was, Ezekiel goes on, while we were killing them, I, Ezekiel, was left alone.

And I fell on my face and cried out and said, Ah, Lord God, will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out your fury on Jerusalem?

See the attitude that Ezekiel had? Kind of is the same attitude God was looking for in verse 4, wasn't it? Put a mark on those who sigh and cry. Ezekiel might have been incensed. He might have been very surprised, but all the abominations that he saw that were going on, he understood why God would be angry. People had offended God, turned their back on God, you know, as it says there in the thing, they put a branch to their nose where God was concerned, like, who cares what he thinks? What is he going to do about it? We haven't seen him act lately. And yet Ezekiel's got this same sentiment that Jesus Christ did after he uprated the Pharisees. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, all I wanted to do was gather you as a hen gathers her chicks. You could see the compassion.

You could see the sorrow of what the nation had become. And you see the same thing. You say the same thing in Ezekiel. Well, let's look at that verse 4 for a moment when God says, you know, mark those who sigh and cry. You know, there's times as we've been talking about spiritual maturity that we look at ourselves and say, is that me?

You know, as we've gone through the book of James in the Bible study and look at some of those things that James takes that as, you know, we may have been in the church 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years. We have to come to the point, is that me? When God looks at me, am I at that mature level? And when God made a decree here in Judah, in verse 4, he said, you know, go out and mark those who sigh and cry. He didn't say go out and just mark those who keep the Sabbath or just, you know, that don't take my name in vain. Because at the point of spiritual maturity, if we sigh and cry, we're doing all those other things. We have the basics down. We begin to sigh and cry over the abominations of the land as we become spiritually mature. We don't look at it and just, you know, put the branch to our nose and say, oh, well, it's going to go on forever and ever. Everything will be okay. Nothing I have to learn. Nothing I have to do about it. We don't get mad and incensed and say, hey, they're going to get everything they deserve. The nation has deserved this. There isn't that type of vengeance in our hearts. There's a sighing and crying. There's a sighing and crying that comes from looking at a nation and realizing where they've come, or looking at ourselves and where we have, and taking the time to reflect on who we are and where we are and what's gone wrong and what needs to change. Let me stop because this word, sigh, we, I don't know how often we use the word sigh, but it's a notable word here in chapter 9. Actually, sigh and cry have basically the same meaning when you look at the original Hebrew words there. Let me give you the King James Version dictionary that defines sighing. It says, to lament or to mourn.

And then it gives an explanation. It says, a sigh is a single, deep respiration, a long breath. We know what a sigh is. The inhaling of larger quantity of air than usual and the sudden emission of it. This is an effort of nature to dilate the lungs and give vigor to the circulation of the blood when the action of the heart and arteries is languid from grief.

Languid from grief, depression of spirit, or weakness. When we sigh, we're not happy, we're not joyous. There's some grief that we have. There's something in our hearts that are there that we feel sorry for what's going on. Maybe sorry for what we've done. When we look at things honestly, when we look at ourselves in the pages of the Bible, and look at ourselves in that mirror, as it says in James, these people, God said, mark these people who sigh and cry. They've taken the time to reflect. They're sorry that it has come to this. It is sorry when a nation departs from God and a nation that has been so richly blessed, like Israel was and Judah was, that they come and they throw it all away by just following their own desires and doing the things that they do. It's sad when you see America and how great it was and where it is going as we look at it. And we see it depart further and further from God, and we see it descend into violence and corruption and all the things that will more clearly define our society going forward. Attitudes and ways of doing things that none of us have seen before. We find ourselves here in a period of time where we've been told to stay home from work, stay home from church services, and we have time to reflect. We have time to think. We have time to see who are we, what are we doing, and what about us. So maybe a time to sigh and cry. Let me go on and what a commentary says about sighing here in Ezekiel 9. It says, the sighing here is not just a brief exhalation of disappointment. It is an utter groaning of spirit, deeply grieving and feeling anguish over what is happening. This doesn't mean an absence of any joy and happiness in life. Rather, it means regular and heartfelt sober reflection on the state of the world and an inward groaning of how things are and how those around us have departed from God. It's a sad time when we think about that. Let's go to Mark and see. We've seen the example of Jesus Christ, but let's go to Mark 7. Let's see a few times where Christ sighed, if you will, in the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew word translated, sigh there. In Mark 7, actually there's only a few times that it's used in the New Testament. Once in Mark 7 and once in Mark 8. Mark 7 and verse 34, Jesus Christ has come from healing someone, and He looks at the people. You can kind of see as He looked around Jerusalem and He healed all that were brought to Him, you know Jesus Christ had that feeling that He was just sorry that it had come to that way, how people had gotten to that point where they were having to suffer these things they did. In verse 34, let's pick it up in Mark 7.31. Again departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, Christ came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. And then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on Him. And Christ took Him aside from the multitude, put His fingers in His ears, and He spat and touched His tongue. Then looking up to heaven, He sighed, and He said to Him, Apathah, that is, be opened. Immediately as His ears were opened and the impediment of His tongue was loosed, and He spoke plainly.

You know, there was crisis. He looked at this young man, and as he sighed and thought, I'm sorry that you've had to live your life that way. Sorry that mankind has had to suffer these impediments. But then He healed him and brought joy to his life. But it wasn't a joyous thing that He did when He was there. He was very glad to heal Him. But He was sorry as He looked at the state that that young man was in.

And as He looked at the state of mankind, maybe as He looks at our state today and our health, maybe He sighs as well and wonders what, you know, well, sorry that we are in the states that we are in. Let's look at Mark, Mark 8. Mark 8, here in the verses leading up. Now, let's just read the verses here. Mark 8, verse 8. So they ate. This is 4,000 people being fed by Christ. So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments, and those who had eaten were about 4,000, and Christ sent them away.

Immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region at Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. And Christ knew what they were doing. They didn't want to believe Him. But He sighed deeply in His Spirit and said, like, man, they just don't believe Me. They just won't listen.

They have to have everything proven to them. And He looked at the Pharisees and thought, you should know, oh, Jerusalem, or Jerusalem, all I wanted to do was help you. All I wanted to do was deliver you. All I wanted to do was make your life good. He sighed deeply in His Spirit and said, why does this generation seek a sign? Surely I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.

He just wanted them to understand. He was sighing and He was crying over the state that the people had come from, that His own people didn't even recognize who He was, and they had hardened their heart to Him. They weren't going to listen. They weren't going to pay attention. In fact, they were always looking at ways to justify why they didn't follow Him, blaming Him for this, calling Him names, even talking about the Holy Spirit, anything to not follow Him because they just wanted to do their own thing and write their own religion.

And Christ, as He looked at them, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, He sighed and cried over the state of the people. Let's go to the book of Romans here. In Romans 8, of course, we have the treatise, if you will, to the Holy Spirit. As we listen to God's call, as we hear Him, as we pay attention to His calling, as we look into the Bible and see the words of God come to life and the truth that He gives us, you know, we repent, we turn from our ways with all our heart and mind, and we yield ourselves to Him.

We're baptized, have hands laid on us, and we receive the Holy Spirit. And in verse 23 of Romans 8, it says an interesting thing about the Holy Spirit. In verse 23 it says, not only that, it talks about it in verse 22, we know the whole creation groans and labors from birth pangs together until now. There's that word groans. That's part of the definition of PSY. When you look at New Testament and Greek translations, you see, you know, the outer part of the Old Testament, PSY, sitting here in verse 23, talking about the Holy Spirit.

Not only that, but we also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. The Holy Spirit, when we let it lead us, when we allow it to grow us, when we allow God to develop us and bring us through the course of our lives to spiritual maturity, it will lead us to groan. It will lead us to sigh and cry for the abominations of the nation. We'll have the same attitude and the reflection that Jesus Christ did, the same that Ezekiel did as he watched, as he saw all the abominations of the land, and then he told God, are you going to completely destroy Israel?

Are you even going to destroy the remnant of them? And you can hear in his voice, have pity, have mercy on them. And that's what God wants to see in us, is we're spiritually mature, that we would come to the point where we recognize and we see, and we're aware of the abominations of the world around us and the way the nations live, and how those have even had an effect on us like it did with those people that Ezekiel saw in verse 8, that were doing things behind closed doors in their secret lives, that they began to become more and more like the world around them, as we reflect on what is going on around us.

As we see the writing on the walls, we see the leaves beginning to bud, as Christ says in Matthew 24. You know, let's be examining ourselves, let's be getting ready, let's watch what's going on in the world, but let's watch ourselves, too. Do we sigh and cry? Because you know God knows what's in our hearts. He knows the groans we feel. He knows it's the Holy Spirit as He looks at us, and it groans within us, that He sees that attitude that He wants us to have, the same one that Jesus Christ did.

You know, God says to Mark, Mark those who sigh and cry. Put a mark. Put a mark on them. That's this mark. That's a mark of spiritual maturity and someone who is living after God's own heart. Well, that was Ezekiel's time. You know, we could go back to the book of Jeremiah. You could be turning to chapter 26 in the book of Jeremiah. We know the story of Jeremiah. For 40 years, he prophesied and warned the nation of Judah about what was going to come.

If they didn't turn back to God, if they didn't repent, that there was going to be a kingdom from the north that would come and conquer them, they would be taken into captivity, and their lives, well, they would have lost everything they had. Their freedom, their land, all the prosperity that they had, all the good things in life, they would lead.

They would lose if they turned from God or if they would not turn back to God. And we saw how the nation treated Jeremiah. He was a man that none of us would want to have the life that Jeremiah did. He was literally alone. And as he prophesied and he said the words that God gave him to say, and you remember the many times that Jeremiah was like, do I have to say that to them?

Because it was a difficult thing to say to go out and tell people what they don't want to hear, and yet he did it. The same situation the Church of God will be in, the same situation the people of God will be in. We say what God says to say, because that's what he has called us to do to warn the nations, to preach to them, to show them what's going on, and to see if they will turn back to God.

And, you know, Jeremiah, all sorts of things were done, you know, to him. He was ridiculed. He was mocked. You know, people thought the same thing. Really, Jeremiah, I've been talking about this for 20 years or 30 years. I don't see God. I don't see anything changing, so I'm going to do what I want.

We look at chapter 26 here of Jeremiah. Read the first verse, eight verses of it. We kind of see a picture of what Jeremiah did. He was kind of living in a land at around the same time we are. You know, the time of Judah was about to expire because they simply were not paying attention to God.

And his message, the message that God gave him was going out. Chapter 26, verse 1, In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the eternal saying, Thus says the eternal, Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house. Say all the words that I command you to speak to them. Don't diminish a word. What I tell you to say, say it. Don't make it soft. Don't make it.

Just tell them what I tell you to say. And notice what God says. Look at his heart. Perhaps, perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purposed to bring on them because of the evil of their doings. You see his heart? Perhaps. Perhaps they will. If we say it long enough, because I'm not willing that any should perish, I'm just willing that I just want everyone to come to repentance, God says.

So I'll give time, and I'll keep trying, and I'll give you every chance to turn to me, because I'm not willing that any should die, but I'm willing, but I want everyone to come to repentance. Verse 4, And you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, to heed the words of my servants, the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them, but you haven't heeded, then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

Those were words Jeremiah had to say. If you don't turn to me, this is what's going to happen. The people weren't happy about it, so the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Eternal, and it happened when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking, all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, You will surely die.

They didn't want to hear that message. They hated the words that God gave him to speak. You know, Jesus Christ said the very same thing to the people of the end time. If they hated me, they'll hate you. They hate the words I'm saying. They're going to hate the words you are saying, because you are to speak the words I give you.

Well, for 40 years, Jeremiah did it. For 40 years, people disregarded. They went about their business, and they believed God really wasn't going to do anything. It wasn't even watching. Today, the message of the coming kingdom of God has gone out way back into the 1930s and 40s for a number of years.

There are many who would say, you know, we've heard that before. They've been talking about that forever. Is Jesus Christ really going to come? Has anything changed? You know, the nation is still prosperous. Is he really going to come? The same thing the people in Judah were saying about Jeremiah and his message back then. But then the end came. But then the end came, and they found themselves in captivity. They found their land gone. They found themselves the laughingstock of the world. Look what you once had, and look where you are now. The same thing that is prophesied about Israel in the end days. There will be a laughingstock among the nations. Look what you had, and look who you are now. Well, there's a whole book in the Bible called Lamentations, where the people of Judah had time, as they were in captivity, to look back on what had happened. How did we get to this point? Where did we go wrong? What happened to us? We don't often turn to the book of Lamentations, but let's take the time to read through several verses here of, well, chapter 1 anyway. And let's look at the attitude that the people had as they found that they had lost everything. They disregarded the message, they disregarded God's calling, and these were people who were God's chosen people. You know, we could look at America, and as we read through this, maybe think in your mind about replacing the word Judah with America, or Britain, or modern-day Israel, whatever, because the sentiments could be the same when people have time to look and see where they've gone wrong and what happened to them. Let's look at verse 1. Lamentations 1, verse 1. How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces has become a slave. She was great! She was looked up to, and now she's a slave! She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into captivity. Under affliction and hard servitude, she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest. All her persecutors overtake her and die her straits. The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate. Her priests sigh.

Ah, there's this grief. There's this despondency. There's this time. Ah, look what we did. We weren't paying attention. We let the time go by. Her priests sigh. Her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries have become the master. Her enemies prosper, for the Lord has afflicted her. Go through the prophecies of what will be at the time before Jesus Christ. Her adversaries have become her master. Her enemies prosper, for the eternal has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion, all her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, that flee without strength before the pursuer. All the strength is gone. It's just disappeared. In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things, how good it was in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, with no one to help her, the adversary saw her and mocked at her downfall. Boy, look at all the good times we had. When food was plenty, money was plenty, all the things that we had, and we threw it all away. And now look where we are now. Our enemies just mock us and laugh at us. We're at the bottom of the heap more than we were at the top. We were the cream of the crop. We'd been richly blessed. Look what we came to. Jerusalem has sinned gravely. Therefore she has become vile. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness. They saw what was going on behind closed doors. There is nothing that won't be revealed. And when the ugliness of a nation, the nakedness of a nation is exposed, just like Ezekiel had to be surprised when he saw what was going on, we'll be surprised and the nations will be surprised because they have seen her nakedness. Yes, she sighs. Our time finally came. Yes, she sighs and turns away. Her uncleanness is in her skirts. She didn't consider her destiny. Therefore her collapse was awesome. She didn't think about the future. She didn't think about what she was doing. She didn't listen to the words that were being spoken to her. She didn't consider her destiny. Her collapse was awesome. She had no comfort her. O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy is exalted. The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleasant things, for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you commanded not to enter your assembly. All her people sigh. They're despondent. They're downcast. They're not happy. They sigh. They seek bread. They have their valuables for food to restore life. See, O Lord, and consider, for I am scorned. Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there's any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been brought on me, which God has inflicted in the day of his fierce anger. From above he has sent fire into my bones and it overpowered them. He spread a net from my feet and turned me back. He has made me desolate and faint all the day. Once great.

Once good things happening in the city are very prosperous things happening. Now he's desolate all the day. The yoke of my transgressions was bound. They were woven together by his hands and thrust upon my neck. He made my strength fail. The Lord delivered me into the hands of those who I am not able to withstand. He has trampled underfoot all my mighty men. In my midst he has called an assembly against me to crush my young men.

The Lord trampled as in a wine press. The virgin daughter of Judah. For these things I weep. I'm so sorry it came to this. I'm so sorry I didn't pay attention to what was going on. I'm so sorry we didn't listen to the words that were spoken to us then. But it's too late. It's too late at that point because the nation's already gone into captivity. It's all been lost. My eye, my eye overflows with water because the comforter who should restore my life is far from me.

My children are desolate because the enemy prevailed. Zion spreads out her hands, but no one comforts her. The Lord is commanded concerning Jacob that those around him become his adversaries. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them. So while lamentations, we can see, is the lament of a people who lost it all in Judah.

We can see the prophecy in the future in these verses as well. When God is commanded, what is going to happen to Jacob as well? The Lord is righteous. I rebelled against his commandment. Hear now, all peoples, and behold my sorrow. My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders breathed their last in the city while they sought food to restore their life. See, O Lord, that I am in distress. My soul is troubled. My heart is overturned within me.

I have been very rebellious. Outside the sword berives, at home it's like death. They have heard that I sigh. I sigh. I'm depressed. I'm downcast. I recognize what's going on, but no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They're glad that you've done it. Bring on the day. Notice that's the opposite of what God would say when he brings his punishment. They're glad. But as we see God do the things that he is going to do to a rebellious and disobedient nation, we sigh and cry. They are glad that you have done it. Bring on the day you have announced that they may become like me.

Let all their wickedness come before you, and do to them as you have done to me for all my transgressions. For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint. You can go through, and you can read through chapter 2 of Lamentations as well, and look and see what the feeling of the people were after this happened to them. A message that they ignored or wanted to discount for 40 years, but then it finally came to pass.

And they were sorry. You know, we can look at that from a nation standpoint. We can read these words and Lamentations and take it from a personal standpoint as well. What would we do? What will we do if we ignore God? If we just take it for granted that we're okay with Him? If we think that everything is okay, but we just kind of go through life and we can say the things that sound right, we can do the things to others that look right, but God sees what's in our heart.

God's looking to see the Holy Spirit as it grows us and develops us and makes us and gives us the mind of Christ to become like Him. Now we not only obey all the commandments and be where God wants us to be and respect Him in the way He should be, respect Him in the way He should be feared, but what are attitudes and what our hearts are like? That's what He looks at. You know, sighing and crying for a nation that's departing from God and what the future holds from them if they don't turn back.

It's a good thing watching and seeing the aftermath of people who have been through and have lost everything as they've sighed and cried. You know, Jerusalem, Judah, had the very good advantage that they had the opportunity to sigh and cry. God was going to bring them back in 70 years and allow them to inhabit Jerusalem again.

But for the people of an end time, there's not that luxury. There's not that luxury of when everything falls apart, of perhaps getting back to where we need to be. Let's look over in the New Testament for a while here. And as we ask ourselves, are we getting the message of Ezekiel 9-4? Are we getting the message that God is giving us? Are we heeding His Word? Are we cognizant and aware that the end is upon us and that God is perfecting us and looking at us, wanting us to become who He wants us to become, wanting us to be in His kingdom? Are we paying attention to that? Are we coming more out of the world, or are we just kind of like the people of Judah and the people of 2 Peter 3? I think he's slack. I think it's a long time off. I think we can kind of go on for a long time. Nothing ever happens to America. She always rebounds, always, always, always. Let's look at a few things here in Matthew. Matthew 13. It's interesting. In the Gospel of Matthew, there are six or seven times that, even as I was growing up in the church, a phrase that always caught my attention appears. It appears once in the Gospel of Luke 2. We won't look at it there. But in Matthew 5 times, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 I've got that's really 7 times too. I won't talk about it today. That weeping and gnashing of teeth appear. You know, weeping is like sighing and crying, but gnashing of teeth. Gnashing of teeth gives you the feeling, this is desperate. Now we've reached a level from which there is no return. Let's look at Matthew 13 and see how Jesus Christ Himself uses that term for people who knew better. People like you and me who He has called. People like you and me who have the truth. People like you and me who have repented, who have God's Holy Spirit and who are supposed to be doing something with it. Having the faith in God and living His life and applying the things we learn. Matthew 13. Let's pick it up in verse 37. In verse 37, He gives a parable of the wheat and tares. You know, wheat is a good crop, right? Tares of the weeds, you know, and everything. So let's just read closely. I know you recognize the parable. Let's read through the words.

And you'll remember Christ said, God wanted them to become. They weren't taking it seriously. Minds were closed. We've got lots of time. As long as I do these little things here, I'm okay. God is looking for much more than just the little things that we do. Those are all important. Those all must happen. Those are all part of a spiritually mature Christian who does the things and shows the heart to God as He tells us and opens our minds to see where is it He wants us to go. He, it says in verse 42, He will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. When they're thrown in the fire, the time for reflection has passed. The time for people to look and sigh and cry about how they've lived their lives and to take the time to correct them and begin living the way God wants is now. It's not when the time, not at the end of the age when Christ returns and the wheat is separated from the tares. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth because basically there's no tomorrow. There's basically no tomorrow. Let's look ahead to verse 47 of Matthew 13. The kingdom of heaven. Christ giving His kingdom parables. The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but they threw away the bad. You can see the concept as you've seen movies and know how fishermen work things, so it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There won't be sighing and crying. At that time there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The time for sighing and crying and getting the end result of that is now. When we look at ourselves, the sighing and crying, and the sighing and crying we should be for a nation that has turned away. When we can see the abominations they commit and maybe the things that we do as well as God continues to get us to the point where we get rid of all our little gods, all our little weaknesses, all our little favorite things that we like to hold on to, but God says you will be a pure people when I'm done with you and we should be seeking that purity.

Matthew 22, verse 11.

Speaking of the... so many times Christ uses the wedding supper as an analogy for what He's doing and how His work goes. In verse 11 of Matthew 22, at the end of that, and you can read all the verses leading up to this, verse 11 it says, When the king came in to see the guests at the wedding supper, he saw a man there who didn't have on a wedding supper. How did you get in there? You need to be properly dressed. You need to be properly attired. Just like the bride in Revelation 19. So he said to the same friend, How did you come in here without a wedding garment? And the man was speechless. You almost see him gulping like, whoops! And he was speechless. And the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. His time for repentance was passed. His time for turning to God was passed. His time to do what God wants is that everyone to turn to repentance was passed. And now, for him, judgment day was there. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, many are called.

But few, but few are chosen. Matthew 24, part of the Olivet prophecy. As we go through the very many things that Jesus Christ said will occur before his return. Down in verse 48, it talks about a time that will be a good time. And people saying, Oh, Christ the Lazy is coming. We've got more time. Who knows how much time? No one knows how much time it is before Jesus Christ returns. No one knows the day and hour except him. But apparently there will be times that are good and everyone will feel kind of comfortable again. And as we've talked many times, in our time of comfortableness, in the time of peace and prosperity, that could be a time of trial as we strive to stay close to God. In verse 48, we're in that time. And an evil servant, who knows God's will, if that evil servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming. You know what? It's not going to happen for a long time. I can kind of do what I want. I can kind of relax here a little bit. My master is delaying his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and an hour that he is not aware of.

He's not watching the way he should be, because he's too concerned with the world. He's too busy carousing with them. He's too busy all involved with them. Even though we need to live in the world and make our living in the world and do the things in the world and learn the things that we need to, we need to keep our eyes on God. We need to keep our eyes focused on him as the time grows near and not allow that vision that he gives us to drift away or to fade, but to keep it front and center. The master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking in an hour that he's not aware of and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. Ah, hypocrites, say one thing and do another. Look the part, but underneath, they're not the part. Air will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The time for repentance, the time for turning to God, the time for self-examination, the time to take things seriously is now. Not. Not at that time. Matthew 25 and verse 30. After the parable of the talents, as we come down to that, verse 30 says, Christ says, cast that unprofitable servant who I gave talents to. It was my choice to give him one, two, five, ten, however many talents, but I wanted to see them, use them, to multiply them, to develop, to grow, to produce the fruit that Christ tells us God the Father is much pleased with when we produce that fruit. Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. Air will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's time now to be developing that fruit. It's time now to be putting attention to that. It's time now to be doing the things of God and not wait. Because unlike the sighing and crying that Judah was able to do after they went into captivity, for us, now is the time to sigh and cry. For the abominations of the land, for how a land has so thoroughly and continually departs from God, and even looking at ourself and sighing and crying, but then turning, turning to God. Let's go back to lamentations. You know, the warning to God was crystal clear to Judah. The warning to God to us is crystal clear. The warning to us as people in His church, the called out ones, is crystal clear. In Lamentations 3, let's begin in verse 19.

Lamentations 3 is more of Jeremiah's personal lament, his sighing and crying over what happened to Judah. Even though he was the one prophesying it, he was still sorry when he saw it happen. He wasn't running around saying, I told you so. You should have listened to me. You see, as you read through Lamentations 3, he's very sorry about what's going on. In verse 19, he says, Well, let's start in verse 16. Get a feel for what he's talking about here. Verse 16, he's broken my teeth. Speaking of God, he's broken my teeth with gravel. He's covered me with ashes. You've moved my soul far from peace. I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, my strength and my hope have perished from the Lord. I feel totally alone. I'm totally apart from him now. And he says, Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers and sinks within me. I remember that calling. I remember the closeness I had with God. I remember that he says he's not willing that any should perish, that all should come to repentance. This I recall in my mind. When I think back and I focus on God, when I take the focus off of me and what I want and I put the focus on God, what happens? Verse 21 says, I have hope. I have hope. It's time for all of us to put our focus on God, get our focus on Him and what His will is for us. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed, because His compassion failed not. Jesus Christ in Matthew 23, He showed His compassion on a people who were going to crucify Him. O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem. God wants to see that same compassion in us as we live in a land that is headed for a fate that they're ignoring.

Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed, because His compassion failed not. They are new every morning. Great, great is your faithfulness. By Him that we sing, great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I hope in Him. As we go through this time, that we're going through now, and whatever happens in the future, a week from now, two weeks from now, the country's getting back to normal, if there is going to be such a normal. Don't forget. Don't forget what God has called us to. Don't forget Him. Don't forget Ezekiel. Don't forget sighing and crying. Don't forget spiritual maturity. Don't forget returning to God. Don't forget that His mercies are always there, and He wants people to turn to Him. It has to be His way and not our way. Great, great, great are His mercies, and great, great, great is His faithfulness. Well, let's close there. We're going to... are we going to do this to Him or not? We can probably do that. Okay. I think we're going to try a Him. If we lose you, if we lose you, have a great rest of the Sabbath. If not, we'll be back for the closing prayer here in a few minutes, so...