Christ's Compassion for the Condemned, Part 1

Let me pray with you. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for a chance to study the word of the Lord. Thank you for the promise of eternity. Thank you for the time that one day we will stand before the throne of God and worship and praise your name forever. Thank you for those who have gone on ahead of us, because Lord, they have paved the way and showed us how to live and die for Jesus Christ, our Lord. Today, Lord, as we study your word, teach us that we might know the way that we should live our lives.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. If you have not been with us, this is where we've been for the last five or six years. We've been out of Luke for several weeks, but we're going to get back into it today and stay here for quite a while, Lord willing. That's the plan. Luke 13. We're going to look at two verses today and next week and the week after and the week after that and the week after that.

Just two verses. Two verses that are packed with power. Two verses that help us understand our God in a very unique and special way. Two verses that help us understand how God deals with people, how God saves his people, how God judges his people, and the compassion that he has and the passion that he has. Let me read them to you.

Luke 13, 34 and 35. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you would not have it. Behold, your house is left to you desolate and I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord, speaking in Luke chapter 13, reveals to us his compassion, reveals to us his condemnation, reveals to us his conversion of the nation of Israel.

He reveals to us his pathos, his empathy, his passion. He reveals to us his punishment and the prophecy surrounding that punishment. He reveals to us his promise to a nation that he calls his people. To understand Luke 13, 34 and 35, I want to read to you John chapter 1 verses 9 to 11. It will serve as a introduction. There was the true light which coming to the world enlightens every man. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him.

The glorious gospel of John is about the incarnation of God, the enfleshment of God and John sets out to prove that Jesus is God in the flesh and this gospel that identifies Christ as God is the gospel that portrays to us the rejection of the people of God. And the bible says very clearly that he came unto his own.

That own is specifically referring to a place, the world it could be, the world that he created but more specifically a unique place, the land of Israel. It's called the promised land, land given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The land promised way back in Genesis chapter 12 that God would give to Abraham and his descendants a specific land. This is that land. It's a very strategic land. It's a very special land. It's unlike any other land and so he came to his own place and specifically he came to the land of Israel.

He came to the promised land. He came to the city of Jerusalem. He came so that he might die on Mount Moriah because truth be told that place, that particular place is the original garden of Eden. You might not think that's true. You might not understand that. That's another sermon for another day but that's exactly what Mount Moriah is. That's exactly what Jerusalem is. It is the original garden of Eden. If you've been with us to Israel when you stand on Mount Moriah we tell you why that place is the garden of Eden and when you leave you leave convinced that you have just landed in paradise because that's exactly where it is but most people don't understand that.

That's why he came into his own. He came back to a very specific place, not just any place. He came to the promised land and when he came into his own place his own people did not receive him. In fact they wanted nothing to do with him and that's what John's gospel is all about. It's about the reality of Israel's rebellion and their rejection in the midst of overwhelming evidence that Jesus is their Messiah. He came into his own and his own did not receive him. In the midst of overwhelming proof that Jesus is God they rejected him.

They did not want him as their Messiah. Notice it says he came into his own. If you go back to the Old Testament there's a very unique phrase that defines Israel. It's the phrase my people. In fact you can go through the Old Testament and circle that phrase my people over and over and over again. By way of example book of Exodus third chapter seventh verse and the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt.

Verse number 10 therefore come now and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people the sons of Israel out of Egypt. There is only one people group that God has called my people and it's not Americans. It's the Jewish nation. He calls them specifically my people. Again in chapter six verse number seven then I will take you for my people and I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brought you out from under the burdens of Egypt. Then over in Psalm 50 the Lord God says these words to the nation hear oh my people and I will speak oh Israel I will testify to you I am God I am your God.

All through the book of Jeremiah Obadiah Micah Hosea Isaiah it's my people my people my people. He came into his own in his own did not receive him his own people. He came to the Jewish nation but the most amazing thing about that is that even in the midst of Israel's rebellion in the Old Testament and their rejection of God in the Old Testament he still called them my people and to me that's just utterly amazing. In fact turn with me to the book of Jeremiah Jeremiah chapter 7 verse number 25.

These are the people of God. Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt. Remember we read that in Exodus chapter 3. I'm coming down to my people I'm going to deliver my people. He says since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day I have sent you all my servants the prophets daily rising early and sending them yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear but stiffen their neck they did evil more than their fathers I sent you my prophets I sent those messengers who would come and speak to you the truth and I would send them to you daily and you would not listen to them you stiffened your necks.

Then over in Jeremiah chapter 17 it says yet they did not listen or incline their ears but stiffen their necks in order not to listen or take correction. That verse is a summation of the history of Israel. God would send them messengers they would not listen they would stiffen their necks and they would rebel against his authority they would not take correction. In fact over in the book of Hosea the fourth chapter it says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge I also will reject you from being my priest since you have forgotten the law of your God I also will forget your children.

Hosea had a unique ministry he was a man whose whose wife committed adultery and he had every right to leave his wife and divorce his wife give her a bill of divorcement and the Lord God said you can't do that Hosea because you have to picture to the people of Israel my people my commitment to them you go after your adulterous wife you pay her bills you take care of her you end up buying her back from the slave market and you take her as your own because that's the picture of what I'm going to do for my people Israel and he says to the prophet Hosea my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge and so you'd send them messenger after messenger prophet after prophet that they might turn and come back to him and yet they would not they would stiffen their necks and so the Lord God sent his son the ultimate prophet the glorious prophet he would send his son to Israel to his own people and they rejected him Israel in the days of Jesus were just like their forefathers they stiffened their neck hardened their heart rejected their messiah would not receive anything that he said and then crucified him in fact the Bible says in the book of Matthew the 27th chapter crucify him they said his blood should be on us and on our children and he came into his own and his own did not receive him they would not accept him they would not listen to him they did not listen to the prophets of old and yet God would send them to Israel daily and so he sent his son the Lord God and they wouldn't receive him either and so Peter and James and John would keep taking Israel back to that fact that this one you crucified delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God you nailed to a tree your messiah came to you and you nailed him to a tree you would not listen to what he said you rejected your messiah you would not receive him as your king he came to his own and his own received him not but the great conjunction but to as many as received him to them gave you power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name his name is his character his nature those who believe in who he is not just his saviorship not just his messiahship not just his lordship but it includes his kingship it includes everything about him but as many as received him to them gave you power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name that is what the Lord God did he came into his own they would not receive him but of the own that did not receive him there was a remnant who believed him and did receive him and they became the children of God and that leads us back to Luke chapter 13 so go back there to Luke chapter 13 with me just for a moment it takes us back to these two verses oh Jerusalem Jerusalem the the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her that's what Israel did that's what Israel did how often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you would not have it behold your house is left to you desolate now you'll notice that the word desolate is in italics that would mean that it's not in the original in other words Jesus didn't say that he said your house is left to you in Matthew's account later on at the end of his ministry he says your house is left to you desolate here he didn't say it but it means the same thing in other words your house not my house your house when he came early on in his ministry in John chapter 2 he told them not to make my father's house a den of thieves at that point it was still his father's house at the end of his ministry it was no longer his father's house it's your house for in my father's house my father is worshiped he's honored he is glorified in your house you are honored you are glorified your house is left to you in other words you're on your own I am abandoning you it is over I'm done I came into my own my own received me not your house is left to you in ruins and our Lord begins to show us his response to Israel's rejection and yet his response is all encompassing and so we'll spend some weeks in these two verses to understand exactly what it was that was going on in the mind of Christ as he would he would say these words to those who were listening your house is left to you desolate it's over it's done I am abandoning you it's almost as if it's a prophecy because it is shortly after the death of Christ in 66 AD there were some zealots in Jerusalem who rose up against Rome because they were tired of the oppression Rome fought back with a vengeance and under the governor Titus Rome came against Jerusalem and destroyed the city plundered the temple and killed 1.1 million Jews crucifying most of them Josephus tells us that that in his book the histories and in antiquities of the Jews that they would have crucified more Jews had there been more wood to crucify them on they slaughtered the nation they massacred the nation they killed women children and crucified most of them it was the fulfillment of what Jesus said in Luke chapter 19 a few months later in his ministry when he says these words if you had known in this day even you the things which make for peace verse 41 but now they have been hidden from your eyes for the day shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you and surround you and hem you in on every side and will level you to the ground and your children within you and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation the messiah came into his own and his own did not recognize him they rejected him they would not receive him instead they rebelled against him and this was the city of peace Jerusalem that's what it's called the city of peace and our Christ and the Lord says oh Jerusalem Jerusalem your house is left to you desolate it's over I am abandoning you from this day forward and there would be Jews who would be saved but as a nation there would be no national salvation until it says they say blessed to see you comes in the name of the Lord but that's later that's not now he came into his own and his own received him not you know the Jewish nation they have experienced for over two thousand years now persecution holocausts massacres tragedies bombings and they understand the old testament to some degree they know that God is their savior they know that God is their shield their protector their provider their shepherd they know all that and yet there is a great bewilderment in the nation of Israel as to the fact that if God is our shield and God is our protector and God is our savior and deliverer why is it we go through such horrific times and the answer is rather simple he came into his own in his own received him not he said I am abandoning you I am rejecting you it's over why simply because they would not listen to the voice of the Lord that's why they would not listen to the voice of the Lord they refused to bow in submission to Christ the Messiah and now he says it's over it's like Luke 13 verse six a certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard when he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any and he said to the vineyard keeper behold for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any cut it down why does it even use up the ground the answer and said to him let it alone sir for this year too until I dig around it and put in fertilizer and if it bears fruit next year fine but if not cut it down it's a parable about the warning of impending judgment mercy mercy was granted judgment was delayed but it was not erased just delayed give it one more opportunity now when you come to verse 34 and 35 the process of cutting down the tree is beginning because they would not recognize the day of their visitation he came into his own and his own received him not oh Jerusalem Jerusalem this is what we call or what theologians call or what the Bible explains to us as the wrath of God's abandonment the wrath of God's abandonment now listen carefully it is the worst kind of wrath you can face this side of eternity because when you're in it you don't know it but it's too late that's why it's the worst when you're in it you don't know it and yet it's too late do you think Israel knows they're facing the wrath of God's abandonment no in fact they think the opposite we're God's people we're the chosen ones we're sons of Abraham we're going to heaven just by the fact that we're Jewish people and they are facing the wrath of God's abandonment and they don't even know it that's why it's so bad because when you're in it you don't recognize it but it's too late and that's what the Lord is saying to the nation in Luke 13 34 and 35 it's it's defined for us in Romans chapter 1 you know Romans chapter 1 verses 24 and following it's a it's a series of verses that depict for us God's abandoning people that they might experience their own devices therefore God gave them over when God gives you over it's over when God gives you over it's over it's called the wrath of God's abandonment God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who was blessed forever amen for this reason God gave them over there's the phrase again to degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer God gave them over there it is again to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper being filled with all unrighteousness wickedness greed evil full of envy murder strife deceit malice they are gossips slanderers haters of God insolent arrogant boastful inventors of evil disobedient to parents without understanding untrustworthy unloving unmerciful and although they know the ordinances of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death they not only do the same but also give hearty approval to those who practice them that is the wrath of God's abandonment Romans 1 24 to the end is America we can sing God bless America he's not going to do that it's over God has abandoned America America has never been called my people though only Israel has but God will save Americans God saves Jews but he hasn't saved the nation God saves Americans but he's abandoned America he's given America over to their own lustful passions their own desires their own way of doing what they want to do even though they know God they refuse to submit to God even though they know the ordinances of God and they know that if they break the ordinances it says they will die they do them anyway and give hearty approval to all those who join in that's our country that's America he came into his own his own received him not but to as many as received him to them give you power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name and the Lord God says oh Jerusalem Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her that should be on a placard outside Jerusalem that should be the sign that says entering Jerusalem the city that stones the prophets and kills those sent to her it would not go over well if that was a placard outside of Jerusalem but that is the definition of the city as Christ himself gave it in Luke chapter 13 when I was younger my father was in the air force and we went from place to place at different times and one of the cities we lived in was Oklahoma Burns Flat Oklahoma you've probably never heard of it you don't ever want to hear of it anyway we lived in Burns Flat Oklahoma we used to go to Kansas and visit my grandparents who lived in a small town called Washington Kansas and whenever we would cross over the border there'd be a sign that was there it was called Kansas home of beautiful women that's the sign Kansas home of beautiful women my mother reminds me of that to this day because she was born and raised in Kansas but we we knew we were going into Kansas and we saw the sign the sign for Jerusalem is oh Jerusalem Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her that is the city and God says I have left you alone you're on your own you would not receive the one sent to you and the remarkable thing about that is that Israel had everything they had it all they were given the most and they threw it all away and this is what makes this is what makes their abandonment so horrific they were given everything look at Romans chapter 3 Romans chapter 3 verse 1 then what advantage has the Jew or what is the benefit of circumcision great in every respect first of all that they were entrusted with the oracles of God God gave his word to Israel he did not give his word to the Ishmaelites he didn't give his word to the Canaanites he didn't give it to the Amalekites he didn't give it to the Jebusites he gave it to the Israelites they have been given the truth of God they have been given the word of God they have been given the oracles of God and the Lord comes back and says in Hosea 4 verse number 6 my people are destroyed because they don't know me they don't know me and they were given all the tools to know the true and living God and yet they were destroyed because they did not know God mark it down the quickest way to your personal destruction is to not know God the quickest way to marital defeat is to not know God the quickest way to financial disaster is to not know God the quickest way to spiritual degeneration emotional depression and physical debauchery is to not know God my people are destroyed because they don't know me and I gave them every opportunity to know me look at Romans 9 a couple of chapters over Paul says in verse 3 for I could wish that I myself were cursed separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites to whom belongs the adoption of sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the temple service and the promises whose are the fathers and from whom is the Christ the Messiah according to the flesh who was over all God blessed forever amen you have all the advantage you have everything you have everything you have the law of God you have the temple you have the glory of God you have the covenants Abrahamic Davidic new you got them all you have the Messiah you have all the advantages and yet they would not receive him the Bible says to whom much is given much is what required too much is given much is required Israel had the much there is required from them much yet they would not receive their Messiah Paul said boy you we we had everything we've got it all what everybody wants we have we're ready to show for it too much is given much is required and so Christ says oh Jerusalem Jerusalem whenever Christ repeats the name shows his passion and compassion for example he said to Peter oh Simon Simon remember that or this one oh Martha Martha in Luke chapter 10 or how about this one Saul Saul why persecutest thou me whenever he repeats the name it emphasizes his passion and compassion for that individual that people group oh Jerusalem Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those center oh how I would have gathered you together that's what I wanted to do as a mother hen gathers her chicks you were unwilling you would not have it you would not listen you would not respond you would not come therefore it's over you're left to your own devices I'm abandoning you you're left to your own ruin you are on your own he came into his own in his own did not and would not receive him they've been abandoned and they don't even know it and see that's what makes this passage of scripture so personal to us today because there are people in evangelical churches across the world who have been abandoned by God and they don't even know it they have no idea they think they're okay with God they think things are good and they've been abandoned and that's why it's so horrific because when you're in that place you don't even know it and that's why it's so damning to one's soul he came to his own his own received him not but to as many as lumbano received him seized him grasped him took hold of him embraced all of him to them give you power to become the sons of God God always saves a remnant always saves the remnant that's the way God has always operated there's always been a few there's always been a remnant but for the most he's left to this to their own devices he's left them on their own and the sad thing about that is when God abandons you you don't move closer to him you move further from him when God abandons you it's not that somehow you're going to start to all of a sudden move closer to him no you're just going to move further and further and further away and what makes it so horrific is that you don't even recognize how far you have gone others will others will see it they'll sense it they'll begin to realize it but those in it they don't and that's why it's so sad simply because they would not listen to what the Lord God of Israel said remember Luke chapter 9 on the Mount of Transfiguration Peter James and John Moses and Elijah and the Lord Jesus in the voice out of heaven came saying this is my beloved son what's the next phrase listen to him the essence of all that Jesus did comes down to one thing listening that's it that's why the Bible is replete with the exhortations to listen remember way back in the book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 18 the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you this is Moses speaking about the coming Messiah from your countrymen you shall what's the next phrase listen to him that's the essence of the ministry of Christ there's going to be a prophet he's the Messiah he's going to come he's the ultimate prophet there are going to be many prophets before him but there's going to be one prophet that God will raise up from our own country you shall listen to him and all through Jeremiah and Isaiah the Lord God said I sent you messengers but you would not listen instead you you hardened your heart and you stiffened your neck so I said to you my son and you would not listen to him in fact the city that stones or yeah stones those sent to her and kills the prophets stones the prophets kills those sent to her you killed the Messiah the one I sent that's why Jesus said earlier Luke 13 verse 33 I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside Jerusalem why because all the prophets died in Jerusalem why because that's where the temple was that's where the leadership was that's where the spokesperson went they were killed in Jerusalem Jesus says I must journey to Jerusalem why because that's where I'm going to die I am the ultimate prophet you shall listen to me yet they would not listen they would not listen and so the Bible calls for man to listen remember in story in Luke chapter 10 with Mary and Martha and Martha was all upset and Christ oh Martha Martha Mary has chosen the one thing that is needful really the one thing that's necessary really the only thing you need to be doing Martha what's that sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening that's the one thing you got to do you can do a lot of other things but if you don't listen you find yourself going down a path you don't want to be it leads you to the wrath of God's abandonment and therefore you need to listen that's why over in John 9 we refer to this on Wednesday night remember the man born blind and the disciples asked the question who sinned this man or his parents and Christ said no it's not about that it's about this day and the works of God being accomplished in his life and and Christ gets down and and spits in the clay and and and puts on his eyes and says go wash in the pool of Siloam the man gets up and washes the pool he sees listen carefully without submission there is no sight no submission no sight without submitting to what Jesus says you'll never see God you must submit to what he says and the whole story about this man and John at the pool of Siloam is so amazing because it'd be hilarious if it wasn't so true because the people would see this man walking around he could see aren't you the guy born blind he says yeah that's me how can you see you were born blind there was no rejoicing in the text about this man who was born blind and now can see his parents didn't rejoice because they were afraid that they might be ousted from the synagogue and so the pharisees get involved the whole conversation and they talked to him and it says this in verse 24 so a second time they called the man who had been been blind and said to him give glory to God we know that this man is a sinner he therefore answered whether he is a sinner I do not know one thing I do know that whereas I was blind now I see they said therefore to him what did he do to you how did he open your eyes he answered them I told you already and you did not what's the next word listen that is the history of Israel they would not listen they just would not listen I told you he said go wash I washed now I see how much simpler can it possibly be that's just the way it is I told you but you did not listen and he goes on say you don't want to become his disciples too do you because if you become a disciple you have to listen and what obey Jesus said my sheep hear my voice and they follow me any person who claims to be a sheep and hears the voice of God and doesn't follow is a wolf in sheep's clothing let me say it to you again just so you get it any person who claims to be a sheep hears the voice of God and doesn't follow is a wolf in sheep's clothing my sheep hear my voice and they follow me they listen and they follow because that in a nutshell is what Christianity is all about listening to the words of God that's why in the book of revelation to all seven churches he who has ears to hear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches are you listening you got to be listening you have to understand exactly what the Lord God is saying over in Luke chapter 8 Luke chapter 8 the parable of the sower in the soil it's all about listening to the word of God Luke chapter 8 it says very simply these words verse number eight he said these things he would call out he who has ears to hear let him hear of the four soils that heard one obeyed that was a sheep who heard the voice and followed others heard listened but did not obey and Christ says these words verse 16 now no one had after lighting a lamp covers it over the container or puts it under a bed but he puts it on a lampstand in order that those who come in may see the light for nothing is hidden that shall not become evident and nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light therefore take care how you listen for whoever has to him shall more be given and whoever does not have even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him and his mother and brothers came to him and they were unable to get to him because of the crowd and it was reported to him your mother and your brothers are standing outside wishing to see you but he answered and said to them my mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it they listen and they obey that is the theme of the ministry of Christ are you listening are you listening Israel refused to listen they stiffen their neck they harden their heart they attributed his works to Satan blaspheme the name of God the Spirit of God and God said that's it it's over I've left you to your own devices.

Remember in John chapter six, he said he was the bread of life. He was the bread that comes down out of heaven. You gotta eat my flesh and drink my blood. You have to embrace all of me. You must take all of me in. You must accept me as is. And in John chapter six, it says verse 60, many therefore of his disciples when they heard this said, this is a difficult statement. Who, here it is, can listen to it. And many of them walked away and were no more a part of his ministry. And Jesus says to his men, are you gonna go away too?

Peter says, where are we gonna go? You have the words of eternal life. Your words are life. But this is a difficult statement. Who can listen to it? In other words, we're not listening to that. We don't wanna be a part of that. That's why Solomon said in Ecclesiastes five, guard your steps on your way to the house of God. Because when you get there, you gotta listen.

You gotta listen. Don't be too quick to bring up a matter in the presence of God. Because when you go to church, you don't go to talk. You go to listen.

If you're unwilling to listen, be careful. Because you find yourself going down a path that leads to the wrath of God's abandonment. And when you get there, you will not recognize you are there. Folks, this is a tremendous warning to all of us to make sure we're listening to what God says.

This is a warning that permeates the scriptures. Most of us who come to church listen emotionally, superficially, self-centeredly, psychologically, and cowardly. Very few of us come to listen honestly, openly, obediently, authentically, properly, savingly, and as James says, quickly. You gotta come to listen.

This is described for us in the book of Proverbs in another way. Verse 20, chapter one, wisdom shouts in the street. She lifts her voice in the square. At the head of the noisy street, she cries out. At the entrance of the gates in the city, she utters her sayings. How long, O naive ones, will you love simplicity? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge. That's the cry. Fools hate knowledge. They don't wanna know God. They don't wanna know what God says.

The fool says, I know all that, I know that. I know the thing about marriage. I know the thing about the end times. I don't need to hear anymore about that. I know the things about the attributes of God. I don't need to hear anymore about that stuff. I know that. Fools hate knowledge. You just described yourself as a fool. Then it says, turn to my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. Turn to me, listen to what I'm saying, and look at what will happen.

Now, verse 24, because I called you and you refused, I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention. And you neglected all my counsel, and did not want my reproof. I will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your dread comes. When your dread comes like a storm, and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. Why? Because he would have left them. He would have abandoned them. It's over. But they'll call on him.

They'll call on him. They will seek him diligently, but they shall not find me. Why? Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not accept my counsel. God says, here is my word, here is my counsel, and you would not accept it.

Here is my reproof about how you live. You would not accept it. Here is my arm that I stretched out that you might come to me. You would not take it. There will come a day when your calamity rises up, and you will call upon me, and I will mock your calamity. I'll laugh at you. You'll call upon me, but I will not answer. Why? Because he has abandoned you. That's why. Then it says this, they spurned all my reproof, so they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be satiated with their own devices.

That is a definition of God's abandonment. I'm gonna leave it to yourself. Just do what you want. You're on your own. For the waywardness of the naive shall kill them, and the complacency of fools shall destroy them. But, the great conjunction. But, he who, what's the next word? Listens to me, shall live securely, and shall be at ease from the dread of evil. It's about listening. You refuse to listen.

That's why at the end of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 29, these words are spoken by Solomon. Proverbs 29, verse number one, a man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

That's the wrath of God's abandonment. You're broken beyond remedy after much reproof, much correction, much counsel. You stiffen your neck and say, I am not going to do that. I refuse to do that. God says, you will be broken beyond remedy.

Let me illustrate that for you. Second Chronicles 36, the last chapter in the Jewish Bible. Ours is the book of Malachi. The Jewish Bible, it's the book of Second Chronicles.

It ends with the destruction on the temple, the destruction of the temple on the Temple Mount. It says these words. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord. And he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. And he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations and they defiled the house of the Lord which he had sanctified in Jerusalem.

And the Lord, the God of their fathers sent word to them again and again by his messengers because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people until there was no what? Remedy. The wrath of abandonment. No remedy. You will not be saved because you cannot be saved. You would not listen.

You stiffened your neck. You hardened your heart. You refuse to submit to what I said. He came to his own and his own received him not. But, but, to as many as received him, to them give you power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. And that's why the great promise is given in Luke 13. It says, behold, your house has left you desolate and I say to you, you shall not see me until, not unless, but until the time comes when you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

That is the hope for Israel. That's the promise given to them. That is their conversion that's coming today. Well, they will submit to what he said and they will see Jesus as their Messiah. May we all learn to listen.

Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for this day and the truth of your word. Hard to hear some of these things, Lord, because they ring true to many of our own lives personally. And yet, Father, your word is true. And we need to call forth a warning to many people that they might hear and listen and obey. Our prayer, Lord, is that there would not be one person today who is here who refuses to hear what you have said and follow what you have said. May they recognize the danger of not responding, the danger of stiffening their neck, hardening their heart against the truth of your word and being left alone, abandoned by God, left to their own devices.

Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her. Oh, I would have gathered you together as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you were unwilling to come. You would not have it. What a tragedy. But there is a promise, a promise of great triumph. They will say, blessed is he who comes in the name of Jesus. In the name of the Lord. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.