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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] If you'd like to take the word, if you want to go ahead and turn in your hymnal to song number two. We begin the services tonight by singing song number two, glory to his name. Song number two in your hymnal. And if you'd like to sing it up, song number two. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Glory to His Name"] ["Glory to His Name"] ["Glory to His Name"] ["Glory to His Name"] ["Glory to His Name"] ["Glory to His Name"] At this time, we will have to have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, I need you for the opportunity you have to be in your house, Lord, for the preaching of your word. I pray and ask the Lord that you help tonight in the preaching of it. Lord, that you bless your word that goes forth. Lord, you help me, fill me with your spirit. Lord, to edify your people to do the glory for it in Jesus' name. Amen. And then we'll go to song number 100. Song number 100, Day by Day. Song number 100. Day by day, angels passing over, Strength by God and to be my child this year. Trust me, give me my Father's might to be so then, Like my Father's glory over here. Angels' God, this might be our adventure, There's much I can do to stay where God's will is due, But with me is my faith and pleasure, May we follow him with us ever and ever. Every day, we all find himself as near me, With a splash, he must be my child. For my care is complete, and care is near me, He must be my special friend. The protection of this child's treasure Is a charge that I'll make some believe, As I give my strength to the adventure, There's no plan to be lonely. Help me live every generation, So to trust my Father's love for you, That I lose my faith in consolation, All my faith, knowing that I love you, I do. Help me, Lord, with the courage that will be gained, And to take as much as I can, For I love you, but there's no place for me, And I need you, Lord, by your side. A couple of notes regarding our church for anyone that's visiting. And of course, over on the right-hand side, the great report coming back from Nigeria, where we had a small team go over there. Six homeowners spent a lot of time in a very receptive area, and came back with 362 salvations to report. So they're not back yet, but they're on their way, from what I understand. And this is something that Brother Raymond Cooper kind of headed up, and he'll be preaching about at the missions conference. So if you want more details about that, make sure you get up there. When he's preaching, I'll have a more detailed schedule coming out, of course. And you can always email the church and get that ahead of time as well, if you're looking for some of those details of who's preaching when, and all the different activities that are going on. But I'm sure it's going to be a very exciting report. I know some of the pictures that came back, I mean, it looked like a really rough part of the world. Which to us, we look at that and say, hey, that's our kind of place. Because that's where people are very humble, meek, and ready, and wanting to receive the gospel. They are hungering for the good news, for some kind of hope. So it's great to have a great report. I mean, imagine what we could have accomplished there with a larger group that had gone over there. This is just kind of a scouting mission with the six people going over there. I'm sure there's going to be plans in the near future, not too distant future, to take a larger group over there. I'm kind of shooting from the hip by saying that, I think that's kind of what the plan is. So if it's not there, it's going to be somewhere else. We're always going somewhere. So I'd always encourage everybody, I know we all have busy lives, and we can't always get away. There's different seasons in life that we're all in. But if it's possible, if you can make it out to one of these missions trips, whether it's here in the States, the Caribbean, or even internationally like this, I'd really encourage you to go. It's an experience you'll never forget, and it's something to really just bolster your faith and really encourage you in preaching the gospel. So anyways, there's that. And then, of course, we had a great turnout yesterday up in Eloi and a good yield there with 28 salvation, so a very receptive area. And then we had the missions conference as well coming up November 8th through the 12th. So there's just missions, missions, missions. That's what we're about here. And then also continue to pray for the expectant ladies there. You've got the list on the back of the bulletin. The yearbook portraits are coming up on the 29th, which is really soon. So I'm not going to try and give an exact date. Two weeks, thank you. I'm trying to do math on the fly here. What's seven plus seven? And then you add that to 15 and you get 29. You're right. So two weeks away, you say I'm not ready. Well, you know, maybe we all got to just, you know, start skipping some meals and maybe some fasting, you know, get down there and suck it in for the picture. But, you know, it's coming up quick. So the background is blue this year. So hopefully everybody here is going to participate in that and get their photo taken. And you'll have a nice copy for yourself to do whatever you'd like with that. Also, the annual chili cook-off is coming up at the end of the month, Tuesday, October 31st. You've got until six o'clock to get the chili in here. We've extended that date, or excuse me, that cutoff time by an hour. And we'll have the sides. There'll be prizes awarded. You guys know the rules. It has to be from scratch. No preseason packets, no MSG. Okay, I've got to throw that in there, right, every time now. I'm not going to let the MSG thing go. It's too rich. But there's that. Also, I did want to mention very quickly, too, I've really appreciated all the help with the cleaning of the building. However, we're going to stop doing that. I'm going to take that back over. And I don't want that to be taken as a reflection of the job that was being done. Everything was fine. Everything was great. It's just that I'm going to be transitioning into more of a part-time role here with the church. I'm still going to be preaching. I'm still going to be living in Tucson. Don't worry about any of that. But it's just something I need to kind of take on for myself, keep in front of me. It helps me kind of keep track of what we need in the church, too. If anything, it's just made it a little bit more difficult for me to get things ordered. So I don't want to go on and on about it. But I do appreciate the help from everybody that participated. But I think it's just going to work best if I take that back over and just kind of do that myself, simply because we are still a smaller church. It's not like it takes a lot of time for me to come down here. And again, it's good for me to just be here throughout the week doing the cleaning, keeping an eye on where things are as far as the inventory and stuff. It's just going to run more smoothly, I think, doing that. Because I do understand it's a lot to ask people to come in on their time off and clean this entire building and be as thorough as we need to be. So I have the time. I'm on staff. There's just no reason for me not to do it. So again, please don't take that wrong. It's not a reflection on anyone's – I'm not upset or anything like that. It's just I think it's going to work best for the church if I do that. And I know I just did kind of throw that out there about the whole me going part time. So I'm actually seeking for a job right now to go out and work a 40-hour work week, 9 to 5. I've got a really good lead on a job. I pray for it, that I get it, so that I'm able to – it would be really conducive with the ministry and things like that. I've got other couple things out there that would be great too. But there's one job in particular in a sales position, indoor sales position, where I have a bit of a background in the industry that I have a background in. And it sounds like it's going to happen. I've talked to the branch manager down there twice in the last two weeks. I went in there Friday, kind of prodded him a little bit. He's just been really busy. He's got my resume. I filled out an application. And he said Friday, I'm going to get right on this. And he said, I want you here. And corporate has said, we want to hire someone. So it seems like it's all kind of coming together. So it's just kind of the next step in the process of this church becoming independent eventually. So sometimes you've just got to be bivocational. Paul did it. I'm no better than he. So it's not anything I'm opposed to. I'm honestly kind of looking forward to it. I miss just kind of that 9 to 5, just being out there in the world working alongside everybody else. So anyway, keep that in prayer. I just wanted to mention that as well. Let's count up a soul winning going back to Friday. If anyone's got anything to report from Friday. Or anything from Saturday. Or anything from today. Got the two today. Praise the Lord. Is that today too? The same two? Okay. So I don't get to count those twice? Okay. Well you guys can fight about who gets to report next time. So anyway. Let's go ahead and sing one more song before we get into the preaching tonight. We're going to go over to song number 323. One of my personal favorites. More about Jesus. Song number 323. Song 323. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. One of my personal favorites. Jeremiah chapter number 8. That's Jeremiah chapter number 8. Jeremiah chapter 8. Beginning at verse 1. At that time, saith the Lord, we shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the hosts of heaven, whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered, nor be buried. They shall be done upon the face of the earth, and there shall be chosen rather than light by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whether I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts. Moreover, thou shalt say unto them, O Lord, shall they fall and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return? Why then is his people Jerusalem slain and bagged by a perpetual accident? They hold fast the seed, they refuse to return. I argue and heard that they spake not arise, though man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned to his course, as the horse rushed into the valley. The man extorted in the heaven knoweth her twenty times, and the purgo and the crane and the swallow observe the kind of the covenant, though my people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain may he be hit. The pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and hated. Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord. What wisdom is in them? Therefore, will I give their wives unto others and their fields to them that shall inherit them? For they, for everyone, from the least, even unto the greatest, have given to the covetous ones, from the prophet, even unto the priest, everyone, nearly possible. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people, slightly, saying, Peace, peace, for there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed. Neither could they blush. Therefore, shall they fall among them that fall. In the time of their visitation, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. I will surely pursue them, saith the Lord. There shall be no grapes on the vine or figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade, and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves and let us enter into the defense city, and let us be silent. For the Lord our God has cleared us of silence and given us water and salt to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. We look for peace, but no good pain, and for a time of hell and behold, trouble. The snorting of his horses was heard from them. The whole land trembled at the sound of the name of the stronghold. For they have come and have devoured the land and all that is in it, the city and those that dwell therein. For behold, I will send serpents and cockatrice among you which would not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart would faint in me. Behold, the voice of the pride of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in the far country is not the Lord and is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their great amenities and with strange advantages? The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people and my hurt, I am black. Astonishment has taken hold on me. Is there no mom in Julia? Is there no position there? Why then is not the help of the daughter of my people recovered? Alright, so in Jeremiah chapter number eight there, of course you get a really strong sense of the things that are taking place to the nation of Israel, of course judgments coming upon that city, Jerusalem, that nation, and you're kind of getting a sense of how Jeremiah is taking it. And you can see in this chapter and elsewhere in Jeremiah that it's not like Jeremiah is some kind of cold-hearted, callous jerk when it comes to this judgment. He's actually very moved by this. He's very sorrowful for the things that are befalling his people. And you get a series of these hypothetical questions throughout this chapter here. The first being there in verse four where it says, Moreover, thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Shall they fall and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return? So he's saying yes, God is judging but isn't he also going to restore? When God judges a nation or judges us and our lives or judges a people, we have to remember that God that chastening may last for the night, but joy cometh in the morning. That there's seasons that we go through if we've done wrong, then obviously we're going to be punished as individuals or as a nation in the case of Jeremiah in his day. But that God will also return. He's not saying, it's not that God doesn't want to return. It's not that God doesn't want to show mercy. It's just that these people have no interest in getting right with God. He says, Why then is this people, verse five, of Jerusalem slitten back by a perpetual backsliding? He's saying, I would return is it that they're fallen and can't arise again? Is it that I've turned and will not return unto them? That's a hypothetical question. Of course I will. I'm merciful. I'm long suffering. I'm gracious. Yes, I judge but also I forgive and I heal. And he's saying, they should know this about me. Why then is this people of Jerusalem slitten back by a perpetual backsliding? They're not getting right. They've backslidden and they keep backsliding and they keep refusing, as it says there, to get right. They hold fast deceit. They refuse to return. So he's saying, the problem is not with me, the Lord. The problem is with this people. They don't want to get right with God. I hearkened and heard, verse six, but they spake not a right. No man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned to his course as the horse rusheth into battle. He said they just kept right on doing the wicked things that they were doing. Look at verse eight. It says, How do you say we are wise and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain, he made it. The pen of the scribes is in vain. He's saying, How can you call yourself wise? Verse nine, The wise men are ashamed. They are dismayed and taken. Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord and what wisdom is in them. So what he's saying here is these so-called wise men, these so-called scribes that have rejected the word of God, that there is no wisdom in them at all. And we cannot consider ourselves a wise people outside of the counsel of God. And then, of course, because of that, because of the fact they're rejecting the word of the Lord, there's these great consequences that come upon them. Verse 10, Therefore will I give their wives unto others and their fields to them that shall inherit them. For every one of them from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness from the prophet even of the priest, every one dealeth falsely. He's saying, Because these people are so wicked, I'm going to bring this great judgment where they're going to be taken captive, their wives are going to be given to others, and the land, the fields that they have, other people are going to work them. You know, speaking more specifically to the priests and the scribes, verse 11, For they, the priests and the scribes, these so-called wise men, have healed the hurt of my daughter, the daughter of my people, slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. So they've healed him slightly. The priests and the scribes, they have healed the daughter of his people only slightly, meaning not at all, not even sufficiently enough. They haven't gotten them right with God. Israel is this continual state of backsliding, not getting right with God. They don't know to return unto God. They refuse to do it. They keep dealing falsely because they're all given unto covetousness from the priest, even the prophet, the priest, even to the least of them, everyone is dealing falsely. They're following the example that's being set for them by their leaders to be covetous and to not get right with God. They are not able to heal God's people. Why? All because of the fact that they have rejected the word of the Lord. That's what verse 9 is saying. They have rejected the word of the Lord, and now we see the results. God's going to judge these people, and these people are not going to be healed because there's only peace and there's only healing when we obey the commandments of God. Verse 12, Were they ashamed when they had not committed abomination? Nay, they were not ashamed at all, neither could they blush. For they shall fall among them that fall in the time of their visitation. They shall be cast down, saith the Lord. I will surely consume them, saith the Lord, that there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the tree, and the leaves shall fade, and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. He's going to take my blessing away from them, and they're going to suffer hunger. And then in verse 14, you kind of get Jeremiah's perspective. I believe he takes over in speaking here. Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves and let us enter into the defense cities, and let us be silent there. For the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and hath given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. So he's saying, hey, let's repent. Let's go sit in the dust. Let's go and get right with God. He's saying, God has given us gall to drink. We're bitter. Things are not good. Verse 15, we looked for peace, but no good came. And for a time of health and behold, trouble. Now, there's an exclamation point at the end of that sentence. So you're getting, again, the sense of Jeremiah's heart. How disturbed he is by the things that he's seeing, the things that are befalling God's people. And he's not just sitting back going, hahaha, I told you so. He's not saying, oh, I warned you. He's saying, he's right in there with them. And we know the story of Jeremiah. Eventually God does release Jeremiah. He comes out clean on the other side, but he has to endure these things with these people. He himself has to be persecuted to a certain degree. But that doesn't change the fact that he still is burdened for these people, even these people who have rejected the counsel of God, and are covetous from the top to the bottom. And all he's trying to do is say, hey, let's just get right with God. Let's just go and sit in the defense cities, and let's just get right with God. But you know what? We look for peace, and no good came. It didn't happen. We look for a time of hell and behold, trouble. Verse 16, The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan. The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones. Talking about the armies that are coming. For they are come and have devoured the land, and all that is in it, the city and those that dwell therein. He's saying, we were hoping things would turn out right, and all we heard were the horses, the armies coming, and they destroyed everything in their path. For behold, I will send serpents, cockatrice is among you which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, sayeth the Lord. Now notice verse 18, he says, When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. He's saying, you know, I tried to get people right, we were looking for health, and all we saw was judgment, all we saw was destruction, all we saw was the hand of God heavy upon his people, and I tried to comfort myself when I would comfort myself against the sorrow, against everything that I'm seeing, my heart is faint in me. He's saying, I tried to comfort myself and it didn't work. I tried to encourage myself and bolster myself and remind myself that God is still good, but it didn't work. My heart is still faint in me. Look at verse 19, Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people, because of them that dwell in a far country. He's saying, look at the judgment, look at the sorrow and the suffering that's taking place because of these four invaders that have come upon us. It's not the Lord in Zion, it's not her king and her, why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities? So Jeremiah himself is even upset. He's saying, this is Israel, the Lord God is our God, why are you worshipping these graven images? Why are you worshipping these strange vanities? Don't you know when it's time to get right? Don't you know that we're destroyed? And he goes on and says, the harvest has passed, the summer has ended, and we are not saved. There was a season where we were hoping things would turn out right, that people would get right, but you know what, it hasn't happened. We're still under judgment and we're going to be destroyed. And he said, for the hurt of my people am I hurt. He said, I am black, astonishment hath taken hold on me. When he says, I am black, there he's referring to the fact that he's been exposed to the elements. Right, like in Song of Solomon. The woman says in Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 6, look not upon me for I am black because the sun hath looked upon me. Right, so he's not trying to describe his ethnicity here. He's saying, I've been out in the elements, I'm blackened, that he could even mean soiled. That's another definition of being black. And he's saying, I'm out there, I'm exposed to these elements, I've been dirty, I've been just, you know, in the dust, I've just been suffering right alongside these people. Astonishment hath taken hold on me. He's saying, I'm looking to get these people right, I'm trying to straighten them out, and you know, it just seems like nobody cares that they're just giving to covetousness, they're just following these strange vanities. And I'm trying to comfort myself, and when I go to do that, my heart is faint within me. You know, I can kind of relate to Jeremiah. You know, because a pastor's burden is for the health of his congregation, for their spiritual well-being. You know, a pastor wants to see his people grow spiritually and do right and to have God's blessing in their lives. But often, you know, we see the opposite. You know, we see people go after strange vanities, we see people being judged, and we say, don't you see what's happening? And it's not that we're trying to throw our head back and laugh about it or say, I told you so, but it's because we want people to be blessed and not judged. And you can kind of relate to him here, he's saying, I'm astonished. Astonishment hath taken hold on me, I'm just perplexed. I don't know what else to do. I tried to comfort myself against sorrow, but my heart is faint within me. He said, I am black, I'm an astonishment hath taken hold of me. But look at verse 22. He says, is there no balm in Gilead? He doesn't get to the end of this and say, you know what, forget it. You deserve everything you've got coming, Israel. He's saying there's still a possibility to heal. And these people need to be healed. They've been beaten up, they're starving, I mean, they're being judged severely by God, and he's just at the end saying, I don't know what else to do but to remind you that there is a balm in Gilead. He's saying, can't you turn to God and get healed? Can't you get right with God? If you turn to God, wouldn't He bless you still? Wouldn't He forgive you and draw you close? Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of my people recovered? And again, these are hypotheticals. Of course there's a balm in Gilead. Well, if that's the case, then why isn't my people recovered? Because they're given to covetousness. Because they've rejected the word of God. Because they've rejected the counsel of the Lord. And that's really the source of His grief. The fact is that there is a balm in Gilead and yet the health of their people is not recovered. And I want to preach a sermon tonight entitled, A Balm in Gilead. A Balm in Gilead. You know, there is still a balm today. Now, a balm is maybe not a term we're familiar with. But a balm is basically just an ointment that you would have applied to some kind of a wound or a burn or something like that. You think about maybe some of the balms that we have today. You know, you pull a muscle. It used to be in the day it only came in the jar, like the gel form, the icy hot, right? But now you can get like the pads and everything like that. But that was kind of a balm, wasn't it? I've never tried it. I've never you have to pull a muscle to need it. I've just never done that. You know, so you might think of that or maybe a balm like you know, these different essential oils that people put on things. And I'm not knocking that. And I think there's something to that. You know, they're the cure all of them, you know, or something like that. We all understand what a balm is, hopefully. That a balm is something that you would apply to a wound. And obviously, Jeremiah here is speaking figuratively when he talks about this balm. Because the problem that Israel has is a spiritual problem. And the solution is a spiritual solution. They need to apply this balm in their lives. Spiritually. So what is the balm for us today? Well, I would say that the balm for us today is the word of God. I mean, because really, you know, right in the middle of this chapter where we're at, that's the problem. You say, why is all of this happening to them? Because they have rejected the word of the Lord. And as a result, they're injured. And as a result, they're judged. And as a result of rejecting the word of the Lord, they are not healed. It's not that the balm isn't there. It's that they've rejected it. That's why they're not healed. Because they've rejected the word of God. So the word of God, in a sense, is a balm in our lives. You know, it'll keep, you know, the great thing about it is that if we obey the word of God, we don't even need the balm. It'll keep us from getting hurt to begin with. But look, if we have rejected the counsel of God, if we have made mistakes in our lives, we should not be like Israel here and just assume it's all over, or just keep following after vanities. What we need to do is get that balm and apply it to our lives spiritually so that we can be healed. Excuse me. Go to 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4. 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4. We're done in Jeremiah. 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4. You know, the Bible is that balm that we need to apply to our lives today. We read it this morning in Luke 4, where Jesus, reading from Isaiah, said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He had anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. You know, Christ came to heal. Christ came to apply that balm. To preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of the sight of the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. You know, the ministry that we have through the preaching of the word of God and reading the word of God is a ministry that will heal. It will heal the unsaved of that, you know, that incurable wound of sin that they can't fix themselves. But Christ can fix that. He can heal it. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I know this is a reference to the rapture. What I want to focus on is verse 18, where He says, Wherefore comfort one another with these words. He's saying we're not like others who sorrow. We don't sorrow like the world. We don't sorrow as those who have no hope. Yes, we sorrow when we see our loved ones die. But you know what? We have this hope that we are going to meet them again if they're in Christ. And that's a comfort that we have that's given to us through these words. The only reason we know that or believe that is because of the Bible. The Bible is the balm that we need. We need to comfort ourselves with these words. We need to apply the salve of Scripture. We need to apply the balm of the Bible to our lives. So in what ways is the Bible a balm to us? In what ways will it heal us? Well, one, it offers comfort there, doesn't it? But in Jeremiah's case, he's saying he's trying to get them to come back to God, but they're rejecting the word of God. So if we're going to apply the balm in our lives, what will happen is that it's something that will bring us back out of sin. It's something that will bring us back from maybe being lukewarm. It'll bring us back from a life of sin. The balm is something that will bring us back. That's how the balm works. See, if I apply the balm of God's word in my life, you know, what can I expect? What would that look like? Well, it would look like the person who's living a sinful life getting right with God and coming back to God. Maybe somebody who's backslid and saying, you know, I'm going to live for the Lord. I'm going to live for God. I'm going to win souls. I'm going to obey the commandments of God. That's applying the balm in your life. So, you know, when we do the opposite, what we're doing is taking the balm and just saying, no thanks, and getting rid of it. And then we trip and stumble and fumble through life, and we get beat up and scarred and nicked and ripped up, and we're wounded spiritually, and then we go back and go back crawling back. Well, maybe I need this balm after all. What would that look like if we were to apply that balm to our lives? We'd get right with God. It restores us. Go over to Hebrews chapter number four. Hebrews chapter number four. If we're going to apply the balm of Gilead, the balm of God's word in our life, what would that look like? If we were to see somebody who was applying that balm, if in Jeremiah's day the nation of Israel had sought that balm of Gilead, what would that would have looked like, we wonder? Well, it would have looked like them getting rid of their vanities. It would have looked like them turning from their idols. It would have looked like them not being covetous. It would look like the scribes and the priests not rejecting the word of God, but actually preaching and teaching the word of God, and instead of healing God's people only slightly, he would bring them back to a full recovery. He would restore their health spiritually. That's what it looks like when we apply the balm of the Bible in our lives. It brings us back. It restores us. Because the Bible has the power to convict us. It has the power to put its finger right where the problem is in our lives, doesn't it? So many people go through life wondering, it just seems like something's wrong. It just seems like nothing ever succeeds. It just seems like everything I do just falls apart. It seems like I'm never satisfied. What is the problem? A lot of times, you know, you've got to get saved. They're unsatisfied. But even in Christian's lives, you say, why is it that I'm just not fulfilled? Why don't I have joy? It's because we're ignoring this book. And the Bible will say, here's the problem. Here's how you fix it. Here's the balm. The Bible will say, you know, take two of these and call me in the morning. Look at Hebrews 4, verse 12, for the word of God is quick and powerful. There is no more powerful source in this word than God's word. It's not just a book of suggestions. It's not just something that we'd lightly adhere to. It is a powerful source of healing and guidance in our lives. It's sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and the joints and marrow, and it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. I think that's why so many of us sometimes don't want to read this book. Why we don't want to be under the sound preaching of God's word. Why so many Christians today would just want to go to some church where the preacher's just going to tell them everything they want to hear, you know, and maybe quote a passage or two. Because when we get into the preaching of God's word, where the whole counsel of the word of God is preached, when we get alone with God, and we read every line of that book, there's going to be times where God says, here's your problem. Fix this. Get this right. And that's a balm. Might not sound like it. If I were to come up and say, you know, looks like you got a wound right there and stuck my finger in it, you'd go, ow! You know, you want me to come up with the Big Bird Band-Aid and put it on there. But we got to know where that wound is first. Sometimes my kids will say, Dad, look, if you got a bruise, I'll say, that one? Ah! Right? But that's what the word of God does. It is a healer in that way. It says, well, here's the problem. You're like, oh, I didn't even know I had that. I didn't even know I was walking around with this gaping wound in my life. I didn't even know I was bleeding out spiritually. And God's saying, here's the problem. You're broken. You're wounded. But I can fix it. If we'll obey. If we'll do what the Bible says. You know, some people might say, I don't know if I really believe that. Well, you know, ignore it. Don't take my word for it. Go out there and live a life of sin. Go out there and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And when you come out the other side broken, bloodied, and bruised, then maybe you'll believe me. When life and sin has its way with you, you'll come around and say, you know what, that preacher was right. The Bible was true. The Bible is a balm because it restores us. How does it do that? How does it bring us back and restore us? Well, it convinces us of sin. If you would, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. In John 16, Jesus said, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. Is it expedient for you that I go away? For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. The Comforter there, obviously we all know, is a reference to the Holy Spirit. It's another name for the Holy Spirit. He's saying, I'm going to send the Comforter unto you when I go. And it's kind of, it's almost kind of a, it isn't a contradiction, but it kind of makes you scratch your head and kind of, how can you call him a Comforter when you read verse 8? Because it says in verse 8, when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin. Well, that doesn't sound very comforting. You know, when the Holy Spirit comes and says, you're doing wrong. Well, what comfort is that? When he reproves the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. What comfort is that? And I say, hey, judgment's coming. Get right, or get wrecked. Well, that's not a comfort. Well, it is a comfort if you obey it. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 3, it says, but he that prophesieth, you know, he that preaches, speaketh unto men to edification and to exhortation and comfort. You know, the guy that's preaching God's word, what he's doing unto men is edifying them. He's exhorting them and he's comforting them. But let's compare spiritual things with spiritual. We also know that Timothy was told to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. And those are negative things. And the point I'm trying to make is that the Bible is a balm because it brings us back and restores us the way that it does that is because it tells us negative things. It puts its finger on where the problem is. I mean, how do you exhort and comfort somebody with the word of God? Well, how can you call the Holy Spirit a comforter when he reproves the world of sin and righteousness and judgment? When he's reproving. Well, that's a comfort. How can a negative thing be a comfort? Well, it'd be like the sign saying, you know, danger ahead. Look out. It'd be like warning somebody. That's how it's a comfort. The Bible is that balm. It will comfort us. If you want to go over to We'll go over to Psalm 51. Psalm 51. We'll move along here. It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 9 God has not appointed us to wrath but obtained salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as you do. The Bible brings us back. It convinces us of sin and it offers us comfort and consolation. You know, we're to comfort and edify one another. We're to comfort the feeble-minded support the weak and be patient toward all men. Look at Psalm 51 verse 10. It says Create me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. Of course this is a prayer of David after the sin he committed with Bathsheba. The adultery and murder that he committed which resulted in the death of the child the fruit of that union, that child. You know God applied the balm to David's life in a sense when he judged him. Because it caused David to get right. When all that happened, when that judgment came David didn't get bitter and angry and upset. He said you know what? Create a clean heart me O God and renew a right spirit within me. Take not away thy presence from me and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. He said restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. And it's worth pointing out he did not say restore unto me my salvation. He never lost his salvation. He lost the joy. You know if we go out and sin, if we go out and ignore God's word, you know we'll be judged like those people were back in Jeremiah chapter 8 but we'll still be saved. We'll still be God's people. It's just there will be no joy. Go over to oh let's just move along here. Isaiah chapter number 28. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2 Now the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father Jesus loved us and have given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. Comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. You know God is a God of comfort. God is a God of consolation. God is someone who wants to give us good hope through grace. God wants to comfort our hearts and establish us in every good word and work. You know God wants the best for us in our lives. He really does. The word of God is what's going to bring that into our lives. It's what's going to bring us back. That's the balm that we need to apply in our lives. Because it brings us back. How else is it going to be a balm? Well it's going to build us up. It'll build us up. You're there in Isaiah chapter 28. We know this verse. Verse 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts for a precept must be a precept, precept upon precept line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2. The Bible is a balm because it brings us back. It restores us. But it doesn't stop there. It actually after we're restored, after we're brought back, it will begin to build us up. A little here and a little there. Line upon line. See that's why it's so important to be faithful to reading the Bible. Faithful to the church. Faithful to the services. Faithful to giving attendance to reading, to exhortation and to doctrine because you don't get it all overnight. And in fact a lot of the times we have to go back and relay some things. You know it's the idea of line upon line, precept upon precept, here, there, a little there, that wall of the Christian life being built up slowly over time. You know if we're relaying brick and one of those bricks get loose we have to kind of go back and fix that. Patch it up. But you know if we're never there for the doctrine, if we're never weaned from the milk, if we're never taking in the strong meat of God's word, you know we can't expect to be built up. The balm isn't going to work. It builds up. It teaches us knowledge. It makes us to understand doctrine. Yes it brings us back but the balm doesn't stop there. Then it goes on to build us up. Look there in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 16, Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, I know I read this earlier, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. God wants to establish us. He wants to lay those precepts down. He wants to lay line upon line. He wants to build us up. But it doesn't happen overnight. We have to keep applying that balm in our lives. Applying that balm over and over. Being reminded of these things. Having them brought back into our remembrance. Go over to Colossians chapter number 2. This is the balm that we need to apply to our lives. The Bible. I'm really just trying to make a case for the Bible tonight. I mean it really is ignoring the Bible or disregarding the commandments of God. It really is the source of so many people's problems. I mean what if everybody in the whole world decided, hey we're just going to do whatever the Bible says. You want to talk about hypothetical questions. That's a big one. We know that will never happen. Short of Christ coming. But you know a lot of conflicts would end overnight, wouldn't they? A lot of problems would get fixed overnight. We'd end the AIDS epidemic real quick. If we did everything the Bible said. If the whole world got in God's program. A lot of the problems that are out there you know would just the worst things that are taking place in our society would just disappear almost overnight. People's lives would be changed. A lot less suffering in the world. Of course it's foolish to expect that on any kind of a global scale let alone global, regional, statewide. You hope to just get a handful of people together or we all get on board and at least minimize the suffering. But in our lives we have that ability. We have that opportunity to apply this balm in our lives. To be brought back to God. And not only that but then to be built up by the word of God. To be established. Where'd I have you go? Colossians 2 verse 6 He says, as he had therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him. You've received him. You got saved. So why don't you walk in him? You know if we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit. If you've received Christ so walk in him. Rooted and built up in him. And notice the sequence there. Rooted and built up. You can't build anything in your life until you're rooted. You have to get rooted in some things in your life. There are things in your life that you just have to lay down that foundation. You have to dig down deep and found it upon the rock if you expect to withstand the storms that are gonna come in life. That's where you have to start. With the base. With the foundation. You have to be rooted in him. Now I understand we're rooted in salvation. Nothing's gonna move us from that. But in our lives we need to apply this balm. We need to apply the balm of Gilead. The balm of God's word. The balm of the Bible in our lives and get rooted in some things. You know it's a shame if we're still you know years into our Christian life and still floundering on things when it comes to the word of God. You know we've heard the preaching of the word of God. We've read it for ourselves. We know what it says and we just say well I don't know if I really want to do that. I'm not sure if I can. I don't know if I can handle that. But we're still kind of on the fence. You're not rooted then. How can you expect to be built up? If you're not rooted. You know I don't even you just say well you're the deacon. You're the preacher here. Of course you're gonna go to church every service but you know for a long time before that you know I wasn't going to church because you know it was my job. I went there because I wanted to be built up. And there was there's never been a day since about 20 years ago where I finally just said I'm gonna be in church every single service. And I never questioned that again. I just made that decision over 20 years ago. When I walked to a Baptist church in January of 2022 not 2022. 2002. You say man you just got right. That's not even a year ago deacon. This guy be preaching to us? It's 2002. I did that and I said you know what I know I need to be in church. This is a good King James Bible church. The preaching is good. You know this is where I need to grow. I need to get some things out of my life. I need to clean up my life. I need to be in church and I never once one time after that woke up and said am I going to church today? Unless it was Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or we went to Wednesday night service. But every Sunday it was like well I'm in church. Why? Because I was rooted. And I'm not saying I've arrived folks. I'm not saying but whatever growth I've had in my life to whatever extent God has chosen to use me to whatever extent I've been built up in Him it's because I first got rooted. That's what we need to do in our lives. That's what the balm looks like in your life when you begin to apply it. When you take that balm of Gilead and start to apply it to your life you know what will happen? You'll get rooted. Marriages will get straightened out. Well I don't know if I'm going to obey my husband. I know that's what the Bible says. I've read Ephesians 6. I just don't. I've heard the preaching. I don't know if I want to do that. You're not rooted. Don't expect to be built up. That marriage is still going to have problems. You know if we don't in whatever area of life it is if we take this balm of Gilead and say well here's how this can heal my life. If I apply these biblical principles and I do what the Bible says you know it'll fix things but I just don't know if that's what I want to do. I'm not sure that's how I want to raise my kids. I don't know if that's how I want to run my house. I'm not sure if I can make those services. I don't know if I want to take time out of my week to serve God. You're not rooted. And you can't expect to be built up. You're not building on anything but sand. And it will not withstand the storms of life that will come to every single one of us. We must be rooted. We must be built up. We must be what? As he says here, established in the faith as you have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving. You apply the balm you know you're going to be grateful. You never get sick or get hurt and you know no one likes going to the doctor until they need to. And then we go there and we're like man I'm so grateful that I live in a first world country where there's health care. Yeah we might complain about the bill. But at least we're not dead. I mean at least we have you know balm to apply our wounds. You know we get a cut we could put some neosporin on it. You know there might have been a time where that was it for you. That thing got infected bad enough it's like well we got to cut the arm off. You know if we're built up and we're rooted and built up if we find if we get established in our faith and we're going to follow Christ and do whatever the Bible commands and we're just going to do it because it's what we're supposed to do and just let our feelings follow later and not be led by our emotions. You know we're going to find ourselves built up and eventually what we're going to find ourselves is abounding therein doing the work of God being a fruitful life and not only that we're going to find ourselves thanking God. Isn't that what he says? As you've been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving. And it might not be easy at first but you know when we get rooted and we start doing the things of God when we start letting God build us up line by line precept upon precept in our lives doing things just because that's what the Bible says applying the balm in our lives. I guarantee you there will come a time you'll look back and say I'm grateful. I'm thankful. I'm thankful. I'm thankful. The fact that I got rooted. You know I don't regret a single decision that I've made for Jesus Christ. Not one. I've never looked back and said well you know maybe if I hadn't gotten saved. I sure regret you know getting in a good Baptist church and hearing the word of God. I've never regretted one single line of scripture that I've read. Not once. I've never regretted having sat under a single sermon where the word of God was preached. Never once have I walked out and said man I wish I hadn't done that. I've never regretted a single moment I've spent out there knocking doors and preaching the gospel. I've never regretted winning a single soul to Christ. I've never regretted going into the ministry. I've never regretted preaching a single sermon. I've never regretted baptizing a convert. I've never regretted any of it. I've never regretted you know taking a stand or anything like that. I don't regret anything. Rather the opposite. I'm grateful. I'm thankful. And if we can't look in our own lives and point to things and say I'm thankful for what God did here and I'm thankful for what God did here. I'm thankful that I did this for the Lord. I'm thankful that I did this for the Lord. We need to ask ourselves are we even rooted? Are we even rooted? Are we being built up? Because it just seems to me in verse 7 there's this progression. You're rooted. You're built up. You're established. You're taught. You abound. And then the thanksgiving comes. We need to get rooted. We need to apply the balm of Gilead in our lives. We need to apply the balm of the Bible. Look at verse 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit in the tradition of man after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. If you would we'll close and go to Colossians chapter. We're in Colossians 2. The Bible is a balm in our lives folks. There is a balm in Gilead. Jeremiah asked it hypothetically back there in chapter 8 where he said is there not a balm in Gilead? Yes there is. That's the answer. The question is whether or not we're applying it in our lives. It brings us back. It restores us. It convinces us of sin. It comforts us. It builds us up. The last thing it will do is it will bind us together. I mean think about healing a wound. Perhaps you know a broken bone. I've never had a broken bone. I know I shouldn't do that. It's bad luck to be superstitious. I get it. You think about that. You'll get it later. But part of that you know when we fix a wound when we fix a broken bone there's a binding. You know a bone gets broken bad enough they have to set it and then they put it in a cast. They bind it. They hold it in place. You get a deep enough cut and you know you have to stitch it back together. You have to bind that thing up and get it to hold. Until it's healed. Look if we apply the balm in our lives the same thing will happen. What the Bible does is it binds us together and specifically I want to close on this thought that it will bind the brethren. The Bible will bring us together. The Bible says can two walk together except they be agreed? Another hypothetical tonight right? The answer we know is no. Look if we're going to accomplish something as a church we have to have unity. The Bible puts such an emphasis on unity. It's just a major theme in the scripture. In the New Testament. Without it we're going to have a very difficult time accomplishing anything for Christ. We have to have it. Look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 1. He said, For I would that you knew what great conflict I have for you from them at Laodicea. For as many have not seen my face in the flesh that their hearts may be comforted being knit together in love unto the riches of the fullness of the understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and the Father of our Jesus Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He's saying he has this great conflict for them and for them at Laodicea. Not just the Colossians but those at Laodicea. And everybody else who has not seen his face in the flesh. All the other people have only heard or read his epistles. He has a great conflict for them. Why? Because he wants their hearts to be comforted. He wants their hearts to be what? Knit together in love. You know that knitting together that's like a binding isn't it? When you're taking something you're knitting something together. You're binding it. You know we need to be bound together in love. And what's going to do that? This balm right here. This is what will bind us together. When we all have the same purpose. We all have the same understanding. When we all understand what it is that we're here to do. When we all understand how much Christ has loved every single one of us individually. And how God wants to use each one of us. You know that will bind brethren together. Go to Romans 15. We'll close there. Romans chapter 15. We must be bound together. It has to happen. We have to have unity in a church. When people get bent out of shape and disgruntled and bitter and angry. You know that's a drag on a church. That's a dead limb that has to be amputated. You know when gangrene sets in on a body you know it's too late for balm. You just got to cut it off. It's the only thing you do. It's going to kill everything. So we need to be on guard in our hearts don't we? We need to make sure we're all applying the balm in our own lives. So that we don't become the gangrene in the body of Christ. We don't want to ruin what we got going on here. And you know our church needs to bind together. We need to strengthen the things that remain. And really you know more than anything as individuals get rooted and built up. And take the Christian life seriously. We're not playing games down here. Romans 15 look at verse 4. For whatsoever things are written aforetime are written for our learning that we patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. What's going to comfort you in your life? What's that balm that's going to bring hope in your life? What's going to comfort you? The scriptures. And not just reading them. Not just having some little calendar with a cute little drawing. Just some Thomas Kincaid painting with a cute verse over it. Isn't that nice? Grandma's you know needlework you know hung up in the bathroom. You know with you know first Corinthians 13 written on it or something. You know the comfort of the scriptures is when we read it and say well that's what the Bible says I'm going to do it. That brings comfort. That binds us up. As individuals that's going to bind us together as a body. And then he says in verse 5 now the God of patience and consolation. What's consolation? It's comfort. That's a balm. It's healing. The God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded. One toward another according to Christ Jesus. That's a balm that God wants to apply. That we be like minded one toward another. That we have fervent love of the brethren. I mean maybe the preaching isn't enough to bring you to church on a regular basis. Maybe it's not enough to get you here. But what about the love of the brethren? Who else in this world believes like you? Not too many people that I know of. The people in this room. The people at other churches. But I don't know about you but I'm not running into independent fundamental Baptist everywhere I go. Quite the opposite. It seems like everywhere I'm going today it's like Jeremiah 8 everywhere. Everyone's given a covetousness. It just seems like it's just vanities everywhere. And what else would we expect of the world? That's what they do. And we were the same way. We walked in the lust of the flesh just like anybody else. But you know that's not us anymore. We've come out of that darkness and we've come into the light of the gospel of Christ. We need to make sure that we're getting with the brethren and that we're being bound together. That we're being like-minded one toward another. That we have one mind and one mouth may glorify God. We have to have unity. And the only way we're gonna have unity is in this church is where we as individuals take this balm and apply it. Take the Bible and apply it to your lives. And we're all doing that to the best of our ability. That's when we have unity. And that's when we'll have love. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord again, thank you for this body that you've established in this town and in this church. And Lord I pray that you'd help it. Lord that you'd help us to be knit together in love. That you'd help us to all be of one mind. That we would strive together for the gospel of Christ, Lord. That you'd help us to do a great work. Lord help us to apply the Bible to our lives. And not just treat it like a guidebook or something that we follow loosely. But see it for what it is Lord. A light that shines in a dark place that will guide us. Help us Lord to apply it. We ask in Christ's name. Amen. Alright we're gonna go ahead and sing this song. Great God Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord Almighty the Lord