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If you look at Jeremiah 47 verse number 6, it begins by saying, O thou, sword of the Lord, that is the title for the sermon this morning, Sword of the Lord, Jeremiah chapter 47. So, you know, the book of Jeremiah is just constantly about God's judgment, and we know that he's primarily using the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, to bring that judgment upon not just Judah, but upon all the surrounding nations. And this time, the nation of Babylon is referred to as the sword of the Lord. So this is basically saying, God's going to battle against nations, he's pulling out his sword to fight, and the sword that he pulls out is Babylon. Okay? So let's start there in verse number 1, Jeremiah 47 verse number 1, it says, The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines before that Pharaoh smote Gaius. So we know that the Philistines, now, you know, this is the time for the judgment of the Philistines. You know, last week, we saw, or last chapter, we saw that the judgment was falling upon Egypt. Now we're looking at the judgment of God falling upon the Philistines, okay? And if you know your Bibles, you know that the Philistines are pretty much the number one enemy of the people of God, of Israel in the Old Testament. They're, you know, they're constantly at battle. And if I call, if I'm sort of going through the Bible and thinking about how many battles there were between the Philistines and the children of Israel, and I counted 13 battles, including the battle between David and Goliath, okay? So several battles throughout the Bible between the Philistines and the children of Israel, these guys were, you know, enemies. And now it's time for the Philistines to, you know, be punished by the sword of the Lord. Now, notice that it says there in verse number 1, it says, Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines before that Pharaoh smote, smote, Gaza, okay? So Pharaoh, of course, is not from Babylon, Pharaoh is from Egypt. So what we learn in chapter 1 is that the Philistines are going to receive a double whammy. You know, the first one, they're going to be defeated by the Egyptians. And then they're going to be defeated once again, okay, by the Babylonians, okay? So before they can even recover from their defeat from Egypt, they're going to suffer the punishment from the Babylonians. But I want you to just keep your finger there and turn to Genesis 26. Genesis 26 in verse number 12, I just want you to look at the first conflict, I suppose. Yeah, the first conflict between the Philistines and, you know, the people of God. You know, in this case, this is about Isaac. So it's before the nation of Israel even exists. But back in Genesis 26, we already see the beginnings or the foundation of the, you know, animosity between these two peoples, the Philistines and the Jews or the, you know, the Israelites. So we look at verse number 12, Genesis 26, verse number 12. It says here, then Isaac sowed in that land. Remember, Isaac was the son of Abraham. And received in the same year and a hundred fold and the Lord blessed him. So we see the Lord God blessing his people, blessing Isaac, blessing those that Isaac had around him. And it says in verse number 13, and the man waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great. By the way, notice that the Lord is blessing him 100 fold. We get the same blessing. The Bible, New Testament tells us that whatever we sacrifice, whatever we give to the Lord for his service, that he's also going to reward us 100 fold in the kingdom of heaven. So we can apply these lessons, okay? We can take these little stories in the Bible and apply it to, you know, our spiritual life. So, you know, the more we do for the Lord, you know, the greater Isaac became, you know, the more we do as a church or as individuals for the Lord, you're going to find enemies will come against you, okay? Verse number 14 says, for he had possession of flocks and possessions of herds and great store of servants, then notice the next words, and the Philistines envied him. You see, the more successful you are for the Lord, the more you, you know, win souls and the greater knowledge that you have of God's word and the more you stand on the word of God, you're gonna find that people around you will envy you, okay? They will hate you for no reason except because they see God's hand of blessing upon your life. Look at verse number 15. For all the worlds which his father's servants, that's Abraham's servants, had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth, okay? And I've preached in this story back when we had our anniversary. But what we learn here is the Philistines were so envious they wanted to stop the prosperity of Isaac so they find the worlds where he was, you know, bringing up water from, the ones that his own father Abraham had dug, and, you know, they sought to, you know, fill up those worlds so he couldn't access the water. And we need to remember this, you know, especially in this time where we're not able to have church and we're not able to fellowship as brethren. You know, we could look at church as a well of water, right? We have different worlds that God has given us. We have the word of God and that's one world that we can draw to and drink from and help in our spiritual life. You know, we have our prayer life. That's one world that we can draw from and draw from the power of God. You know, soul winning is another world that we can draw from. I know many times we don't feel like going soul winning, we don't feel like getting out there. But when we're out there, when we're the brethren, we're fellowshiping, we're preaching the Bible, even seeing people saved, I know a lot of people feel refreshed and just excited to be out there. You know, when you're actually doing the work, that's another world that we can draw from. And, you know, church, once again, you know, it's a place we can draw our waters from. And we find that right now, you know, those worlds have been filled up with earth. Okay, we can't go soul winning. In fact, we can't even travel five kilometers radius. We can't even visit our family and friends. And, you know, church, you know, we're doing the live stream, but the live stream is not church, you know. We haven't been able to have church for two months. And so we, you know, we can suffer these consequences. But understand that it's not anything that other people have not gone through in the past. And whatever worlds we do have available for us, you know, that's our prayer life, that's our Bible reading. We need to make sure that we continue drawing from those sources, you know, or otherwise you'll become completely dried up. But anyway, just wanted to point to your attention there that this is the first time that we see a conflict, you know, between the Philistines and, well, Isaac here, you know, ultimately representing who the children of Israel will descend from. And as I told you, you know, we have 13, at least 13 great battles that I found between the Philistines and the children of Israel throughout the Bible. And so, you know, verse number one, if you go back to Jeremiah 47, verse number one, you know, we saw that basically Pharaoh would first, you know, obviously had a conflict with the Philistines themselves. They would first conquer or defeat the Philistines. Now look at verse number two. It says, thus saith the Lord, behold, waters rise up out of the north. Now if you've been following the Jeremiah series the whole way through, you'll remember that constantly, that power that comes from the north is the Babylonians. Just, it's the same name, right? They're coming from the north and it says, and shall be an overflowing flood and shall overflow the land and all that is therein. And then that dwell therein, then the men shall cry and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. And so we saw this even last week. We saw how sometimes the Bible uses this language of waters, of floods referencing a powerful army. You know, the previous chapter was about the army of Egypt, but this time the power, the flood coming from the north is the Babylonians, okay? So, you know, we have, you know, the Philistines, you know, first defeated by the Pharaoh and by the armies of Egypt, you know, they haven't fully recovered and then God's going to send a powerful flood from north, the Babylonians, to basically completely wipe them out, okay? So it's that real double whammy judgment that the Philistines are going to receive. Let's keep going there, verse number three. It says, at the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots and at the rumbling of his wills, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands. Now I find this very hard to accept or even believe, but this is what the Bible says that took place. I mean, I think, you know, if you knew there was some powerful army, right? You hear, you know, I guess now we don't really have horses, but you hear the tanks rolling down the streets. You hear the helicopters. You hear the planes flying overhead. You know, the first thought that I would have is I need to get my family to safety, okay? Like wherever I am, I would go find my, you know, my family, you know, try to take them with me and try to get outside of that war zone. But we see here that the people or the Philistines are so afraid. The fathers are so afraid that, let's say if they're working out in the field, when they see the horses, when they see the army of Babylon, they flee. They don't even consider their children. They're that afraid, you know? You know, that can picture either, you know, just the, you know, how fear can blind your mindset, right? Or it can just also show the kind of quality that the Philistines were. Maybe they just weren't family people. You know, they weren't people that really cared for children or, you know, for that inheritance that they received. But, you know, being fearful can cause you to do some really stupid things, things that you wouldn't naturally do. And, you know, I strongly encourage, you know, the brethren and for those that listen in, you know, things are tough in Australia, especially down in Sydney. I think things are getting pretty tough again in Melbourne again. But don't be afraid. You know, when you're fearful, you'll make stupid decisions. When you're fearful, you know, you'll lose hope. And I don't want you to do something stupid in the act of fear. That you're going to regret in the future, okay? We need to remember that the Lord God is in control. In fact, the Lord is the one sending this sword here against the Philistines. Verse number four. It says, because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, so we know Philistines are going to be defeated, and then it says, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth, for the Lord shall spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caithor. All right, so I've talked about the Philistines. Now, Tyrus and Zidon are brought up. These are two cities. They're brought up in this verse as well. Now, Tyrus and Zidon, they're not cities of the Philistines. They're cities of the Phoenicians, if you kind of know your history and the geography and people of that area. But what we learn here is that Tyrus and Zidon, it says, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth. So God's going to destroy the Philistines. And so what this is telling us is that the Philistines were helpers of these two cities. I suppose they were, you know, I'm sure they had agreements and trade. Okay, they probably depended on the power of the Philistines. It's similar to, you know, Australia, where, you know, Australia's strongest, you know, ally is the United States, right? You know, so if Australia were ever to be attacked, you know, by some foreign nation, you know, they would reach out to the United States as their allies, you know. In agreement to that, that's why there are, you know, US bases, army bases in Australia, if you don't know that, okay? In case there is ever some type of foreign attack. So it's kind of like, you know, the Lord's sending some power to wipe out the US and now Australia no longer has the help of that nation. So, you know, Tyrus here and Zidon are, again, just other gentile cities. But I love the story of these two cities. What I want you to do is keep your finger there and please go to Matthew 15. Go to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, please. And Tyrus and Zidon are mentioned a couple of times in the New Testament, but they have slightly different names, okay? It's Tyre and Zidon, okay? You can definitely tell it's the same cities. But if you look at Matthew 15 and verse number 24, please, Matthew 15 and verse number 24, you know, we have this false teaching that says that Christ, when Christ came to this earth, you know, this is, this falls under dispensationalism. But again, it's not your mainline dispensational Baptist that believe this. It's more, you know, your kind of extreme hyper dispensationalists that kind of hold this view. And that view is that when Christ came, he only cared for the Jews. He did not care for the gentiles at all. He was not there for the gentiles, okay? Because, you know, we teach that when Jesus Christ came, yes, his primary ministry was to the Jews. I mean, that's the whole purpose behind it, okay? But he was always going to be that sacrifice. You know, Christ came, we believe he came to die on the cross and that his sacrifice on the cross was for all people. You know, it doesn't matter whether you're Jew or Gentile, Jew or Greek. You know, there's no difference. And that Christ came to die for all, you know, that's what we believe. But then you have your hyper dispensationalists that say, well, Christ did not actually really come to die on the cross. He really came to set up his kingdom on this earth. And that kingdom was just for the Jews. He did not care for the gentiles at all. But because the Jews rejected him, then he had to go to plan B and die on the cross for some reason. And now he was, you know, that plan B was for the gentiles. And one verse that they used to quote, to sort of support that, you know, stupid teaching is here in Matthew 15, verse number 24, Matthew 15, look at verse number 24, it says, And he answered, that's Jesus, answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Because we have a gentile woman here come in asking for the help of Jesus Christ. And he goes, well, I'm only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And this is one verse, look, if you took that one verse alone, I can understand that you would conclude that Christ only came for the Jews and he cared nothing for the gentiles. Okay, doesn't it sound that way? Yeah, it sounds that way. But what I want you to consider, and we'll look at the whole story, look at the context here, is Christ saying this, to say that he cares nothing for the gentiles and did not come for the gentiles at all, or is Christ saying this to test the woman's faith? Okay, now, let's track back a little bit there. Let's go to Matthew 15, verse number 21. Matthew 15, verse number 21. Now, let's pretend for a moment that God cared nothing for the gentiles and he only came for the Jews. We'll look at verse number 21, it says, Then Jesus went thence and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. So where does Jesus go? He goes to Tyre and Sidon. He goes to those coasts. He goes to a gentile land. If Jesus truly only cared for the Jews, only came for the Jews, did not care for the gentiles, why, when Jesus Christ's ministry is so short, well, it's only three years, why would he even spend time, you know, to go into the coast of a gentile place? Because the only thing he does in this story, he deals with this gentile woman. That's all he does. The reason he came to this coast, brethren, is because he cared for this gentile woman. That's why. It's the only reason why. Okay, let's keep going. Look at verse number 22. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, out of the gentile coast. This is not a Jew, all right? And cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. So this woman's daughter is possessed by a devil. Verse number 23. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. Verse number 24. And he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So that's the verse that they pull out, okay? They forget the story that Jesus purposely came into this place, okay? Purposely came into the lands of the gentiles here. Look at verse number 25. Now, if Jesus Christ said that to you, you know, if you were of little faith or you had no faith in Christ, wouldn't you be like, man, you know, forget him then, okay? You know, I came to Jesus for help and he's just rejected me, okay? This woman doesn't do that. Look at verse number 25. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. Is this woman a believer of Jesus Christ? Absolutely. Is she a gentile? Absolutely. She comes and worships him, okay? We know that we're not commanded to ever worship a man or to worship false gods. She's come and she's decided, I'm coming to worship the true God, Jesus Christ. And she calls him Lord. She calls him Lord. Help me. Now look at verse number 26. And he answered and said, it is not meat or it's not suitable to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. So what does Christ call this woman? Dogs, okay? I mean, very, you know, I mean, this is not PC culture right here, okay? Christ would be right now on the news media, right? And being told this is hate speech or something, okay? What is Christ doing though? Is he pushing her away or is he testing her faith? Is he using this event as an illustration, as an example to the others that are around him, you know? Well, let's keep going. Verse number 27, how does she respond? I mean, if someone calls you a dog, wouldn't you just be like, again? Forget this, I'm out of here. But how strong is this woman's faith? Look at verse number 27. And she said, true flawed. She goes, yeah, I am a dog. Okay, true flawed. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Look at verse number 28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, oh woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Okay? Now look at verse number 29. And Jesus departed from thence. So now he did pass the coast of Tyre and Zion. And Jesus departed from thence and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee and went up into a mountain and sat down there. So he goes back to the lands of the Jews. So what do we learn there? We have this portion of scripture where he purposely goes into a Gentile place, Tyre and Zion, to the coast thereof, a woman of the land of Canaan, definitely not a Jew, comes to see Christ. That's all he does. He deals with her and then he goes off, okay? Goes back to the land of the Jews. So my question is to the people that believe that Christ did not come for the Gentiles and they take that one verse there and they say, well, he only cares for the Jews. Then pray tell me, why did Christ come to the land of the Gentiles? Why is it that the Holy Spirit saw fit to record this story, to record this event and for Christ to praise this woman's faith? You know why? Because this teaches us that Christ came for the Gentiles as well. Should a Gentile person, even in the time of Christ, even before his crucifixion, if their desire was to Christ, was to worship the God of Israel, was to place their faith on Jesus Christ, then he too would save them. He too would be a God. He too would answer their prayers. That's why, because God cared. Jesus Christ cares also for the Gentiles. That portion of scripture proves to us that Christ would purposely come to this land just to deal with this one individual Gentile woman because he came for the Gentiles as well. That's why, okay? This does not prove that he just came for the Jews and only cared for the Jews. He would be inconsistent with Christ's decision to go even to the land of the Gentiles. Now, can you please also turn to Mark 3? Mark 3, verse number seven. You might say, well, that's just one woman. That's just one event. That's just an exception. Christ only cared for that one woman. Well, what about the Samaritan woman at the well? Would you say that's another exception? You know, you may recall the woman, the Samaritan woman at the well, she then went into a city and they all came, you know, wanting to know more about Christ. She came, she was basically the sole winner for the land in Samaria, okay? God, Jesus Christ definitely took time out to spend time with Gentiles as well. But look at Mark 3, verse number seven. It says, but Jesus withdrew himself from his disciples to the sea and a great multitude from Galilee followed him and from Judea. So we know Galilee, Judea, these are places for the Jews. These are where the Jews were residing, okay? And from Jerusalem, so we know that's definitely the capital city of Judah, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan, look at this, and they about Tyre and Sidon, hey, where are those cities? Gentile cities, the Phoenicians, okay? Tyre and Sidon, look, a great multitude. When they had heard what great things he did came unto him. You see, when Christ was teaching his word, when Christ was doing his ministry, yes, there are a number of Jews from these different places coming to hear and preach, but so did Gentiles from Tyre and Sidon come to hear and preach. You know, and Christ does not like separate these two groups or anything like that. He's not like, well, you guys know, you guys are actually Gentiles, get out of here. I've only come for the lost sheep of the tribe of Israel, tribes of Israel, no, okay? They come as well to listen to what Christ is teaching. Look at verse number nine. And he spake to his disciples that a small ship should wait for him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. The multitudes of all these people, Jews and the Gentiles, were so massive, he had to pull out into the sea. Look at verse number 10. For he had healed many, insomuch as they pressed upon him for to touch him as many as had plagues. So Christ did not just come healing the Jews and their plagues and whatever help they needed. He was there teaching the people from Tyre and Sidon as well. And if they too were sick and had plagues and whatever, Christ was healing them as well. That stupid teaching that Christ only came for the Jews, only cared for the Jews. You know, these people just do not understand, you know, the Bible. They don't understand the love of Christ. Yes, his primary mission were to the Jews. Okay, yes, that's where he started, okay? It's like, you know, we're here in Sydney. You know, our primary mission is to the people of Sydney. You know, we're in the LGA or Fairfield. Our primary mission is to preach the gospel to Fairfield. Okay, but that doesn't mean that we'll never try to reach other places. It's not like we'll never support, you know, some missionary that might go to a foreign land and go, well, no, you know, we're just only for Fairfield. We're only for Sydney. No, forget you, no. Just because you have a primary place where you start doesn't mean you're not going to reach out other places. Okay, we see that Christ multiple times dealt with people, Gentiles, okay? And we see, once again, Tyre and Zion are mentioned here in the New Testament. And so that's why I like these cities. Okay, people don't, because you know, people don't do the research. They think Tyre and Zion were just Jewish cities. No, they were not. They were Gentile cities, okay? Anyway, let's go back to Jeremiah 47. Jeremiah 47, please. And verse number five. Jeremiah 47, verse number five. I just hope that, you know, just gives you further evidence that, you know, this whole teaching that Christ only cared for the Jews is just stupid. Verse number five. Boldness is come upon Gaza. Ashkelon is cut off with a remnant of their valley. How long wilt thou cut thyself? So boldness, you know, losing your hair, boldness has come upon Gaza. It's like Brother Lez, right? His boldness. The idea kind of there is, you know, when the Egyptians came, right, they caused some havoc, they caused some damage to Gaza, but when the Babylonians are going to come, it's all going to be gone. Like whatever hair remained, it's all going to be made bold, right? So when Babylon comes through with the army, Gaza, you know, one of the cities of the Philistines completely wiped out. Ashkelon is cut off. You know, Ashkelon, you know, is another Philistine city. It's probably most famous for the story when, you may recall when the story of Samson, he was getting married and he made this riddle and he thought nobody was going to figure out what that riddle was. And then, you know, he gets the seeds. Anyway, basically he had to fulfill his side of the bargain, which was to find some clothing, because clothing back then was very expensive, you know, they didn't have the machinery that they have today. And anyway, Samson goes into Ashkelon, kills 30 men, takes their garments and gives it to the people at the wedding feast. So that's where Ashkelon's, I guess most famous story is in the Bible. But again, it's just another city of the Philistines. And, you know, so, you know, the Lord's basically saying that his judgment's going to fall upon multiple cities in the, multiple Philistine cities. Verse number six. Now I'm not sure who's speaking these words. Okay, I don't know if it's, you know, Jeremiah, that's, obviously Jeremiah is speaking these words because he's teaching this stuff, but I'm not sure who's actually the one, you know, saying these words, if it's Jeremiah's heart saying this or if it's more the Philistines saying this, but nevertheless, we learned something interesting here. It says, O thou sword of the Lord. So Babylon is referenced here as the sword of the Lord. How long will it be ere thou be quiet? So somebody says, look, this judgment, it's too much. You know, it just keeps going, right? Babylon keeps taking over, you know, city after city, you know, place after place. When is it going to end? Someone asks the Lord, whether it's Jeremiah once again, I don't know if it's the Philistines asking, we don't know exactly, okay? But how long will it be ere thou be quiet? Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest and be still. Now keep your finger there and please go to Jeremiah 12, verse number 12. Jeremiah 12 and verse number 12. Just want to show you one other passage here in Jeremiah 12, 12. Jeremiah 12, 12, it says, the spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness for the sword of the Lord, there it is again, shall devour from the one end of the land, even to the other end of the land, no flesh shall have peace, okay? So no flesh is going to have peace, but now we get to Jeremiah 47, when is it going to end? When is there going to be peace? Is that question. Lord, when are you going to hold back your sword? And in Jeremiah 12, that sword once again is a reference to Babylon, okay? So God is using Babylon as the sword of the Lord, okay? God is using Babylon to bring judgment upon Judah and the surrounding nations and the people that have been affected by this are asking, Lord, please, can you stop this? It's too much, okay? Put up thyself in thy scabbard. The scabbard there is basically like a sheaf, like a, you know, just another name, like a, can you put your sword away, Lord? Please, you know? And, you know, I think about this, how they're speaking these words and, you know, again, you know, I've preached many times that I believe we're just facing the judgment of God in this land and, you know, things are tough in Sydney. They are, you know, they can be tough and, you know, our travel is limited, but how wicked is this city? Doesn't this city of Sydney deserve the judgment of God? Doesn't it deserve the sword of the Lord to come through? And, you know, we might be saying, Lord, how long? When is this going to end? When are we going to get through COVID and, you know, live back, you know, normal lives and just be, you know, back in church and just doing, you know, living our freedom and, you know, it's the same question that was being asked here, you know, in this time. I can understand how the sword of the Lord can be overwhelming sometimes, but, you know, if I'm honest with you, brethren, Sydney deserves to be, you know, well, it needs to face the sword of the Lord. You know, there is so much wickedness in our city. You know, the abortions, the parades of the homosexuals and, you know, I mean, the amount of crime that takes place in this city, you know, is just overwhelming. You know, I think, you know, it is time for, you know, this city to face the sword of the Lord. And you can't stop it. You can't stop it. Once God's judgment falls, it's going to continue, you know, for it to complete its job. Can you please keep your finger then? Go to Judges chapter seven. Go to Judges chapter seven, verse number 18. Throughout history, God has had to pull out his sword, his sword of judgment. And as we're seeing here, yes, the sword was Babylon, but it wasn't always Babylon. You know, God uses different nations, different peoples to operate as his sword of judgment. So if you look at Judges chapter seven, please, Judges chapter seven, verse number 18. Judges seven, verse number 18. It says here, when I blow with a trumpet, these are the words of Gideon, by the way, I and all that are with me, then blow you the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and say, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. So this is a story where Gideon, you know, would only have 300 men and they would defeat the Midianites, you know, which had a much larger army. They had a very small army. In fact, God kept telling them, you know, make it less and less and less. They got to the point where it was only 300 men and they ended up defeating the Midianites, of course, you know, by the hand of the Lord. But I want you to notice that this time, you know, the tomb of Israel are referenced as the sword of the Lord against the Midianites, right? It's time for the Midianites to face the judgment of God. God pulls out his sword and the sword is Gideon and his 300 men. Can you please go to First Chronicles, chapter 21. First Chronicles, chapter 21, please, verse number 11. First Chronicles, chapter 21, verse number 11. We've seen that God can use a sword of an entire, you know, powerful kingdom like Babylon. We see that his sword can also be a small army of 300. What else does the Lord use as his sword? Well, in First Chronicles 21, verse 11, I'll just quickly get you up to speed. You know, King David was commanded by God not to number his men, not to number his army. You know, the whole point behind that is sometimes when nations feel like they have a strong, you know, strong defense force, you know, strong military, their faith and their trust will be upon their strength of the military rather than their trust and faith upon the Lord. And so the Lord wanted to make sure that David did not have his heart, you know, the Lord had seen him through many battles and David makes a mistake here where he starts numbering the men. He starts numbering his military, okay? And so it's that same idea where his heart is trusting on man rather than trusting upon the Lord. So the Lord punishes King David. It says here in First Chronicles 21, 11, So Gad, Gad is one of the prophets. So Gad came to David and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee. So basically the Lord's gonna judge David and Israel here. Choose thee. So you get to choose what punishment you want, okay? Either three years famine, that's pretty bad, three years of famine, or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, you know, or you can choose three months where God's gonna allow your enemies to defeat, to overcome the nation and whatever destruction they make for three months, that's the punishment, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee, or else three days, the sword of the Lord. So you can have three days and now it's the sword of the Lord that can destroy or punish this nation. Even the pestilence. So the pestilence here is referred to as the sword of the Lord. See that? Even the pestilence in the land and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. So brethren, I just, I want you to think about this yourself. You got the choice. Imagine you've done wrong, okay? You're in charge of the entire nation. God gives you three choices. What punishment do you want? Three years of famine? Three months of a foreign power taking over the land and destroying you guys? Or three days from the sword of the Lord of pestilence? I don't know. Just think about it. I mean, you know, what are the options there? They're all pretty tough, but I can understand that. I can understand why most of us would choose the three days, because it's just three days of difficulty, okay? It's the sword of the Lord. What does David say in verse number 13? And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait. Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord. He goes, okay, let's go with the hand of the Lord. Let's go with the sword of the Lord. Look at this. For very great are his mercies, but let me not fall into the hand of man. He goes, all right, we'll take the three days, the sword of the Lord, why? Because I know God is very merciful. Yes, he is very merciful, but you'll soon see when God pulls out his sword, it's not a time of mercy, okay? When God pulls out his sword, it's a time of judgment and destruction. What happens? Verse number 14. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of Israel 70,000 men. 70,000 men died from that pestilence, the sword of the Lord. Okay, so boy, you know, if King David knew how many would die, okay? If King David knew that God's mercy was not gonna be withheld, you know, maybe he would have gone with those other, one of the other options, I don't know, okay? But I just wanna show you here that the sword of the Lord can represent many forms of judgment. We saw an entire kingdom powerhouse of Babylon, a small army, 300 men. This time we see just pestilence being that sword of the Lord. And also, can you please now go to Isaiah 34, Isaiah 34 and verse number four, Isaiah 34, verse number four. The reason I'm going through these passages, well, number one, because this chapter in Jeremiah is quite short and we wanna pull out as much as we can from this. And to understand what the sword of the Lord can represent. And we see throughout history, the Lord pulling out his sword at different times, right? To bring his judgment. Well, once again, there's come a future time when God's gonna pull out his sword, okay? We know about the end times, we know about, you know, God's wrath, you know, at the day of the Lord when he pulls out his wrath and destroys the earth. Well, in the book of Isaiah, that judgment, that wrath is referred to once again as the sword of the Lord, okay? Look at Isaiah 34, verse number four. You may recall this verse, very similar. In fact, it's identical almost to the passage in Revelation chapter six, where we had the sun and the moon being darkened. And that's the time when the rapture takes place, okay? But it says here in verse number four, and all the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. You may recall that in Revelation chapter six. And all their hosts shall fall down and the leaf fall off from the vine as a falling fig from the fig tree, okay? Now, we know that's referenced in the coming of Christ, that he's gonna come and he's going together his believers. And we know that straight after the rapture, we have half an hour of silence, and then God pulls out his wrath upon the earth, okay? The seven trumpets and the seven vials. But look at verse number five. It says, for my sword shall be bathed in heaven. Behold, it shall come down upon Udemia and upon the people of my curse to judgment. Verse number six. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is made fat with fatness and with the blood of lambs and goats and with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord have a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Udemia. And the unicorns shall come down with them and the bullets of the bulls and their land shall be soaked with blood and their dust made fat with fatness. Look at verse number eight. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, we call that day of the Lord, the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. Again, referencing the end times here, referencing the time after the rapture. When God pulls out his wrath, the Bible tells us here in Isaiah, once again, the Lord is pulling out the sword of the Lord. And it's going to be a great destruction upon other lands. The Bible references here, again, the sacrifice of animals being a picture of the bloodshed, the death that's going to take place upon the earth in those end times. Thank God we're out of there before that time takes place. And so, as we saw back in Jeremiah 47, they're asking, can you pull back the sword? Can you put it back in its sheaf? When God's sword falls, there's nothing stopping it. The mercies have dried up. It's time for judgment and it's time to simply, we want to be on the Lord's side. If Australia and Sydney here is being judged, and I do believe it is, we just need to make sure we are on the Lord's side. When the Lord's judgment fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah, we have the story of Lot's wife and she looked back at the city. Her affections were toward that city, were toward that wicked city that God was destroying. We need to make sure that as we're going through this time of COVID, that our affections are not upon the city of Sydney. Our affections are not upon this earth. If God needs to destroy this place to some extent, whether it's the economy, through the hands of wicked government or whatever it is, brethren, at the end of the day, I want to see God's judgment fall. It's always got a purpose. It always ultimately has a profit. It's righteous judgment of the Lord. And we need to make sure we just stand with the Lord and say, Lord, if your judgment's gonna fall, let it fall. Keep us safe, as safe as you can, Lord, while your judgment falls upon this earth. Let's go back to Jeremiah 47, verse number seven. Jeremiah 47, verse number seven. So the question in verse number six was, God, can you put away your sword? But look, this is the response in verse number seven. How can it be quiet? Seeing the Lord have given it a charge against Ashkelon and against the seashore, there have he appointed it. How can it be quiet? You know, once God's judgment falls, once the sword comes out for the time of battle, it's not going to be quiet. It's not going to stop. God's judgment falls and we just need to accept it, brethren, okay? We need to learn to accept when God's judgment falls upon this earth. God's sword cannot be quiet. All right, so in conclusion, can you please now go to Ephesians chapter six, Ephesians chapter six and verse number 17. Ephesians chapter six and verse number 17. When you think about the sword of the Lord, you know, our minds also go to other portions of scripture. And you know, the Lord has given us his sword as well, which is amazing, okay? Ephesians chapter six, verse number 17 says, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. The Holy Spirit, of course, is the Lord. The Lord has given us his sword. It is the word of God. Now we think about, you know, the great judgments of God and using these great, you know, powers and great pestilence to destroy and to judge. This book does a lot of destruction as well. This book does a lot of judgment as well. And God has given us this sword. This is the battle that we fight. You know, we're called to a spiritual battle, not to battle against, not to wrestle against flesh and blood. God has given us a spiritual battle, okay? And it's just as powerful. We do have the same strength of his sword contained in our hands. So it's so important that we become trained and we learn how to wield this sword. We read this Bible, right? It's a meditate, memorize scripture, compare scripture with scripture, build our doctrines solidly upon God's word. And the more you do that, the greater you can be used by God to pull out his sword and bring judgment upon this world. Can you please go to Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four and verse number 12. Hebrews chapter four and verse number 12. You know, what we just read about the sword of the Lord, the destruction, we saw the destruction of men. We saw the destruction of wicked nations, okay? But believe it or not, as I said, you know, this is the word of God, the Bible, and it's even a sharper sword than that. It can destroy even more than just destroying people. You know, the bloodshed of a sword, this sword actually does a lot more damage, okay? Because it says in Hebrew chapter four, verse number 12, for the word of God is quick, that means alive, it's living, living words, and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirits and of the joints and marrow. When we think about God destroying people and nations, yeah, we can kind of think about a sword piercing a human body, you know, piercing through maybe joints and marrow, as it were, you know, cutting through flesh and bone. But you know what? This divides the soul and spirits and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the hearts. You know what? This word goes beyond the physical body and goes into the spiritual realm, goes into the thoughts of man, the thoughts of the heart. It can cut through even deeper than a fleshly wound, okay? We're given a sword that is sharper than any two-edged sword. And so it's so important that you learn to be trained in God's word. You know, it's not just the job of a pastor to be well-trained, it's all of our jobs. You know, just like any, you take any sword and give it to someone that is untrained. Imagine giving a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways to a child who's not been trained to use that sword. You know, it's like me going, you know, you know, going to my three-year-old son and pulling out the sharpest knife in the kitchen and saying, here you go, son, play with it, enjoy it. What's gonna happen? He's gonna cut himself, he's gonna hurt himself, he's gonna hurt people around him, he's not going to use it well. Why? Because he's not trained to wield that weapon, okay? He's not trained to wield that knife. We've got a sword sharper than any two-edged sword, okay? This is why it's so important that you be careful about the preachers that you listen to. You know, be careful about, you know, sharing online sermons from pastors or people. You don't even know if they're even saved, okay? Because they're wielding that sword and if they're not trained, if they're not even saved, they're going to cause a lot of damage. You know, we are called to judge this nation, to judge our sins, to judge our churches even, okay? But we use righteous judgment, you know? We need to make sure we're trained in God's word, we wield this Bible, you know, carefully. You know, when we go out there, when we preach the gospel to the lost, we are wielding that two-edged sword and we're cutting through the soul and spirit, the intents and thoughts of man, right? They think, well, to go to heaven, I've got to be a good person. We're coming with that sword, we're cutting that cancer out and saying, no, you're not good enough. You know, you're not good enough. The only one that was good enough to get you to heaven was Jesus Christ. And so it's a sword that pierces through even, beyond flesh and blood. Can you please turn to Revelation chapter one? Revelation chapter one, verse number 16. Revelation chapter one, verse number 16. It's a very powerful Bible that we have. It's the words of God. I mean, think about that. You've got the power of God's word in your hands. Look at Revelation chapter one, verse number 16. These are the words of Christ. It says, and he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth, I mean, what would come out of your mouth? Words, okay? We've got God's word right here. And out of his mouth, speaking about Jesus's mouth, went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. Can you please go to Revelation 19? So I want you to notice that God's words, the words of Jesus Christ, are referenced as a sharp two-edged sword. And once again, we have a two-edged sword right here, sharper than any two-edged sword right here in our hands. Look at Revelation 19, verse number 21. Revelation 19, verse number 21. We already saw in the book of Isaiah how the end times events when God pulls out his wrath, that God references the pulling out of his sword. Well, when Christ comes back at the end, during Armageddon, at the end of that seven-year period, it says in Revelation 19, verse number 21, the beast, the Antichrist, will come with his armies and try to defeat Jesus Christ as he comes on his white horse. But it says in verse number 21, And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which sword proceedeth out of his mouth. And all the fowls were filled with their flesh. It's interesting there, isn't it? That the Bible is referenced as the two-edged sword. The sword that comes out of Christ's mouth is referenced as a two-edged sword. But when Christ comes, okay, we don't have that strength, we don't have that power, we can literally destroy an army, right? By preaching God's word like in the flesh, we don't have that strength, but somehow God is able to utilize the same words, okay? The words that come out of Christ. And I don't know if there literally is some type of powerful sword that comes out of the mouth of Christ or if it's just him simply speaking the words that causes people to just be ultimately, I mean, God created this universe. God created the world just by speaking, okay? And when Christ comes, all you need to do is speak God's word and he can destroy these wicked armies of the Antichrist. And so I just wanna show you the parallel there of the sword of the Lord back in Jeremiah. God references in the end times the sword of the Lord, once again, when God pours out his wrath, Christ has a sword of the Lord that comes out of his mouth, the two-edged sword, which is the same title given to the Bible that you're holding your hands. So I guess my conclusion, brethren, is appreciate the sword of the Lord that you have in your hands, appreciate it. We're fighting a spiritual battle. This can cause a lot of damage, okay? This is a sword that defends us. This is the sword that gives us clarity. It's a sword that defeats sin, okay? It's a sword that defeats the weakness of the devil, right? If we have this as our weapon, and we put on the whole armor of God, brethren, there's nothing that can defeat us. Please appreciate the sword that God has given you. Let's pray.