"THE COMING DAYS"

SERMON BY PASTOR JOHN HOLLIS

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT - DECEMBER 3, 2006

Jeremiah 33:14-16

This is the first Sunday of Advent. As from our text: "Surely the days are coming."

These words should get our attention. What days is the prophet speaking about? How can these coming days be of importance to us?

We can compare these words of Jeremiah with the words of the angel Gabriel when he spoke to Zacharias about the birth of John, the forerunner of Christ. Gabriel also spoke to Mary about the days that were coming to her, in which she would give birth to Jesus. Through Jeremiah, God had promised to "cause a righteous branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth." Zacharias had prophesied that God had "raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant." (Luke 1:69). The coming days for the world of Zacharias's day would be exciting days.

The coming days were exciting days for Mary as well. When the angel gave her the news that she would bring the Messiah into the world, she said, "My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." (Luke 1:46). Mary's world changed that day, and was never the same again.

There are other passages of Scripture that speak of the "coming days." The announcement of the new covenant was introduced with the words "'Behold, days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant . . .'" (Jeremiah 31:31). Again we read, "Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, . . ." (Isaiah 2:1-2). And from the New Testament, Paul's letter to the church in Galatia, we read: "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, . . ." (Galatians 4:4). Related passages are (Joel 2:28-32; Zechariah 13:1; Malachi 3:1). When these words were spoken and written, the coming days were in the future of the people of Israel. There was something they could forward to.

These coming days are more fully explained in the first part of Jeremiah, chapter 33. The chapter begins with the assurance that God would fulfill the good word. "Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, 'Thus says the Lord.'" It is the Lord who made all things who is speaking. The people should give heed to what He says. Isaiah put it in these words: "Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightly, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, 'Here is your God!'" (Isaiah 40:9).

In verse three of Jeremiah 33 we read, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3). God was going to make a great and wonderful announcement to His people, and he wanted them to know who was speaking to them and that they could speak to Him and call upon Him.

But there was a warning they needed to hear. Before the good days would come, they would have to face some terrible days, if they didn't give heed to the voice of God. "While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness." (V. 4). They had not been faithful servants of their God, and He had hidden His face from them.

But God is a gracious God, and He promises His people, "Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. (V. 6). Even though the city had been wicked, God would give them health and healing. He would turn His face toward them and reveal wonderful things to them.

God would restore the fortunes of His people, V. 7. "And I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and I will rebuild them as they were at first." The people of Judah and Israel would be punished for their wickedness, but God would lead them back to their city and would restore to them all they had known before.

God continues with His promises. "And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniqu8ties by which they have sinned against Me, and by which they have transgressed against Me." (V. 8).

And God continues: " And it shall be to Me a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do for them, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it." (V. 9). All the nations around Israel would know about the punishment God had brought against His people for their wickedness; now they would see the good He would do for them. God would be glorified in His calling His people back and restoring to them their fortunes. What He would do would be to Him "a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations."

When God's people were taken into captivity by the Babylonians, they felt as if all was lost. Nothing would ever be the same for them again. They were devastated. When they were taunted by their captors, they were so depressed that they couldn't sing the songs of Zion. Their captors wanted to know where their God was. And they wanted them to sing the songs of Zion, but they refused, saying, "How can we sing the songs of Zion in a foreign land?" They hung their harps on the willows by the river and wept. But all was not lost. Listen to God's word for them: they would hear "the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, 'Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.'" (V. 11).

Verses 12-13 picture for us the peaceful environment of shepherds leading their flocks to peaceful rest. This reminds us of the Lord, our shepherd, who David says will lead us to green pastures and quiet waters and will restore our souls.

Now all of this brings us to the point where Jeremiah speaks of the coming days. Here in verses 1-13 we have pictured for us the devastation of sin. God saw His city as being a place filled with wickedness. He brings destruction upon the city because of this wickedness. His people are carried away into captivity where they suffer from the taunts of their enemies. They longed to return to their land, to the "cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast." Even this would be better than being held in captivity.

It is at this point in time that God brings them home and restores all they had lost. But this was not the end of the story; the portrait of their future was not completed. There would come future days in which they would be blessed beyond anything they had ever known. Of course, those people would not see those days, except by faith.

And so Jeremiah delivers this message to them: "Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah." The fulfillment of the good word would come through the "righteous Branch of David." In those days the new Jerusalem would be called: "the Lord is our righteousness."

Those days would be the days of David's successor. Gabriel told Mary that the child she would give birth to would "be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David." (Luke 1:32). The nation of Israel had long awaited this successor of David. But they didn't expect Him to arrive in the way He did. When they read the "sure word of God" in Jeremiah and the other prophets, they were sure that the day would come when they would never be in captivity to anyone anymore; they would dwell in safety in their own land forevermore. They would be forever returned from exile. But they failed to see the difference in the spiritual blessings and the material - the physical - blessings.

The coming days would be days of Justice. The Branch of David that would spring up would "execute justice and righteousness on the earth." It was declared in the Psalms "Righteousness and justice are the foundations of Thy throne." (Psalm 89:14). This righteousness would be made known through the grace of God. The apostle Paul speaks to this matter in Romans 3:23-25. All have sinned, so justification would be a gift of God through grace. This would bring redemption through Christ Jesus; "whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, . . ." This righteousness would be revealed "in the coming days." See also 2 Corinthians 5:21).

The days to come would be days of salvation. Simeon took Jesus into his arms and blessed God, "and said, 'Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou has prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.'" (Luke 2:28-32). If Israel could have heard these words of Simeon and believed them, they would have embraced this Jesus as their Messiah. But they didn't.

The inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah's prophecy never felt secure; however they did not give heed to the warnings of God through Jeremiah. They even said they would go to Egypt before they would be taken captive by the Babylonians. But God warned them that if they went to Egypt they would be destroyed. They never felt secure in Jerusalem and were not secure in Egypt. But God promised them that the days would come in which they would feel secure. "In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety." Those days of safety came with Jesus Christ and this safety is found only in Him. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Romans 8:1-2). In Christ there was security and confidence.

The beauty of all this is that in Christ the new dwelling place would be called the "Righteousness". As we dwell in safety in Christ Jesus, in the new Jerusalem, God said "This is the name by which she shall be called: the Lord is our righteousness."

We go back to Jeremiah 23:5-6 and read these words: "Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord, When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, The Lord our righteousness." This is the name which we are to wear: He is our righteousness. Paul said, "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30). And in 2^nd Corinthians we read: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This is what this season is all about - God our righteousness. In the coming days we will celebrate once again God's mindfulness of us. When we were in exile in the foreign land of sin, God sent His Son to redeem us and bring us back to Himself. In this we wear our new name of Righteousness, because we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

The people of Jeremiah's day failed to give heed to the sure word of God. Let us not be guilty of this in our day. Let us listen to the sure word and welcome into our hearts daily the Word that became flesh.

CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO THE START OF THE MAIN PAGE OR use the "Back button" on your browser to get back to where you left the main page.