I Will Gather
The Plans I Have for You • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewWe can never be too far gone for God to bring us back.
Notes
Transcript
146, 147, 139, 311 (18 att)
Reading: Jer31.7-9
7 For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Pray
Today, we consider one aspect of God’s purpose in our exile - one reason that God allows us to go through our own exiles. We talked about his desire to restore us last week, and saw how our sins separate us from God, and that God must separate us from our sins in order to restore us into right relationship with himself. He heard the heartbeat of God to have ongoing fellowship with us.
Today, we’ll consider a promise that speaks volumes about how God can reach us, even when we are farthest away from him.
In our sin, we are prone to wander far away from God. I thought of two hymns that we sing from time-to-time that pick up on this theme:
I’ve wandered far away from God, now I’m coming home…
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love
We are naturally wanderers. But God takes a certain joy in gathering his wandering people back. In fact, there is a beautiful truth about God in this chapter:
We Can Never Be Too Far Gone for God to Bring Us Back!
We Can Never Be Too Far Gone for God to Bring Us Back!
Like an echo in a canyon, this truth reverberates throughout this chapter. Look at how God brings his people back, no matter how far they have wandered away from him:
2 Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
When God finds Israel, they are in the wilderness. They are far away, yet God appears to them. The idea is that God goes way out of his way in order to let his wandering people find him. When they were barely hanging on, and but a remnant of their former selves, that’s when God opens their eyes and reveals his presence to them. We see it in verse 10:
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
God even calls all the other nations to proclaim his care for his people! And what are they to say? They proclaim that God will gather his people like a shepherd gathers the flock. But what are we to make of this - after all, it was God who scattered them in the first place?
God is willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to gather his people, even if it means first scattering them. The scattering is his judgment, and the gathering is his grace. The word used here for scattering is the same used of winnowing the wheat from the chaff (TWOT, 579). God scatters to get rid of the impurities so his people are left pure. Then he can gather them and have a people with single-minded faithfulness toward him.
We see God gathering them in verse 11:
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
Words like ransom and redeem imply that God’s people needed some form of redemption - a purchase from slavery. That’s exactly what God does - he purchases us from our bondage to sin. He bought Israel out of Egypt, and he bought them out of Babylon, just as he bought us from our sin. Notice that God is the one doing this - he takes the initiative, and he pays the price for us.
We see God gathering his people from out of his disciplining work:
18 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord.
Do you hear the desperation in God’s voice? Ephraim is his “darling child.” He remembers his child even in his discipline, and his heart “yearns for him.” God is moved to mercy even when Israel is in the deepest of its sinful depravity!
We see so much of what God is doing to gather his people. But the words we read first - verses 7-9, I want us to really focus on. You could very well find these verses in the middle of the Psalms - they read like poetry:
7 For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’
When we consider the good works of our great God, there is no other possible response but sheer praise. Sing aloud! Sing with joy! Shout! There is no holding back, no timidness here! Let the praises ring! Go, tell it on the mountain! This is incredible news and we should not ever want to hide the news of God’s wonderful works!
Then he says three words that I think are all different ways of saying one thing: “proclaim, give praise, and say.” Someone attributed to Augustine, or Martin Luther, or any number of Christians before us, “Preach the gospel, and when necessary use words.” Hogwash. Both the “quote” and the sentiment are utter nonsense. We should jump at the chance to go tell! In fact, we should have to be told not to tell, and then tell anyway! Proclaim it! Give God the praise he deserves! Say it loud!
What are we to say? We are to entreat God to save his people! This verb to save is the verb form of a common name in Hebrew: Yeshua. “Lord, Jesus your people!” Deliver, help, come to the assistance of, save your people!”
Oh that we would be so desperate for God’s salvation! Oh, that we would yearn for him to come and save - not just from our ailments and our difficulties, not just from our hardships and agonies, but to save us from our sins! Oh, why do we linger in our wretched filthiness when God is mighty to save? Why do we remain hostile to the God who bids us come to him? Why do we still carry these burdens of guilt and shame when burdens are lifted at Calvary? Hosanna! Lord, save us!
Look! Look at how far God goes to gather his people:
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
The north country is Babylon. Babylon is about 900 miles via walking routes from Jerusalem. Ezra 7 tells us that it took nearly four months for Ezra and his group to make the trek. God is willing to go four months, 900 miles to get his people. But not just that, he will go to “the farthest parts of the earth” to get them. Even for those who are injured - the blind and the lame - he will go for them. And he’ll even go to get the ones who can’t handle a long journey - the pregnant women. It does not matter.
Here is a crucial point, church. It does not matter how far away from God you are. It does not matter how utterly incapable of following God you are. It does not matter how you cannot earn his grace or can never repay the debt he would have to pay to buy you from your enslavement. You are never too far, you are never too weak, you are never too expensive for God. NEVER!
9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
I can’t help but think this weeping is tears of great and overwhelming joy. They must have been able to sing like Charles Wesley:
And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
They will come back - he will gather them and bring them back. And when they come, he will guide them home. He’ll be the one leading the way. He’ll guide them along the brooks of water - just like Psalm 23 says. He’ll guide them in an easy path - straight so they won’t stumble or get lost. He’ll lead them like a father guides his son.
When it comes to redeeming sinful humanity, God is adamant in his resolve. He must be - look at all he has to endure in order to bring sinners home. He must not only deal with the sinfulness that impairs man, but he must do so resoundingly and finally. Not only must he cleanse man from his guilt, he must clothe himself in flesh. Not only must he die a perfect death in our place, he must take his place among us and live a perfect life in our midst.
What kind of God does all that for his enemies? What makes him so strong-willed that he would not just throw in the towel and say, “those people are not worth my time…I quit!”
What kept him going through the ridiculous “trick” questions of the Pharisees?
What kept him going through the lack of faith of people just wanting a show?
What kept him going through the mistaken notions that he would be a military leader who would overthrow Roman tyranny?
What kept him going through the bloody sweat on his brow in the garden of Gethsemane?
What kept him going through the lashings, the spitting, the mockery, and the gambling for his clothes?
What kept him going through the agony of the cross?
What keeps God so determined to save us - to gather us when we are so far away from him?
God tells us what keeps him faithful to us:
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
It is God’s amazing love that keeps him faithful! Have you experienced God’s amazing love for yourself? Give him charge of your heart today.
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