Values Determine Results

If we value honest relationships, we will treat others with absolute honesty and integrity. If a single person wishes to marry a virgin, he or she will also maintain their own virginity. If a person does not want to be swindled, they will provide an honest and forthright deal themselves.

Likewise, if a person chooses to carouse around with every woman or man they meet, they must expect the possibility of diseases. If a person wants to make as much money as they can, no matter how dishonest the dealings, they must expect to pay the consequences when caught. If a person wants to win regardless of the costs, they should expect to be disqualified.

It seems obvious that Our values determine results. If our values are godly, biblical values, then we can expect God's blessing on our lives, according to His perfect will.

On the other hand, if our values are set up according to the philosophy of this world, then we can expect to receive only what the prince of this world can offer.

In today's portion of scripture, we come to a very descriptive section. Jeremiah paints the picture of what happens when people operate from a world philosophy and values system; they turn away from the Lord and refuse to repent.

Defiance Leads to Judgment. - 7.29 - 8.3

The last time we were in Jeremiah, we remember how the people of Judah had placed their trust in the temple, as well as, in the fact that they were chosen by God as His special people. In today's section, we see how they not only had forgotten the God of the temple, they had actually placed idols in the temple of the Lord.

But that is not the worst of it. Look at Jeremiah 7:31–32 ““They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place.”

The people were actually sacrificing their own children, just as the pagans had done many years before when Joshua drove them out from the land. Think about this. To the normal Jewish family, to be childless at that time, that was considered to be a curse from God. In other words, if you had a child, it was seen as receiving God's blessing. However, they were now offering their children as sacrifices to that which was not a god. And the place in which they did the child sacrifices was a pit which was also used as a garbage dump.

You can almost hear the defiance in their attitude. Before they trusted that they would be protected because of "the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." Now, they were saying that since everyone else in the land and other countries were practicing child sacrifice, it couldn’t really be all that bad. In fact, it seemed only open-minded of them to have a few idols in the temple. What harm could possibly come of that?

What harm, indeed?! As your pastor, I praise God for those of you who refuse to be enticed by the world’s philosophies and ideas. I thank the Lord for all of you who will cry out with Joshua of old, "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Your values will indeed determine the results.

Sadly, the people of Judah, much like people of today, chose to compromise and buy into the world’s system of open-mindedness and self seeking pleasure. That defiance would bring judgment.

Let's take a bit of time and look at the importance of geography. This location where the sacrifices were taking place, was known as the Valley of Ben Hinnom. The Hebrew for this is ge’hinnom. This is known in the Greek language, as used in the New Testament, as Gehenna. It is literally translated as hell. Think about this for a moment. Hell is where the person who does not believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, will spend eternity when they die; experiencing a fiery torment forever. This same place where the people sacrificed their children and defied the God of Israel, would end up being their burial ground.

What a reminder to us of the terrible future of those who think they can continue thumbing their nose at God. What an appropriate description for the end result of those who think they can keep up religious appearances, yet choose to do anything except truly worship and serve the Lord God.

I am reminded of the last part of the famous poem, Casey at the bat. Here, the slugger, Casey, was unable to get a hit at the plate. As he stood there alone in his arrogance, having struck out, the line rings out loud and strong, "there is no joy in Mudville." All of the temporary joy and false gladness would be taken away from those in Judah, for the people had rejected God.

Denial Leads to Judgment. - 8.4-13

In science classes, as youngsters, the teachers had various ways of teaching scientific truths. One object lesson was the five balls hanging from five sets of dual strings, commonly known as Newton’s Cradle. The teacher would allow one of us to take an end ball, hold it up high, then let go. It came down, cracking against the other four balls, stopping dead still. However, on the other end of these five balls that were touching each other, the end one went flying up into the air. Then it returned and stopped dead when it hit the other balls, causing the original one to fly up in the air. The three in the middle stood perfectly still. If you did it with two end balls, the opposite two end ones would react. I'm not sure that this is the principle that was taught, but I do vividly recall the phrase, "for every action, there is a opposite and equal reaction."

When we first saw this, we were amazed as young students. When the teacher stated that he could make the opposite ball fly out without touching it, we thought that he was a bit crazy or that this was simply some trick. But it did work and it always will work

Just when there is sin, there must be punishment. The people could not continue sinning while expecting God to overlook it. There was going to have to be punishment. They could deny their sin over and over, but God could not overlook it. They could claim to be God chosen people, but God would not have them simply claim that because of their empty words.

You and I must remember the same truth. We can deny we are in sin. We can even rename it in order to try to make it acceptable, but if the Bible calls it sin, it is still sin.

I am so thankful that there is an option for us when there is sin in our lives. I don't have to be forced into receiving punishment for my sin. The Bible tells me that I must confess my sin to God, repent, and follow Jesus Christ, and I will receive forgiveness for my sins. In other words, when we confess, we agree with God that we have sinned. We refuse to deny it any longer. When we repent, we are letting God know that with His help, we will not walk down that broad road that leads to destruction.

It would not have been so bad when the people fell into sin if they would have gotten back up and proceeded on the correct path. They didn’t fall, but intentionally participated in sin. Look at Jeremiah 8:5–6 ““Why then has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return. “I have listened and heard, They have spoken what is not right; No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his course, Like a horse charging into the battle.”

They are almost like the little boy who kept tripping because his shoelaces were untied. He could have gotten up, tied his shoelaces so that he would not fall again, and go on with his life. Instead, he refused to recognize that the shoelaces were tripping him. Most of us would think this would be basic logic or instinct, almost like the migratory habits of animals. But look at Jeremiah 9:13 “The Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,”

It carries with it, the need to act upon the knowledge. The people may have had the head knowledge, but there was no practical application of it to their daily lives. The people were convinced that they knew best. Even though those in leadership had lied to them and rewritten the Word of God to fit their agenda.

It is in light of this, God reminds them that they are going to be punished. What a sad situation. To know the truth in your head, but refuse to allow the Spirit of God to change you. To deny that a person needs to act up on what they know is tragic; for it always leads to judgment.

Despair Is Caused By Judgment. - 8.14 - 9.6

Jeremiah makes some very astute observations in this section. It appears that some of the people will recognize that their punishment is from God because of their sinfulness, according to the last part of verse 14: . . . For we have sinned against the Lord. In verses 13-15, They recognized that all of their dreams were built on false hopes and all of the teachings were for nothing. They saw that there was indeed going to be a day of reckoning. The wild oats that were sown were going to bring a harvest of no value, only sorrow.

Listen to Jeremiah's heart as seen in Jeremiah 8:18–19 “My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me! Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?””

Even when people get what they deserve, God’s people should still experience pain and anguish. We are not to be acting with smugness, self-righteousness, nor joy when someone finally has to pay the price. Jeremiah identified with the nation and showed immense pain and sympathy. And this was even after he was opposed and taunted while proclaiming God's message; he was still sorrowful for them.

But look at Jeremiah 9:2 “Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men.” Here we see the human side of Jeremiah, as he expresses his desire to get as far away from this sinful people. He wants no association with people who claim to love God, yet lived their lives in total opposition to God.

Conclusion

Our values definitely determines the results. The people of Judah had values which were completely contrary to God's way. The results were going to be judgment.

Today, values still determine results. First of all, I want to speak of eternal results. You can choose to be defiant, but you will bring judgment down on yourself. Or you can humbly submit to God, confessing and repenting of your sin, surrendering your life to Jesus Christ, and begin living according to His ways. It is then that you will experience peace and joy, which can only come from God.

My friend, you can deny that what you were doing is sin. You can even call it anything you wish. However, it doesn't matter how you rewrite the Bible. The Bible does not change. Sin is still sin, and it will require punishment.

Or you can agree with God that you're in need of a Savior. You can confess to him that you have blown it by trying to go your own way. You have tried every form of pleasure to be found, and it has been empty. You may have even tried to play church for years, but you leave feeling hollow. You may have searched for your own image of God in your work, your recreation; but the search has been in vain. You need to tell God that you are sorry and want for Him to forgive you because of what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross. Tell God that you want Him to be in charge of your life. Surrender yourself to Jesus Christ, committing to do what He wants to do in your life because He has saved you from eternity in hell. The reality is that the only other alternative without Jesus is hell.

Those of us who belong to Jesus Christ, we must understand that when a person truly makes a decision to go on with their lives without Jesus in charge, they have made a choice for judgment. That should cause within us a hurt and sorrow that cuts us to the quick. There can be no joy regarding that person's choice. We should not have pleasure from their rejection of Christ.

Our values do indeed determine results. If you value this world and what others think of you, the result will be eternity separated from Jesus Christ.

If, on the other hand, you value Jesus Christ alone, the result will be heaven. Not only that, you will experience a victorious life today. You will have true peace and joy which comes only from knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.