For our Scripture reading this morning, turn with me to the prophecy of Jeremiah. The text for our consideration is Jeremiah 9, verses 23 and 24. We want to read a little bit of the context, a little bit from chapter 7 and from chapter 9. The situation in Israel surrounding this prophecy was that they were in a time of spiritual decline. There was much apostasy, and they were engaged in many different kinds of wicked deeds. And in some respects, our text is an interlude. An interlude in which the Lord basically tells them to straighten up. Straighten up. So we want to begin in chapter 7, verse 3, reading through 15. I had indicated 10, but let's read through 15, and then we'll move over to chapter 9. Jeremiah 7, beginning at verse 3. as we hear now the Word of God. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says. Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place in the land I gave your forefathers forever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house which bears My name and say, we are safe, safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house which bears my name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching, declares the Lord. Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my name and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen. I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh, I will now do to the house that bears my name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. I will thrust you from my presence just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim. Turning over to chapter 9, reading verses 3 through 6, and then taking up again at 12. They made ready their tongue like a bow to shoot lies. It is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another. They do not acknowledge Me, declares the Lord. Beware of your friends. Do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie. They weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception. In their deceit, they refuse to acknowledge Me, declares the Lord. In verse 12, one man is wise enough to understand this. Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? The Lord said, it is because they have forsaken My law which I set before them. They have not obeyed Me or followed My law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts. They have followed the bales as their fathers taught them. Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says. See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them. This is what the Lord Almighty says. Consider now. Call for the wailing women to come. Send for the most skillful of them. Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids. The sound of wailing is heard from Zion. How ruined we are. How great is our shame. We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins. Now, O women, hear the word of the Lord. Open your ears to the words of His mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail. Teach one another a lament. Death has climbed in through your windows and has entered our fortresses. It has cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares. Say, this is what the Lord declares. The dead bodies of men will lie like refuse on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper with no one to gather them. This is what the Lord says, and in the words of our text, Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh, Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all who live in the desert in distant places, for all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, where do you place your confidence? Or to ask it a little bit differently, from where do you get your confidence? In whom do you place your trust? In times of need and difficulty, where do you go? Where do you look for help? What is it that gives you true security for this life and for the next? You see, these are timely questions, of course, for every age, but especially today as the Lord's table is prepared before us this morning. As each one of us, I trust, has engaged in the activity of self-examination, we need to understand that these kinds of questions are the questions that the sacrament of Holy Communion places before us. And the truth is, the answer to these basic questions will also point to where one finds their delight. As the prophet Jeremiah was called to minister in a hideous spiritual situation, the Lord challenges His people with regard to these kinds of questions. And this text challenges us with this Word of God, the secret of delightful living. Notice fleeing counterfeit delight, first of all. And secondly, embracing true delight. Now, Jeremiah was a prophet to the tiny kingdom of Judah, and throughout his ministry, his message changed. Really, of necessity, it changed. It started out as he called people to repent of their sins and return to God. And then it had to move on to warning them of the coming judgment, particularly exile, and then finally giving them encouragement that eventually the Lord would indeed rescue them from their captivity. Notice a progression of sorts. But the point is, the people didn't listen to the call to repent. And their situation became worse and worse so that captivity was inevitable. And in this text, through Jeremiah, the Lord gives us a glimpse into what the problem was. Misplaced confidence. finding their satisfaction and delight in all the wrong places. And therefore, the Lord issues the call to flee, to run away from counterfeit delight. Now, boys and girls, something that is counterfeit is something that is not real. It's fake. It's false. It's not the real thing. Counterfeit money may look like money. Real money may feel like real money, but it's not real money. It has absolutely no value. Notice verse 23 again. Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches. Now, earthly wisdom and strength and riches have always been the downfall of mankind. These are the things that have always caused man to take his eyes off of his Creator and instead to focus on himself and not to heed the words of Scripture as summarized by the High Labor Catechism that we are called to be thankful in prosperity. Not to boast, not to be proud, not to be arrogant in prosperity, but thankful in prosperity. These are the things that cause pride and false confidence. Yet, isn't it true that we often delight, even if it's just a little bit, we often delight in our wisdom or our strength or our riches, maybe because these are the things that other people notice and maybe they admire us for these things. And of course, that makes us feel good. You see, to be sure, these things are gifts from God. But in sin, man uses these good gifts to detach himself, to separate himself from God and try to be independent of Him. This is what had happened with Israel. They had forgotten what Moses had said in Deuteronomy 6, verses 10-12. When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you a land with large flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant. Then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Israel enjoyed the new life so much that she forgot who it was that gave her this new life and she forgot her calling to be separated from the world and be separated unto the Lord. Jeremiah makes it clear in different places, including some of which we read this morning, he makes it clear that, for example, the people place their confidence in the temple. Forgetting whose temple it was. And that just like the church building, the temple was just a building. he says don't say the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord as if the temple itself has any special significance as if it's some sort of good luck charm for you in fact he says in chapter 7 look to Shiloh my name used to be there that was the place of worship and see what happened because of the people who rejected me as well we read that that they placed their confidence in the sacrificial system. Again, forgetting who was to be the recipient of their sacrifices. Just offer a sacrifice. That's all you need to do. You'll be okay. Kind of like those today who say, just go to church. Doesn't matter what church says, go to church. Go to the one in the corner that's close. Sit there. Have your name on the membership roll. You'll be okay. That's all you need. As well, they place their confidence in the wisdom of their religious leaders. Yet in chapter 8, verse 8, Jeremiah says they have lying pens. How can you say, we are wise, for we have the law of the Lord, when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? But today, mankind continues to boast, to glory, to put their confidence, To find their security. To be delighted in their wisdom and strength and riches. After all, look where our intelligence has taken us with regard to technology. Consider the computer chip, the space program, medical miracles. You see, we're even getting so close to the secret of life itself as we discover more and more about the DNA chain. Consider our strength. We have military power. We know we have military power and in many respects, our country is putting their trust in that military power in these days. And again, we have intellectual power. But also, our riches and our affluence cannot be overlooked. We even publicize, you see, the hundred wealthiest people so that we can admire them and maybe even envy them. We study Fortune 500 and the Wall Street Journal in order to know how to invest wisely. And it's no secret that those who possess one or two or all three of these things are envied by so many and said to have it made and somehow placed in a little different level of society than the rest. And if you think about it, this takes place in school already as the smartest are praised on the honor roll, the strongest are applauded in athletic competition, and everybody wants to be the friend of the wealthy. now again understand that these are blessed gifts from God but when these virtues are taken out of their God given context they become idolized and these things set one not just apart from God but they set one completely in opposition to God because that's what idolatry does but with these three virtues Jeremiah takes all of the boastings of the world Anything they can boast of is to be considered in these three virtues. And He takes them all and He reduces them to nothing. You see, our delight is not to be found in these things because these things cannot. They do not provide true and lasting joy. And those who delight in these things find no value in heavenly truth. Earthly wisdom and strength and riches divorced from the hand of God are counterfeit. They appear to give confidence and delight, but not the real thing. And Jesus makes it clear that these things do not save one from ruin because these things are still subject to moth and rust and thieves. Earthly wisdom is only good until someone wiser comes along. And human strength is only good until someone stronger comes along. And the same is true with earthly riches. It's only good until someone wealthier comes along. These things are not perfect and they do not make one perfect. That's the work of the Holy Spirit through sanctification. But those who find their delight in themselves and in counterfeit forms of delight and those who are intoxicated or drunk in their own pride will one day be stripped naked in themselves as they learn that all that they had in themselves was really nothing. Absolutely worthless. One day when all people stand before the righteous judge, those who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will stand naked. Their money will be of no use. Their strength will not help them. Their wisdom as well will be nothing. But those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ will stand before the righteous judge warmly clothed in the beautiful rich robes of Christ's righteousness. David says in Psalm 20, In verses 7 and 8, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stand upright. You see, chariots and horses at that time were the height of modern technology, but David makes it clear where true delight is to be found. And in this text, the Lord calls His people to embrace true delight. Notice verse 24, But let him who boasts boast about this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord. You see, there's only one thing that we can truly boast in or find satisfaction and delight in, and that is in a saving relationship with God. In Luke chapter 24, we read about Jesus sending out His disciples two by two, giving them authority and power over evil spirits, and they come back all excited. Lord, even the evil spirits are subject to us in your name. And what is our Lord's response? He says, do not rejoice that even the evil spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Israel enjoyed a certain amount of political wisdom and national strength and wealth, She had forgotten the One who had given her these things. She had forgotten the One for whom she was to exist. And therefore, she had also forgotten the two great commandments to love God above all and neighbor as self. And therefore, she used her wisdom and strength and her riches, as we read, to exploit the poor and needy, even those in her own midst. Beloved, true delight comes from understanding and knowing God. Now, these are somewhat the same, yet understanding God is to be demonstrated in knowing Him in a certain way. First of all, we are to understand that God is. We are to understand that He exists. We must understand that He is real. Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, but without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But then we must also know Him in a saving way, which means to know Him as He has revealed Himself to us. And He reveals Himself here in verse 24 when He says, we are to know and understand that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth. He reminds His people that He is the covenant God when He says, I am the Lord. He has covenanted with His people, said, I will be your God. You shall be My people. He has covenanted with those redeemed from Egypt, from the land of bondage and slavery. He is the one true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Kindness, or loving kindness, as it is also translated, Kindness, justice, and righteousness point both to His attributes, who He is, as well as pointing to how He deals with and how He governs on earth. And the beneficiaries, those who benefit from His kindness, justice, and righteousness, are His covenant people. Those who understand Him and know Him. Kindness is talking about the mercy of God. Now, we know that mercy presupposes misery. Where kindness or mercy is needed, misery already exists. And someone has described His kindness as His love in action. In His covenant faithfulness, God stoops down, as it were, on behalf of His people and according to His mercy, removes their misery. And justice then has the idea of equity. Governing according to what is right. God is just in that He punishes sin and He rewards righteousness. And God's justice operates according to His absolute standard of truth. And according to His justice, He protects those who are the recipients of His mercy. Why? Because God does not punish sin twice. Only once. God defends the faithful. He aids the miserable. He delivers His own when they are unjustly oppressed. And He restrains the wicked and He does not allow the wicked to injure His people at their pleasure. God's justice faithfully protects His people. But also, He exercises His kindness and His justice then according to His righteousness. You see, everything that God does is straight and true with no perversity. no iniquity, no crookedness. God is without any stain of sin, which means that He is perfectly righteous. And beloved, God delights. He takes pleasure in loving kindness, justice, and righteousness. Why? Because these point to and make up His perfectness. These identify His dealings with His people. And they demonstrate to His people what's important. How to live. how are we to live? Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, but let him boast in his understanding and knowledge of God who is all-wise. Let not the strong man boast in his strength, but let him boast in knowing God who is almighty. Let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him boast in God who is all-sufficient. And this understanding and knowledge that we are to have of God produces two fruits. The fruits of faith and the fruit of fear. Not the kind of fear that is terrified and scared, but the kind of reverent fear and awe for God. The psalmist says in Psalm 130, If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. Beloved, if we are fully convinced by the Holy Spirit that there is forgiveness with God, then by His grace we do not hesitate to run to Him in faith for salvation. But then the psalm also says that faith brings fear. The kindness or mercy of God brings forth faith because God does not deal with us according to what we deserve, according to what our sins deserve. And His justice brings forth fear and reverence for Him who justly protects His people. And our God guards our salvation according to His righteousness. Beloved, who are those then who enjoy true, delightful living? Those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Those who enjoy the circumcision of the heart. Those in whom the Holy Spirit of God has placed a new heart that understands and knows God. Those who embrace His kindness, His justice, and His righteousness. And while the world places confidence in itself and seeks satisfaction and delight in her own strength, in her own wisdom, in her own riches, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base things of the world and the things which are despised, God has chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in His presence. That which is foolish and weak in the eyes of the world, which is the cross, and a man dying on the cross, that which is foolish and weak in the eyes of the world is the power of God and the salvation for those who believe. True, delightful living that is understanding and knowing the God of our salvation. This can only be found in Jesus Christ. And that's what this table reminds us of this morning. Why is this table before us? It's a good thing to consider. Not because of our wisdom or our strength or our riches. Our assurance of salvation is not because our wisdom has figured out the path to heaven. Or because our strength has earned a place for us in heaven? Or because our riches have bought us a place in heaven? In the same way, we don't come to the Lord's table for any of those reasons. It's quite the opposite. Beloved, the table of the Lord is before us this morning because of our sin and misery and Christ's answer, God's answer to our sin and misery through His wisdom, justice, and righteousness. And that's also where our assurance comes from. In His mercy, God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, of whom He said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And according to God's justice, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin in order to satisfy the wrath of an offended God. And now, according to His grace, God looks upon His people for the sake of Christ's righteousness and He sees us as righteous in Him because our sinful debt has been paid and we have been given the beautiful robe of Christ's righteousness. You see, by way of God's answer to our sin and misery through Jesus Christ by His grace, through that we understand and know Him. We understand that He is the God of our salvation. We understand that He is the only one worthy of our confidence and trust. And we know that He is the one who is intimately involved with His people through Christ Jesus. He alone is the secret of delightful living as He feeds and nourishes His people and satisfies our deepest needs. But congregation, those who come to the Lord's table but do not truly understand and know God through Jesus Christ will not find satisfaction and delight. Instead, those who come boasting in themselves danger themselves of greater judgment. They will not go away filled and nourished. Instead, they will go away malnourished and starving. Those who boast in themselves will one day find that their wisdom and their strength and their riches could not save them, but instead condemned them, testified against them unto eternal death. Counterfeit delight can only offer counterfeit salvation. Not the real thing. Yet there is forgiveness. Those who by the mercy and grace of God die to self and live in the understanding and knowledge of God for Jesus' sake. Those who can humbly boast in the God of our salvation and embrace the true delight of Jesus and His love. They will boast in Him for eternity. as they enjoy the heavenly treasures earned by Christ for those who believe. Heavenly treasures include true wisdom, true strength, and true riches. Riches characterized by the sea of crystal, the gates of pearl, and the streets of gold. What is the secret of delightful living? The joy of understanding and knowing God, and the assurance of being a child of God because of the cross. As well, the secret of delightful living, take, eat, and drink. Remember and believe that the body of our Lord was broken and His blood was shed unto a complete remission of all our sins. Beloved, now that's a reason to celebrate Jesus.