Title:
The Cursed Man and the Blessed Man
Text:
Jeremiah 17: 5-8
Date:
October 4, 2012
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Jeremiah 17: 5: Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth from the LORD. 6: For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and
shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7: Blessed is the
man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8: For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the
river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and
shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit.
We have
a great contrast here in verses 5 and 7.
Verse 5: Thus saith the LORD;
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and
whose heart departeth from the LORD….7: Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
We must
lay down all vain confidence as well as all vain hindrances—we must lay down
all our best accomplishments as well as all our very worst failings, lay down
all our doubtful fears as well as all our good feelings, our best deeds as well
as our worst deeds—we must lay it all down before the word of God. This is not a moral issue, it is a heart
issue.
Who
does God say is cursed and who does God say is blessed? No word could be plainer than our text.
Jeremiah 17: 5: Thus saith the
LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm,
and whose heart departeth from the LORD….7: Blessed is the man that
trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
A man
cannot trust in God and trust in man. It
is not possible to do both and be saved by grace alone. Salvation is not partly by free will and
partly by free grace; partly by man’s works and partly by Christ’s work. Either a man is saved by his works (which he
cannot be) or he is saved by grace (which he must be) but it can never be
both. Read these two verses again.
Jeremiah 17: 5: Thus saith the
LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm,
and whose heart departeth from the LORD….7: Blessed is the man that
trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Proposition: Salvation is entirely of the Lord Jesus Christ, apart
from the works of the flesh.
Title: The Cursed Man and the Blessed Man
Our Divisions will be the contrasts between the cursed man and the
blessed man:
1) A
Contrast in the Plants They Are Compared To—Verse 6 says of the cursed man: For he shall be like the heath in the desert,…Verse 8 says of the blessed
man: For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and
that spreadeth out her roots by the river;
2) A Contrast in Sight--Verse 6 says of the cursed man, he : and shall not see when good cometh…Verse
8 says of the blessed man, he and shall not see when heat cometh but her leaf shall be
green
3) A
Contrast in Fruitfulness—Verse 6 says of the cursed man: but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt
land and not inhabited…Verse 8 says of the blessed man…and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit.
I. THE CONTRAST IN THE KIND OF PLANTS THEY
ARE---Verse 6 says of the cursed man: For he shall be like the heath in the desert,…Verse 8 says of the blessed
man: For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and
that spreadeth out her roots by the river;
The
cursed man: For he shall be like the heath in the desert
A heath means destitute. It was some little, low-growing scrubby, shrub,
fruitless, seedless and useless. Some
say it is “condemned or forbidden in religious uses.” It is a good description of natural man.
The man
who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength—his will, his works, his power
and wisdom—whose heart departs from the Lord, is trusting in a curse and is
cursed.
·
Under the curse of God
·
Under the curse of the law
·
Under the curse of sin
·
Cursed in body, soul and spirit
·
Cursed in everything he touches
·
Cursed in every way there is to be cursed
·
He is as a fruitless, scrubby little heath
plant.
v7
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD
is. 8: For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river;
John 15:1: I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman.
The
blessed man is one who is planted by God in Christ.
·
By divine election
·
Planted in the likeness of his death and
resurrection
·
Planted in the house of the Lord by his regenerating,
calling grace
ALL OF
HIS BLESSING IS OF THE LORD HIMSELF.
Isaiah 60:21: Thy people also shall be all righteous:
they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my
hands, that I may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3: To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to
give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
The
LORD first makes his child see there is nothing good in us to trust. The Holy
Commandment comes by the Holy Spirit and declares that in our flesh dwells no good thing.
We are first shown the evil of our sin before we see Christ’s pure and
perfect goodness. Each of those God
saves are first made to see we are cursed, before the LORD shows us we are
blessed with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ; we first experience the wrath of God before the
smile of God, our best deeds become as filthy rags before Christ our
Righteousness becomes altogether lovely; we are made to be like a tree with all
its branches broken off in a severe storm before we are made to be like a tree
planted by the Lord beside Christ the River of Life.
Application: This is to teach us not to trust in man and make flesh
our arm. The danger in a profession made
in the wisdom and power of man is that such a man trusts the arm of his flesh. So
before the blessing comes the curse, before the gospel comes the law, before the
trusting in the arm of the Lord, the arm of our flesh must be broken
Then
the Lord turns us to put our trust in the LORD. The Lord turns us to the mercy
seat—draws us to Christ. The Lord opens his word to our understanding, gives us
eyes to see: Christ isGod with us—Immanuel.
Christ is the successful Savior—Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins.
·
He has finished the transgression
·
Has made an end of sins
·
Has made reconciliation for iniquity
·
Has brought in everlasting righteousness,
·
Has sealed up the vision and prophecy
·
And there he sits in the throne of
God--anointed the most Holy.
He
whispers to our thirsty soul, “Ye are complete in him.” And Christ becomes All—the Blessed Man in
whom we are blessed, our River of Life, and the Tree of Righteousness in whom
we are engrafted.
Psalm 1: 3: And he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also
shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Christ
is bringing forth his fruit in HIS SEASON.
Christ shall never wither—the same yesterday, today and forever.
Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper—the LORD said, “He shall not fail.” He
said, I give them…
Isaiah 61: 3:…the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Revelation
22: 1: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on
either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. 3 And
there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it; and his servants shall serve him: 4: And they shall see his face; and his
name shall be in their foreheads.
Believer’s grow in rich soil of his love,
with much water of the Holy Spirit and of the word preached, and are evergreen,
and fragrant in Christ, by grace through faith.
Ephesians
3: 17: Christ…dwells in your hearts by faith;…rooted and grounded in love
Christ becomes all our trust and all our
hope--Christ in you the hope of glory. Verse 7: Blessed is the man that
trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
·
Blessed redeemption from the curse of the law
·
Blessed promise of no more condemnation
·
Blessed in life, in all of providence, in
death and to all eternity
What a contrast between the little, scruby, fruitless
heath plant in the dry desert and the believer, the planting of the Lord as a
tree planted by the River of Life with our roots spreading out into his
fullness.
II. THE
CONTRAST IN SIGHT--Verse 6 says of the
cursed man, he : and shall not see when
good cometh…Verse 8 says of the blessed man, he and shall not see
when heat cometh but her leaf shall be green.
The cursed man—the man trusting in man, in the power of
his flesh—like the heath plant--v6:
shall not see when good cometh
The
heath plant receives no advantage by the rain falling upon it. Likewise, those
looking to the arm of the flesh, without spiritual sight, are not benefited in
the least by the rain of the gospel. He
is like the self-righteous Jews who did not see when Christ came—who is goodness,
righteousness itself. They rejected Christ,
rejected his gospel, rejected those he sent to preach his gospel and went on in
their works trying to establish their own righteousness.
Application: One of the saddest things in the world is to see men
hear the gospel of Christ preached and regard it with complete
indifference. Or to see men who remain
for a time then become contentious and walk away from the gospel. The man trusting in man, in the arm of the
flesh, shall not see when good cometh. It had been better not to have heard it than
afterward to turn away—such a one has refused the good and chosen the
evil—there is nothing good for him.
Hebrews 10: 26 For
if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27
But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries.
The
cursed man shall not see when good
cometh…
But
now look at this contrast—verse 8 says of the blessed man, he shall
not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green.
When
the heat comes:
·
Heat of persecution for the truth
·
Heat of trials
·
Heat which requires commitment and faith in
the Lord
It
withers and dries up the man whose root is in self rather than in Christ. But the man whose root is in Christ—is given a
continual supply of the Water of Life from Christ the River of Life, given
strength from Christ the Tree of Righteousness—so the heat only makes him more
fruitful—makes her leaf green.
Application: This heat comes for
two very different reasons. The Lord
sends the heat to the man trusting in his flesh for the very purpose of burning
and drying him up.
Mark 4: 16: And these are they likewise which are sown on
stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with
gladness; 17: And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time:
afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake,
immediately they are offended—they withered away.
But God
sends the heat to the blessed man to make him more fruitful, to make his roots
run deeper into Christ the River of Life, to make his branches cling more
firmly to Christ the Tree of Righteousness.
John 15: 2: Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he
taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it
may bring forth more fruit.
Believer,
why is it good for us to be a green tree?
Why would God have our leaves to be green? Green leaves give a lot of shade from the
heat—they are helpful—for the healing of
the nations. But brown autumn
leaves, fall from the tree and cause a lot of mess and work to clean up.
We only
remain a green leaf by continually drinking deep of Christ the River of
Life. Whatever makes us to slumber or
turns us from him is good to let go of.
Many a professing believer has thought the way to personal happiness,
the way to benefit the church or his own family was to sink his roots deeper
into the dry dessert earth. But listen
to the Lord concering the seed among thorns.
Mark 4: 18: And these are they which are sown among
thorns; such as hear the word, 19: And the cares of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the
word, and it becometh unfruitful.
But it
will never be so for the blessed man.
III. THE CONTRAST IN FRUIT BEARING--Verse 6 says of the cursed man: but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt
land and not inhabited…Verse 8 says of the blessed man…and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit.
Verse
6 says of the cursed man: but shall
inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited
There
is no fruitfulness in the man who is trusting in his will, his works, or his
worth. He inhabits “parched places.” He inhabits “the wilderness.” He lives in “a salt land and not inhabited.” The man trusting in his own righteousnesses,
in his own works, produces no fruit whatsoever.
Verse
8 says of the blessed man…and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Illustration: We had a huge draught in this country this year. It destroyed corn crops. In natural draughts, men have to be very
careful so as not to run out of water.
When
physical, natural draught comes whether health, financial difficulties, so
on—the believer planted and rooted in Christ—shall not be careful—he has plenty
of spiritual water still. Our life is
not merely in the rain of temporal blessings, but our life is from the deep,
ever-flowing, spiritual River of Life—from Christ.
V8:…Neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Those leaning on the arm of the flesh are continually in
a state of change based on the state of the world around them. The same is true of those leaning on the arm
of the flesh in religion.
But
with the believer, let the world change like the seasons, let the natural
waters be dry, the believer never ceases bearing fruit. Our fruit bearing is due to the goodness of
Christ and our being grafted into him. Our
continual fruit bearing is due to the continual provision of God our Husbandman
who planted us as the trees of his planted that he might be glorified. Our continual fruit bearing is from the
blessedness of the River that waters our roots.
Let man
change, let man curse and be cursed, let men deny our hope all they will—“thus
saith the LORD—those blessed of him shall never cease bearing fruit.” His
church is described as:
Isaiah 27: 2:..A vineyard of red wine. 3: I the LORD do
keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night
and day.
Psalm 92:14 They
shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
Conclusion: What a striking contrast between the confidence founded
in the LORD JESUS's blood and righteousness; and that trust which is in an arm
of flesh. One is most blessed. The other most cursed.
The
Lord Jesus Christ is the unceasing source of eternal life, strength, and
confidence. Christ is all blessedness to those who trust in him. Trust him!
Cast all your care on him! Abide in him!
Amen!