Satan is active right now in opposing men’s reception of Gospel truth. It is only through faith in Christ that Satan’s hold over the hearts of men can ever be broken, for at the Cross a way of escape from the Devil’s clutches was opened up. Gospel preaching, therefore, is part of a cosmic spiritual conflict whereby demonic forces are challenged and overcome. Let us therefore engage in earnest prayer, for we wrestle, not agains flesh and blood the spiritual forces of wickedness.

The Lord is going to cast off Judah and destroy the Temple. In judgement for their sin He will bring against Judah a fierce invader, namely the Chaldeans. The people have spurned God’s mercy, and so He will now be glorified in their judgement.

As with Judah in Habakkuk’s day, most people in our contemporary society remain recklessly indifferent to the fact of coming judgement. Our task is to grieve over them, and to confront the sin and unbelief all around us. We must be watchers, earnestly praying that God will work in power; we must be weepers, grieving over wickedness and the plight of the lost, and we must be workers, doing all that we can to preach the Gospel and bring sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ.

All people need radical heart surgery. All without exception need the circumcision which only Christ can accomplish. Jesus Christ is he who circumcises the heart. He alone can remove the alienation between man and God, and he will turn none away who come to him with repentant hearts; but those who do not come will remain strangers and aliens, banished from God’s presence, not only in this life, but for evermore.

Let us rejoice in this our privilege of being sealed by God and being protected from the terrible fiery condemnation which sinners deserve. Let us rejoice in our belonging, not to an earthly city, which was soon to be destroyed, but to a heavenly city, the heavenly Jerusalem.

The ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies speaks to us of God making Himself present amongst sinners, as He appears in their midst accompanied by the cherubim and above the mercy seat or place of propitiation. It is only through the shed of blood of Christ, satisfying God’s justice, that any fallen son of Adam can have fellowship with God.

The table of shewbread positioned in the Holy Place teaches us that the believer, having been forgiven and saved through Christ’ shed blood, must then continually present before God’s face the fruit of his labour, the pure loaves of his service. We are saved through Christ’s sacrificial death in order then to present our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice.

Balaam is an Old Testament example of false belief. He acknowledges the existence of the God of Israel, and he even believes in His great power. He is a believer of sorts, but this does not make him a true man of God, one who has turned from his sin, and who has been saved from his sin. In Balaam we see a very religious man, but one who also follows false gods. We see a man who who has been exposed to the power of the one true God, and yet he stills loves this world, and does not properly humble himself before the Lord. He is a false believer who is under the wrath of God.

We must seriously apply our minds to know God's will in every circumstance. Our minds are the glory of our manhood. Let us keep them alert for the glory of God. Let us apply them to the truth of Scripture. This is essential for the attainment of holiness. Let us know ever more of the word of God.

All people have been stung by the poison of sin. Only by looking up in faith to the crucified Christ, can they be saved from an eternal death.

Jeremiah has to minister to a whole nation which does not wish to hear God’s word. (This recording includes at the end the reading of a psalm and a closing prayer).

A sermon to mark the 75th anniversary of Ve Day, charting the gracious hand of God in the affairs off the british nation and her allies.