Alliance Christian Church
March 9 2025

      • 2 Corinthians 9:7GS-NETBIBLE

      • Romans 8:1–4NASB95

  • Goodness of God
  • Great and Mighty
  • There is No God Like You

  • Authentic

    Introduction
    Jeremiah 10:6–16 “I said, “There is no one like you, Lord. You are great, And you are renowned for your power. Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, because you deserve to be revered. For there is no one like you among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish and gold is brought from Ufaz to cover those idols. They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. They are all made by skillful workers. The Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger, the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury. You people of Israel should tell those nations this: ‘These gods did not make heaven and earth. They will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens.’ The Lord is the one who by his power made the earth.…”
    PRAY
    Introduction: Soap box, kids these days
    Kids these days are really good at spotting when things are in authentic
    AI, They can spot a fake very quickly
    Transition
    I had a much better introduction to this sermon planned, but this is something that has been bugging me for a while.
    We’re talking about Authentic Faith.
    Roadmap
    Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at the Book of Jeremiah, looking at things through Jeremiah’s eyes
    And as we Jump in to chapter 7, we’re going to start what is Called Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon.
    Jeremiah has been calling out the sins of the people of Israel throughout chapters 1-6, and in Chapter 7, Jeremiah takes his message to the heart of the city.
    Jeremiah 7:1–2 NET 2nd ed.
    The Lord said to Jeremiah: “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s temple and proclaim this message: ‘Listen to the Lord’s message, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the Lord. Hear what the Lord has to say.
    If you can imagine, Jeremiah goes right up to the gate of the temple, in the outer court, where people are going back and forth, bringing animals for their sacrifices, paying their temple taxes, “in theory” doing service for God.
    And Jeremiah walks straight up to the center of the Jewish faith and he drops a hammer of truth on them.
    MAIN IDEA
    And the main idea that i want you to take away from Jeremiah’s Temple sermon, and the following sections is that God requires Authentic Faith.
    See the people of Judah had inauthentic worship, inauthentic Teaching, worshipping inauthentic gods, with inauthentic faith.
    And much like kids these days, if it’s not authentic, it’s not going to cut it.
    Point
    Statement
    God desires Authentic Faith.
    Explanation

    Jeremiah 7:3-11

    Jeremiah 7:3–11 NET 2nd ed.
    The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, “We are safe! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land that I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. “ ‘But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you. You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known. Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.
    The Mistake that the israelites made was thinking that Approved worship is the same thing as Authentic worship.
    We have to understand that in the Old Testament context, in the context of Israel, the Temple was not just the preferred place of worship. It was the one and only authorized place of worship.
    If you have a sacrifice to bring, it needs to be brought to the Temple in Jerusalme
    If you have sins you need to repent for, you need to come and have them absolved by the priests At the Temple in Jerusalem.
    If you wanted to hear God’s word read aloud, you did it At the Temple in Jerusalem.
    There was no such thing as “non-temple” worship.
    But of course the People did what was unapproved all the time. That’s why when Josiah made all his reforms in 2 Kings 22, he tore down all the altars that weren’t at the temple.
    That’s why when hezzekiah repented it said “the people still made sacrifices at other altars, but only to God” Because they were doing a half-right thing by worshipping God, but also a half wrong thing by not worshipping God in the approved place.
    But the problem comes when we start to associate “approved” worship with “authentic” worship.
    See they were in the Temple.
    They were in the right place at the right time
    They were going through all the approved motions for worship.
    But they were not Worshipping God in the Temple.
    Make a case for the idea from the text and overcome the objections, concerns, skepticism, and doubts that keep us from embracing it
    Illustration
    There’s nothing that gets on my nerves more than when I see a politician or a celebrity on TV
    Acting like they care about something when you can just tell that they absolutely don’t.
    Politicians are probably the worst at it
    Where they show up at the factory, or at the coal mine
    And they’re wearing the hard hat. They usually take off their suit jacket and roll up their sleeves
    and they get up there on stage and talk about hard working Americans, and how I’m a hard working american just like you.
    They might even do a photo op holding a shovel
    And it’s so fake it’s just disgusting.
    They’re in the right place at the right time, wearing the right clothes
    Application
    When we worship God, are we being authentic?
    When we stand up and sing about God’s grace and love
    When we stand up and proclaim him as Lord
    When we sit at the table and partake of the Lord’s supper with the King himself
    Do we really mean it?
    Or are we just going through the motions?
    Transition
    For the nation of Judah, it was the second one.
    God tells them through Jeremiah’s temple sermon,
    Don’t think that just because you show up at the temple that you’re authentically worshipping god
    I know what you do.
    Jeremiah 7:17–18 NET 2nd ed.
    Do you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? Children are gathering firewood, fathers are building fires with it, and women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this just to trouble me.
    Whole families showing up at the temple on Saturday, and then going out and commiting idolatry Sunday through Friday.
    God tells them
    Jeremiah 7:30–31 NET 2nd ed.
    The Lord says, “I have rejected them because the people of Judah have done what I consider evil. They have set up their disgusting idols in the temple which I have claimed for my own and have defiled it. They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!
    Jeremiah 7:32–33 NET 2nd ed.
    So, watch out!” says the Lord. “The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth that they will run out of room. Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat. There will not be any survivors to scare them away.
    Inauthentic worship.
    And Unfortunately, I think one of the root causes of Inauthentic worship is inauthentic teaching
    Point
    Statement
    God desires Authentic Teaching.
    Explanation
    As we move into Chapter 8 of Jeremiah, God continues chastise the people of Judah for their failure not only to worship him, but even to recognize that what they are doing is wrong
    Because sometimes people are led astray because they choose to listen to Inauthenticity instead of truth.
    Jeremiah 8:8 NET 2nd ed.
    How can you say, “We are wise! We have the law of the Lord”? The truth is, those who teach it have used their writings to make it say what it does not really mean.
    Jeremiah 8:9–11 NET 2nd ed.
    Your wise men will be put to shame. They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom do they really have? So I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They offer only superficial help for the hurt my dear people have suffered. They say, “Everything will be all right!” But everything is not all right!
    I want to go back up and read that first verse again
    Jeremiah 8:8 NET 2nd ed.
    How can you say, “We are wise! We have the law of the Lord”? The truth is, those who teach it have used their writings to make it say what it does not really mean.
    There’s something that can be said about a verse in Scripture that could have just as easily been written yesterday.
    Argumentation
    Here’s the scary truth.
    It’s possible if you twist things around enough, and put a shiny enough spin on things that you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say.
    It’s one of the reasons why when I preach I pray for God to help me handle his word faithfully and truthfully.
    It’s one of the reasons why we had the sermon series on how to understand the Bible in context
    It’s why we did a Tuesday night Bible study on digging deeper into scripture and equipping us with the tools we need to understand God’s word.
    Illustration
    Paul Deals with this in Romans Chapter 1
    Romans 1:18–21 NET 2nd ed.
    For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.
    In other words, we know, each one of us has a general sense of the fact that there is a creator, and that there is such a thing as Good and Evil.
    It’s baked into us.
    We have the ability to figure that out before we even crack open a Bible.
    At the very base level, just from God’s creation we can see that, so we are without excuse.
    And for those of us who do have access to God’s word, who HAVE heard the gospel, who DO know where to find truth In God’s word, even more so.
    Because Paul goes on to say in Romans 2
    Romans 2:1–2 NET 2nd ed.
    Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth against those who practice such things.
    In other words, those who don’t have access to God’s word are without excuse because they can see God in his creation
    And those of us who do have access to God’s word are without excuse because we can see God in his revelation.
    And then,
    Application
    How often do you double check the teaching you hear on sunday?
    From me.
    How often do you Go home on sunday afternoon, and pull out your Bible and read the passages that we cover and make sure that what I say is actually in accordance with God’s word?
    Because you should
    When you read a devotional, in the back we have those our daily bread pamphlets, with a verse of the day, and a short little devo
    How often do you crack open your bible and just make sure that what it’s saying is in accordance with God’s word?
    Because in a lot of ways we have it even easier than the people Paul was writing to in Romans
    We definitely have it easier than the people Jeremiah was preaching to
    We have more access to God’s word now than we ever have before.
    98% of all people on earth have access to at least the new testament in their language at their fingertips
    95% of all people on earth, 7.2 Billion people have the ability to read God’s word in their pocket every single day.
    Organizations like Pioneer Bible Translations are going to remote tribes in Papua New Guinnea
    PlaCES where they don’t even have a written language. Everything is all oral
    And they are learning their language, inventing an alphabet and language for these people, teaching them how to read, and then translating Bibles for them so that they can have access to the written word of God, and yet.
    Biblical literacy is at an all time low.
    Most people today couldn’t name five books of the Bible if they tried.
    Transition
    Jeremiah sees this type of inauthentic teaching that is rotting away at the people of Judah and he sees how devastating it is and he just breaks down and weeps.
    Jeremiah 9:1–2 NET 2nd ed.
    I wish that my head were a well full of water and my eyes were a fountain full of tears! If they were, I could cry day and night for those of my dear people who have been killed. I wish I had a lodging place in the wilderness where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. Then I would desert my people and walk away from them because they are all unfaithful to God, a congregation of people that has been disloyal to him.”
    He sees the destruction that their inauthentic faith is causing them and he just weeps.
    God looks down at all the destruction His people are causing and he laments
    My people do evil things to each other, they don’t pay attention to me, friends deceive each other, they do acts of violence.
    He says
    Jeremiah 9:7 NET 2nd ed.
    Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, “I will now purify them in the fires of affliction and test them. The wickedness of my dear people has left me no choice. What else can I do?
    But there’s an antidote to all of this
    Point
    Statement
    Jeremiah 9:23–24 NET 2nd ed.
    The Lord says, “Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich. If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,” says the Lord.
    Authentic worship and authentic teaching ultimately comes from authentic Faith.
    Illustration
    I had a conversation with my wife the other day, one of her professors had made a statement, something to the effect of, when we choose to be holy, God blesses us.
    And she had a major problem with that,
    And at first I was like, I don’t understand what the big deal is
    That’s not too terrible of a statement to make.
    I think it’s generally true.
    And she said, no you’re not getting it
    For me to sit here and say that would mean that I’m saying that my good works some how earn me blessings from god
    as if God blesses me out of obligation, as if my goodness some how warrants the blessings he gives me
    She said, I know that to be utterly and completely false
    I don’t deserve any blessing I get
    I don’t deserve any grace from God. That’s the whole point.
    I don’t boast in my own accomplishments, I don’t boast in my own good deeds, I don’t boast in how Good I am
    I boast in God and God alone, because he is good
    And he blesses us not because of who we are, but because of who he is
    Authentic faith. Means boasting in him.
    And then what God says next just hits the nail right on the head
    Jeremiah 9:25–26 NET 2nd ed.
    The Lord says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. Moreover, none of the people of Israel are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.”
    I want you to take a moment and appreciate just how much of a sting that statement is
    Circumcision in the old testament was the way in which a person entered into the covenant relationship with God.
    In the New testament, in colossians 2, Paul says that we are circumcised through Baptism.
    That is our covenant entry point.
    But in ancient times there were plenty of other cultures who practiced circumcision who weren’t in the covenant relationship with God.
    Because at the end of the day it had nothing to do with the ritual that was performed, and everything to do with the authenticity of the one in the covenant.
    and Jeremiah says none of the people of israel are actually circumcised when it comes to theirhearts.
    Application
    A lot of times we like to talk about “what must I do to be saved”
    It’s a really popular topic in the Church
    I hold that the Bible teaches that for us to be saved, we must repent of our sins, confess christ as lord, put our faith in him, Be baptized, walk in the light as he is in the light
    These are all things that the Bible describes as how we become in christ
    But I think sometimes we can get too caught up on what is the proper process to enter into the covenant relationship, that we forget to talk about the importance of authentic faith
    Jeremiah tells the israelite people
    Just because you show up to the temple, and do the proper sacrifices, and undergo circumcision, and you do everything technically correct,
    Doesn’t mean a thing if your heart is not authentically pointed toward God.
    We can stand up here, tell everyone about our faith, repent, confess, get dunked, go to church, donate to homeless people.
    But if you’re not right with God in here. there’s no point in any of it.
    At that point you’re just giving a speech and getting wet and showing up to a social club once a week.
    Transition
    One or two sentences to smoothly shift to the next part
    Conclusion
    In chapter 10, The lord points out their absurdity
    He talks about how the people were worshipping inanimate objects
    You go out and cut down a tree, carve it into an image, it can’t talk it can’t move,
    He says in 10:5 it’s like worshipping scarecrow in a cucumber field.
    And at the end of our section, in 10:17-11:17, God once again proclaims judgement, and tells them. Babylon is coming Turn your life around
    Jeremiah 11:17 NET 2nd ed.
    For though I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, planted you in the land, I now decree that disaster will come on you because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.”
    We’re four weeks and 11 Chapters into this series. I think we get that.
    But I want to end on a high note
    In the midst of all of the inauthentic faith. In authentic worship, inauthentic teaching,
    We have a truly authentic God on our side.
    He is the real deal
    That gives me comfort. that Gives me peace.
    in 10:6 Jeremiah breaks away from proclaiming judgement on the people and he turns his eyes toward God
    And I can just picture it, as he’s standing in the temple square, lambasting the people and pointing out how ridiculous they’re being he stops. and he looks up to heaven
    and he prays

    Jeremiah 10:6-16

    Jeremiah 10:6–16 NET 2nd ed.
    I said, “There is no one like you, Lord. You are great, And you are renowned for your power. Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, because you deserve to be revered. For there is no one like you among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish and gold is brought from Ufaz to cover those idols. They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. They are all made by skillful workers. The Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger, the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury. You people of Israel should tell those nations this: ‘These gods did not make heaven and earth. They will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens.’ The Lord is the one who by his power made the earth. He is the one who by his wisdom established the world. And by his understanding, he spread out the skies. When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar. He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain. He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols. They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed. The Lord, who is the inheritance of Jacob’s descendants, is not like them. He is the one who created everything. And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
    Our god is good. Our God is real. Our God is authentic.
    He’s more real than any idol we could ever come up with. More real than our money, more real than our fear, more real than fame and fortune and success, more real than our doubts, more real than our shame
    All that stuff will pass away, but Jesus. His reign will never end. He is the true king, the king of kings, the lord of lords from everlasting to everlasting the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end
    And he desires nothing less than your raw authentic worship and adoration. And he requires nothing more than your faith in him.
    Pray.

      • Jeremiah 7:1–2GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 7:17–18GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 7:30–31GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 7:32–33GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 8:8GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 8:9–11GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 8:8GS-NETBIBLE

      • Romans 1:18–21GS-NETBIBLE

      • Romans 2:1–2GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 9:1–2GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 9:7GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 9:23–24GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 9:25–26GS-NETBIBLE

      • Jeremiah 11:17GS-NETBIBLE

  • At the Cross
  • Jesus We Love You
  • In My Life Lord, Be Glorified
Alliance Christian Church
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https://www.alliancechristian.church
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