Don't Buy Any Land

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Don't Buy Any Land
In Anathoth Today
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I know . . . Youre thinking, What in the world
is he talking about?
Well, Im going to tell you, and you may not
know much more after I tell you, but I hope
youll be able to understand the principle of our
lesson this morning which is based on an Old
Testament story found in Jere. 321-44. 1. The
events of this story happened in Jerusa-lem in
588 B.C., about a year-and-a-half before
Nebu-chadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroyed the
city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. a.
The Babylonians had already laid siege to the
city of Jerusalem (see vs. 2, 24).
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b. Zedekiah was the king of Judah at the time,
and he had put Gods prophet, Jeremiah, in
prison because of his prophecies of doom
and destruction for Jerusalem.
2. Then God told Jeremiah that He wanted him to
buy a some property in in a town called
Anathoth. a. This would be like telling someone
to buy some property in Berlin, Germany just
before it was destroyed by the allies in
WWII. b. Or, like telling someone to buy some
proper- ty in Hiroshima just before it was
destroyed by an atomic bomb. c. Why buy
property in a doomed country?
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3. But God had a message for Jeremiah and the
people of Judah in making this request.
a. He wanted Jeremiah and the people of Judah
to know that after their land was destroyed
and they had been carried into captivity they
would be returned to their land after seventy
years. b. Then, their surviving families
would have land to which they could come
back as a part of their inheritance. c.
Their exile in Babylon and the destruction of
their land was not going to be permanent. d.
They still had a future in the land.
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Gods message to us today, though, is, Dont
buy any land in Anathoth!
1. Our Anathoth is this world which is to be
destroyed just as certainly as was Jerusalem in
586 B.C. It is a land in which we have no
future. a. I dont mean that we shouldnt
purchase land or a house in which to live or
even a farm. b. These are needed to make it
possible for us to provide for our physical
needs while we live on the earth. 2. By
Anathoth I am referring to the world as in 1
John 215-17 -- Do not love the world or the
things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love
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of the Father is not in him. For all that is in
the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of he
Father but is of the world. And the world is
passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does
the will of God abides forever.
3. We sing, This world is not my home, Im
just a passing through. My treasures are laid up
some-where beyond the blue the angels beckon me
from heavens open door, and I cant feel at home
in this world anymore. (page 545) a. We dont
belong to this world, Phil. 320 -- For our
citizenship is in heaven, from which we also
eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ.
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b. While here on the earth, we are but
sojourn- ers and pilgrims (1 Pet. 211).
c. This world is just our motel room. This
world -- our Anathoth -- is going to be
de-stroyed and all that we have bought in it
will be lost. 1. 2 Pet. 37,10 -- But the
heavens and the earth which are now preserved by
the same word, are reserved for fire until the
day of judgment and perdi-tion of ungodly men
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night, in which the heavens will pass away
with a great noise, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat both the earth and the works
that are therein will be burned up.
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2. We should not be investing in this world
be-cause we are looking for a new heavens and a
new earth, in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet.
313).
3. Matt. 619,20 -- Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and
steal but lay up for your-selves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and
where thieves do not break in and steal. 4.
Luke 1216-21 -- Then He spoke a parable to
them, saying The ground of a certain rich man
yield-ed plentifully. And he thought within
himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have
no room to store my
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crops? So he said, I will do this I will pull
down my barns and build greater, and there I will
store all my crops and my goods. And I will say
to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up
for many years, take your ease eat, drink, and
be merry. But God said to him, Fool! This night
your soul will be required of you, then whose
will those things be which you have pro-vided?
So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is
not rich toward God.
5. Matt. 1626 -- For what profit is it to a
man if he gains the whole world, and loses his
own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for
his soul?
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There is a difference between owning
some-thing in the world and allowing something
in the world to own us.
1. A Christian may own property and material
goods in this world, and even be wealthy the sin
is not in having property but in having the wrong
attitude toward the property we own. a. Col. 35
-- Covetousness is idolatry. b. Mark 1024 --
Children, how hard it is for those who
trust in riches to enter the kingdom of
heaven. c. 1 Tim. 610 -- For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil.
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2. 1 Tim. 617-19 -- Command those who are
rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor
to trust in uncertain riches but in the living
God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let
them do good, that they be rich in good works,
ready to give, willing to share, storing up for
themselves a good foundation for the time to
come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Instead of so much interest in this world which
is sure to be destroyed, where should our
interests be? 1. Col. 31-3 -- If then you were
raised with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand
of God. Set your mind on things above, not on
things on the earth.
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1. Matt. 631-33 -- Therefore do not worry,
say-ing, What shall we eat? or What shall we
drink? or What shall we wear? For after all
these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
Father knows that you need all these things. But
seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you.
2. Abraham is our example, Heb. 118,9 -- By
faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out
to the place which he would receive as an
inheri-tance. And he went out, not knowing where
he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of
promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in
tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise.
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2. Heb. 1113-16 -- These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off were assured of them, embraced them
and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such
things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
And truly if they had called to mind that country
from which they had come out, they would have had
opportunity to return. But now they desire a
better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He
has prepared a city for them.
3. Heb. 1314 -- For here we have no
continu-ing city, but we seek the one to come.
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If Anathoth (this world) is to be destroyed
(and it will be) so we will have no inheritance
here, and if heaven is our real goal, why do our
lives seem to indicate otherwise?
1. When we know we arent living right, why do
we put off making necessary corrections? a. 2
Cor. 61,2 -- We then, as workers together
with Him also plead with you not to receive
the grace of God in vain. For He says In an
acceptable time I have heard you, and in the
day of salvation I have helped you. Behold,
now is the accepted time behold, now is the
day of salvation?
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b. 2 Cor. 510 -- For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that each one
may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good
or bad.
c. Eph. 515.16 -- See then that you walk cir-
cumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeem-
ing the time, because the days are evil. 2.
Why do material things mean so much to us that we
are willing to neglect spiritual things? a. We
sing, This world is not my home, but we
live like it is!
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b. Matt. 1626 -- For what profit is it to a
man if he gains the whole world, and loses
his own soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul?
b. Matt. 624 -- No one can serve two masters
for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will be loyal to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon. 3. Our attitude toward saving
those who are lost in sin betrays our interest in
heaven. a. If we are going to heaven, wouldnt
we want others to go with us?
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b. John 434,35 -- Jesus said to them, My food
is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to
finish His work. Do you not say, There are
still four months and then comes the har-
vest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes
and look at the fields, for they are already
white for harvest!
4. Even our young people need to be thinking
about going to heaven, Eccl. 121-7,13 --
Remember now your Creator in the days of your
youth, before the difficult days come, and the
years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure
in them While the sun and the light, the moon
and the stars, are not dark-
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ened, and the clouds do not return after the
rain in the day when the keepers of the house
tremble, and the strong men bow down when the
grinders cease because they are few, and those
that look through the windows grow dim when the
doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of
grinding is low when one rises up at the sound
of a bird, and all the daughters of music are
brought low. Also they are afraid of height, and
of terrors in the way when the almond tree
blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and
de-sire fails, for man goes to his eternal home,
and the mourners go about the streets. Remember
your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or
the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher
shattered at the foun-
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tain, or the wheel broken at the well. Then the
dust will return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit will re-turn to God who gave it Fear God
and keep His commandments, for this is mans all.
Lets start living like we really believe we
dont want to buy any land in Anathoth like we
are going to heaven instead! 1. God is giving us
this time here on earth, not with the intent of
our staying here, but of our leaving to go to our
heavenly home. 2. Gal. 67 -- Do not be
deceived, God is not mocked for whatever a man
sows, that he will also reap.
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a. Are we buying land in Anathoth when we
should be laying up for ourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust de-
stroys, and where thieves do not break in an
steal?
b. In the judgment we will reap what we have
been sowing in this life. c. Consider the poem,
What Then?
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When all the great plants of our
cities Have turned out their last finished work
When our merchants have made their last
bargain, And dismissed the last weary clerk
When our banks have raked in their last
dollar And have paid out the last dividend
When the Judge of the earth says, Closed for
the night, And asks for the balance, WHAT
THEN?
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When the singers have sung their last
anthem When the preacher has prayed his last
prayer When the people have heard their last
sermon, And the sound has died on the air
When the Bible is read for the last time, And
the last invitation given to men And each one
stands facing his record, And that Great Book is
opened WHAT THEN?
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When the actor has played his last drama, And
the mimic has made his last fun When the movies
have made their last picture, And the billboard
displayed its last run When the crowd seeking
pleasure has vanished, And gone into darkness
again And the world that rejected its
Savior Is asked for a reason WHAT THEN?
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When the bugles last call sinks in
silence, And the long marching columns stand
still When the Captain has given his last
order, And theyve captured the last fort and
hill When the flag has been hauled from the
masthead, And the wounded afield have checked
in When the trumpet of ages has sounded, And
we are standing up before Jesus WHAT THEN?
Will you prepare yourself now and begin your
journey to heaven by obeying the gospel of Jesus
Christ today?