It is common for many people to go into a church building on Sunday and listen to a sermon that sounds very similar to one they’ve heard many times before. The introductions may be different, but the main statements and lessons may seem very similar. This is a common occurrence with preaching the truth.

Jeremiah preached to Judah for 40 years and those people heard the same lesson over and over again. Judah was to face the destruction of their city and their freedom. They needed to repent and obey God.

It is difficult to tell people bad news like this when they don’t really want to hear it. Jeremiah didn’t really want to give people news like this. But God wanted them to know what was about to happen to them, so he told them.

God has a message for our age. This message is similar to the one Jeremiah relayed. God wants us to know the world will end and everyone who has ever lived on it will face judgment (Acts 17:31). Each person who has ever lived will receive an eternal destination of either heaven or punishment for sin (Matthew 25:31-46).

The people that heard Jeremiah didn’t believe what he said. Then, the Babylonians took them into 70 years of captivity. Many people will hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 25 and will not believe what he said either. But just as Judah learned Jeremiah’s words were true, one day many people will come to the same inescapable conclusion.

We live in a world that fills our senses and occupies our minds each day with the message that this world is all there is and there is no other. That message is not the truth. Reality is quite different. This world will end. It is not permanent.

You have a choice. You may choose God and obey the gospel, or you may choose to ignore the message of the gospel. What will it be?

John Henson