Text: Revelation 7:1-15
Date: August 30, 2026

Introduction

Series Opener: For the last twelve years of pastoral ministry, whenever I have said the Benediction, the closing words of a Sunday gathering, I have sent you off with the Great Commission, those famous words of Christ at the end of Matthew’s gospel,

Matthew 28:18–20 “… All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

The reason I say that every week is because we believe with every fiber in our being that we are not only a saved people, but we are a sent people. We believe that God is at work in and through the Church not only transforming lives inwardly and bringing hope and restoration inwardly, but then using his church outwardly to see the city transformed. I know it sounds rather audacious, but I believe Christ wants to use this little Church to bring about great transformation in Chicago. I believe God wants to use this little Church not only to bring many to saving faith in Jesus Christ, but see entire institutions changed, to see the biblical worldview normalized, to see sinful foolish ideologies exposed.

Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Personal: Do you want that, Christian? I hope your Christianity is that big! If your Christianity is only a private thing, then you missed a big portion of the Bible. We are to be a light to the nations!

Series Context: Today we begin a three week series titled Dear Chicago. At the heart of this series, is the belief that God can use a little church like ours to accomplish extraordinary kingdom transformation in the city. And the question at the heart of this series, is how can we put ourselves in a position to be most used by God for such a purpose. And so for the next three weeks we will turn to the prophet Jeremiah, and see how he addressed the people of God in the Old Testament regarding such matters.

Sermon Context: Today, in our first sermon, we will look at a portion of Jeremiah 7, known as Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon. It’s called the Temple Sermon, because he was standing at the gate of the temple when he gave it. And the main idea of this sermon is simple:

Main Idea: Reformation must begin in the house of the Lord.

Jeremiah 7:1–15 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.”

Exposition

Setting: Recall the setting of this sermon. Jeremiah is standing in “gate of the house of the Lord.” This important context. He’s preaching to both the priests who made their living in the temple, and all the religious people of God who were coming and going around the temple in Jerusalem. In other words, he’s preaching to a very religious group of people. These were not the slackers who held back and didn’t go to temple. This was the active participants in the religious life of Israel in the Old Testament.

Misplaced Trust: His main condemnation is that they had a misplaced trust. Verse four highlights this for us.

Jeremiah 7:4 “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’”

Jeremiah was an astute observer of people. He was watching the religious and activity of God’s people in Israel. And he was a noticing a trend. These people were very busy with relious duties. Outwardly they were coming and going, and doing and sacrificing. But behind the scenes there was all kinds of gross immorality occurring. There was a disconnect between the inner spiritual life and their outward spiritual life.

They Didn’t Care: In a moment we’ll look at that disconnect further. But the first thing we must notice, is not only that the disconnect existed, but much more importantly that they didn’t seem to care. They had this strange notion, that as long as they kept doing the externals (in their case, go to temple, make the sacrifice, make sure the priests were paid to do their job), the rest didn’t really matter. Their mindset was, “Sure there is sin, but we have the temple. We’re fine.”

They had a misplaced trust. Rather than truly trusting God, as evidenced by a life lived honoring God, they were trusting simply in external religion.

Evidence: The prophet Jeremiah was a good lawyer. He has made his opening argument, and then he brings out his evidence. He brings two sets of evidence agains them.

#1 Lack of Love for the Vulnerable: First, he highlights their lack of love for the vulnerable. In verses 5-6:

Jeremiah 7:5–6 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,”

They’re failing to “execute justice towards one another.” Particulary when it comes to four categories. He lists out: sojourners, the fatherless, and the widow, the innocent. It is interesting that God’s people were always to be defined and hallmarked by their overwhelming love of the vulnerable. Not only were they not caring for the vulnerable with self-sacrificial love, but it seems from Jeremiah’s words that they were participating in the oppression of these groups. You can imagein Jeremiah seeing the hypocrisy of coming in and out of the temple, thinking God is pleased with them, while they’re failing to care for the vulnerable! They’re the people of God for crying out loud.

#2 Flagrant Sin: Second, he highlights their flagrant sin.

Was everybody standing in front of Jeremiah when he gave this sermon guilty of all of those flagrant sins. More than likely no. But what Jeremiah is saying that collectively, as a people, these sins are not only present but they are permitted.

Preaches Grace: And so again, Jeremiah spots the inconsistency between their external religion and the internal spiritual life. And then he preaches grace to them.

Jeremiah 7:5–7 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another… then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.”

Despite their inconsistency and their guilt. If they amend their ways. If they repent, and seek God, and turn from their sin, God will in turn, turn from the punishment he has planned for them. This is undeserved grace. God grants them time. He sends his prophet to warn them. To preach to their heart. To convict them. And to give them space to amend their ways.

Preaches Punishment: But he also warns them. He says if you fail to repent, then I will bring about my judgment. In verse 12 he say, “Don’t believe me…

Jeremiah 7:12 “Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.”

Shiloh was about thirty miles north of Jerusalem, they could go and see firsthand what God would do if they didn’t change. Historically, we know what happened next. This sermon was preached only a few years before 586BC, when God raised up the Babylonian Empire to come and not only conquer Israel, but they destroyed the temple, the very thing they had been trusting in. The very center of their delusion and misplaced trust. And as hard as that was for Israel, that punishment was the very best thing that could have ever happened to them, because it served as a means to see the lunacy of trusting in anything other than God, as evidenced by a life lived for God in obedience to God.

Application

That is exposition of the text. And now I want to spend of our time in applying this text into our life. Main idea of this sermon, flowing out from this text “Reformation begins in the House of the Lord.” What that means, lets get our house in order, in order that we might positioned as best as we can to be mightily used of God. Let’s first look inwardly before we look to be used mightily by God.

Gospel Context: Whenever we take an Old Testament text and apply it into our life today, we have to realize there are some similarities and differences between us and them. It’s not a one to one correlation.

Differences: Quickly, two differences between us and them.

Covenants: For starters they were living in the Old Testament days, which means they did not have the clarity we have around Jesus Christ and the gospel. And so our understanding of grace upone grace for sinners like us, must fundamentally influence how we go about reflecting on this passage and applying this passage into our life. We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, and that change and deepen everything about us.

The Temple: Second, as OT saints their religious life centered around the Temple. That temple was the place where God’s glory dwelt. In the New Testament, we know that the people of God (the Church as a people) is the New Temple. We no longer have need of a physical structure to worship God, because God lives and dwells inside the simplest of Christians.

Similarities: What about some similarities.

First, We serve and worship the exact same God. He has not changed.

Second, the Word of God as spoken through Jeremiah, is still the Word of God today that speaks to us.

Third, the errors and the sins they made are common errors and mistakes that we too can make. It might look a little different, but the same sin that ran through them, runs through us.

Looking to Us: So, with that in mind, lets allow Jeremiah to point the finger at us this morning. Before we ask what Chicago needs and how we might be a light to this city, and see revival once again in this city, let’s allow the words of the prophet to search us. Let’s get our house in order in order that we might be properly positioned to experience the outpouring of God’s marvelous blessing.

SOCIAL CONCERN

Recall the first was from verse 5 where he said,

Jeremiah 7:5 “… if you truly execute justice one with another,”

Justice Towads One Another: Jeremiah’s concern was regarding “justice towards one another.” Now in our modern day, we need to be a little careful here. The world around us has hijacked this word “justice” and has redefined in a thousand different ways that are inconsistent with the Bible. But again, our critique today is not primarily with how the world is getting it all wrong. We should expect they will get it wrong. But we should also expect that we get it right.

To What Degree: Here is the question I’m asking. To what degree can Jeremiah’s words be said of me? Or of us collectively as a Church? Do we have a deep love of the vulnerable among us? Is that a hallmark of our Church? And of us as a people of God?

Illustration – Whitefield: The last few weeks I have been reading quite a lot on the life of George Whitefield, the pre-eminent American preacher of the early days of our nation’s birth. Wherever he went, whatever meeting he was in, whatever sermon he was giving, you could be sure he was raising funds the orphanage. Why? He was passionate about it.

Illustration – DL Moody: Or how about DL Moody. The great evangelist from Chicago from the late 1800’s. Do you know where DL Moody cut his teeth in ministry? It was in 1862 when roughly 9,000 confederate soldiers from the Civil War had been captured and brought to Chicago. They were confined in Camp Douglas which was not far from here (just over on Michigan Ave and south a mile). DL Moody is recalled as saying

“These prisoners need the means of grace just as much the union soldiers.”

Talk about a group that was overlooked. Because of Moody’s work, a wonderful revival broke out among the confederate prisoners, in the Prisoner of War camp. Later on when DL Moody founded the church that he would lead, he had a sign placed over the building that read

“Ever welcome to this house of God are strangers and the poor.”

Looking Internally: So we want to get our heart in order here. Why? Well first, because we want to honor God, and be legitimate Christians. Second, because we want to experience the fulness of God’s blessing over our ministries and our efforts. Does our heart bleed for the vulnerable among us? Do we even see them? or has our heart become so calloused that we don’t see them anymore?

Adoption / Foster Care / Safe Families: Let me give a word of encouragement here. I know there is so much more we can do. And I hope that we are inspired to do so today. I hope that we are inspired to see the needs fo the vulnerable around us, and to know that we can’t do everthing, but can we do some things. But I want to encourage you, that I really do see this in you, and I see this across Park. Talk about caring for orphans and widows. Park has launched a dozen ministries in different retirement homes around the city, caring for widows and widowers. They’re a forgotten group. They’re unbelievably lonely. Here at Park South Loop, we have had a passion both for abortion ministry to care for women with unplanned pregnancies and to protect the vulnerable lives inside. And for adoption and foster care. We have an entire Adoption Fund that has come alongside a number of families to help them adopt, and we have seen many families become foster parents, or become safe families for short term care, or get registered to do child care. I want to encourage you, I believe this is true of us.

And Yet: And yet, I don’t want to shortchange Jeremiah’s words to us today. Renewal and reformation always begins in the house of the Lord. Where is there growth needed? Is a Christlike practical love of the vulnerable increasingly visible in your life as you become more like Christ? We’re Christians. The love we have for the vulnerable, for the poor, for the outcast, for the hurting, it ought to drip off us. We can’t do everything, but everyone can do something.

IMMORALITY

Second, Jeremiah warned them about their lack passive attitude towards sin in their midst. Remember that Jeremiah called out six of the ten commandments and said they were guilty of them. This begs us to look inwardly at our own morality, to be a self-reflective people that is willing to confess where we’re falling short.

Illustration – UnChristian: There is an old book from 2007 titled UnChristian by Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. It’s probably a little outdated at this point, but there are some great insights on the Church, and how the nonChristian world views the Church. Well in that book they explore what the data says about a number of simple measures of morality between born-again believers and non believers. Here is what they wrote.

“…born-again believers were just as likely to bet or gamble, to visit a pornographic website, to take something that did not belong to them, to consult a medium or psychic, to physically fight or abuse someone, to have consumed enough alcohol to be considered legally drunk, to have used an illegal, nonprescription drug,

to have said something to someone that was not true, to have gotten back at someone for something he or she did, and to have said mean things behind another person’s back…. No difference.”

Not Better Ministries: Reaching Chicago is not first and foremost about having some incredible strategy, and some great vision for a ministry that we’re going to launch. No! Don’t forget that DL Moody had an elementary school education; he was not some business school strategist. He was just faithful. Transforming Chicago by having a Church presence in Chicago that holy, set apart unto God, chasing obedience out of a place of abiding in Christ.

Collective / Individual: Last year I was reading a book on preaching, and I read a section that really left an impression on me. The author was saying that for most modern preaching, when we think about application, it is almost always individual. We challenge individuals to a deeper prayer life. We challenge individuals to committing to a Bible Reading Plan, or to boldly step into a ministry. We challenge individuals to see God in a new way. But for the OT Prophets, application was very rarely individual. It was almost always collective. They looked at the people of God together as a whole and said “Hey, you’re supposed to be about this, and collectively you’re falling short. Work this out together!”

Example – Adultery: Let’s modernize this and take an example. I’m going to pick on some low hanging fruit here. One of the sins that Jeremiah highlighted in verse 9 was adultery. For us as we apply this into our community’s life, you might think individually, “I’m not committing adultery with anybody, so that one isn’t for me.” But Jeremiah would ask, “Are you permitting carelessly adultery to just occur within the life of your Church, your covenant community, and belieiving that just because its not your sin that it doesn’t impact you.”

Pornography: If there was adultery happening in this church, I think our members would graciously engage. But what about pornography? While viewing pornography is not adultery per se, it is a very obvious sin underneath that heading. And I wonder how much the average Christian who comes to Church is carelessly permitting this sin to flourish in the life of their covenant community, and having very little concern about it.

Plug: We want to take this very seriously, and so in the Fall a handful of leaders in our church will be launching a group particularly aimed at helping men gain victory in this area of their life.

The Point: The point I’m trying to make is not that pornography is a sin. Of course it is, we all know that. That’s easy. The point is that the very same disconnect that hindered the people in Jeremiah’s day from experiencing the full blessing of God, is at risk of being present for us as the people of God.

In Jeremiah’s day, the permitted flagrant sin and hid behind the temple as their security. Where do we hide?

We hide behind church attendance

We hide behind theology

We hide behind the fact we were baptized

We hide behind our pastor

Reformation must begin internally, in the house of the Lord.

GOSPEL

So the question becomes, “How do we do this well as New Testament Christians?” How do push each other towards holiness, because we want to be in a position to receive God’s blessing, while at the same time not staying rooted and grounded and built up in grace, that forgives sinners like me and you.

Gospel: Well first of all, lets remember the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is such that we are all far more sinful than we could ever imagine. But Christ in mercy has offered us grace that we didn’t deserve. Oh how gracious Christ has been with us.

He is the prophet that points his finger at the law and shows us our own guilt

But he is also the priest, who offers his own life on the cross to pay the penalty.

When we think how tender and merciful and longsuffering Christ has been with us in our stubbornness and our sin, it should create in us a deep sense of patience with other people as they struggle through their sin. Not always, but very often our impatience with people, is simply a a lack of self-reflection, and a lack of really understanding the gospel. And so we want to be a holy people, but we also want to get about that work in a grace filled way. We want to confront in love and meekness. We want to point others to God’s Word shoulder to shoulder, not from one level down to another.

Den of Robbers: Look with me at verse 11. In the middle of Jeremiah’s sermon, he says.

Jeremiah 7:11 “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.”

That language might sound familiar to you because Jesus used this language in his own day. Do you remember the scene? Jesus, shortly before his arrest, approached the temple in Jerusalem, and what did he discover? He saw that people had turned the temple into a business. They were selling and trading and making prophet.

Matthew 21:12–13 “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

This is one of those incredible scenes where Jesus is reaching back into Jeremiah’s words and applying it right then and there to the people in his day. But there’s even more. Do you know what the very next verse in Matthew’s gospel is?

Matthew 21:14 “And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.”

Real Worship: Jesus immediately loves upon the vulnerable. Those who were least likely to get the love they ought to be getting when God’s people prioritize the externals of religion over the internals of walking deeply with God. Jesus cleanses the temple, and real worship begins. Church on fire!

Conclusion

Jeremiah was preaching to a very different people, in a very different context. And yet his words have principles that we can apply directly to ourselves. Chicago doesn’t need a church that merely looks like a church. Chicago needs a church that actually belongs to Jesus and is hungry to walk deeply with Christ.

Reformation must begin in the house of the Lord.