Sermon #15391 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: The
Believer’s Hope
Text: Lamentations
3:21-26
Subject: The
Good Hope of Grace
Lamentations
3:1-40
1. I am the man that hath
seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2. He hath led me, and brought me
into darkness, but not into light.
3. Surely against me is he
turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.
4. My flesh and my skin hath he
made old: he hath broken my bones.
5. He hath builded against me,
and compassed me with gall and travail.
6. He hath set me in dark
places, as they that be dead of old.
7. He hath hedged me about,
that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
8. Also when I cry and shout,
he shutteth out my prayer.
9. He hath enclosed my ways
with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
10.
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a
lion in secret places.
11.
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me
desolate.
12.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13.
He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
14.
I was a derision to all my people; and their
song all the day.
15.
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath
made me drunken with wormwood.
16.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones,
he hath covered me with ashes.
17.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
18.
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
19.
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20.
My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
21.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22.
It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions
fail not.
23.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in
him.
25.
The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that
seeketh him.
26.
It is good
that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the
LORD.
27.
It is good
for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28.
He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon
him.
29.
He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
30.
He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full
with reproach.
31.
For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
32.
But though he cause grief, yet will he have
compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
33.
For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
34.
To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
35.
To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,
36.
To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.
37.
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the
Lord commandeth it not?
38.
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth
not evil and good?
39.
Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his
sins?
40.
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
Introduction:
Are you broken under the
heavy, heavy load of sin and guilt?—Are you carrying a heavy burden, suffering
under the hand of God’s providence?—Are you enduring a hard trial?—Do you feel
as though the Lord has cast you off forever?—That he has forgotten to be
gracious?—That his mercies are clean gone forever?—If so, I have a message for
you.
You will find my text in Lamentations 3. My subject
is The
Believer’s Hope. Thirty years ago, I heard Bro. Henry Mahan
preach on this subject in
He said, “Somewhere between proud
presumption and dread despair is the believer’s hope. Somewhere between fleshly
familiarity with God and a slavish fear of God is the believer’s hope.
Somewhere between modern decisionism and medieval fatalism is the believer’s
hope.” Then, he went on the say, “In the Word of God we are
hedged in between the promises of God and his warnings. On one side we have his
promises, lest we despair. On the other side we have his warnings, lest we
presume.”
This
matter of the believer’s hope is a subject of immense importance. The
Scriptures tell us that all who are born of God have “a good hope through
grace” (2 Thess.
Hope
As it is used in the Bible, the word “hope”
does not represent an empty, baseless wish, or desire. As it is used in the
Bible, “hope” is the expectation of faith. It is the confident
expectation of all good, both in this world and in the world to come, based
upon the promises, grace, and goodness of God in Christ.
We hope that we are saved, forgiven, justified, and accepted with God. We hope to go to heaven when we die. We hope to stand among the redeemed in the Day of Judgment. But what is the basis for our hope?
I want us to bring our hope to the Word of God and examine it in the light of Holy Scripture. If I have a good hope, it will bear examination. If I do not have a good hope, if my hope is an empty, vain delusion, I want to know. I want what the Bible calls “a good hope,” “a hope that maketh not ashamed” (Rom. 5:4).
Proposition: The
believers’ hope is that which gives us peace, contentment, and confidence in a
world of trouble and sorrow.—It is that which anchors
our souls in the storms of life.—It is faith looking forward with confidence in
God.
If you
will open your Bibles to Lamentations 3:21-26, I will show you
our six fold hope as it is set forth in these verses.
Jeremiah was a man in deep,
deep trouble. His heart was heavy. His mental anguish was great. His body was
racked with pain. His name was slandered by the very people who ought to have
cherished it. His life was in imminent danger. The
(Lam
3:15-20) "He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. {16} He
hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath
covered me with ashes. {17} And thou hast
removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. {18} And I
said, My strength and my hope is perished from the
LORD: {19} Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and
the gall. {20} My soul hath them still
in remembrance, and is humbled in me."
Then, immediately, he seems
to have seen the foolishness of his unbelief. Looking away from himself to his
Savior, his soul is refreshed with hope. His heart is revived with expectation.
Look at verses 21-26.
(Lam
3:21-26) "This
I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. {22} It
is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions
fail not. {23} They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness. {24} The LORD is my portion,
saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. {25} The LORD is good
unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. {26} It is good that a man should both hope and
quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."
I. Our hope is God’s mercy.
“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not
consumed.”—Some have hope because of their family relations. Some have hope
in their church. Some hope in themselves.
·
Their Religious Works.
·
Their Religious Experiences—A Prayer—A Decision —A Feeling.
But there are some who hope upon God’s mercy. The
believer’s hope is that the Lord will deal with him in mercy.
“It is of the Lord’s
mercies that we are not consumed.”—Our wealth may be consumed
by many things. Our health may be consumed with sickness,
disease, or old age. Our families may be consumed,
Our bodies may be consumed with death. But we are not consumed, neither in our beings nor in our well-being!
We are not consumed because of God’s “mercies”. How I like that word “mercy”.
And here it is put in the plural “mercies!”
A. God’s mercies did not commence in time. They are
eternal, covenant mercies (Eph. 1:3-6; Heb.
(Eph
1:3-6) "Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ: {4} According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: {5} Having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will, {6} To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved."
(Heb
6:17-19) "Wherein God, willing more
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath: {18} That by two immutable things, in
which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
{19} Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil."
B. God’s mercies are blessed redemptive mercies (Eph. 1:7-12).
(Eph
1:7-12) "In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace; {8} Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and
prudence; {9} Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: {10} That
in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in
him: {11} In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will: {12} That we should be to the praise of his
glory, who first trusted in Christ."
C. Ther mercies of God are saving, regenerating, preserving mercies (Eph.
(Eph
1:13-14) "In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in
whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise, {14} Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
D. Our heavenly Father’s mercies are special, daily, providential mercies (Rom.
(Rom
(Rom
11:33-36) "O the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! {34} For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
who hath been his counsellor? {35} Or who hath
first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? {36} For of him, and through him, and to him, are all
things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."
E. And the mercies of our God are sovereign, immutable mercies (Ps. 89:28; 103:17).
(Psa
89:28) "My mercy
will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with
him."
(Psa
103:17) "But the mercy of the LORD is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,
and his righteousness unto children's children;"
II. Our hope is God’s unfailing inexhaustible love.
Look at this next line of our text. – “His
compassions fail not.”—What a word of grace! God’s love for us is
indestructible. Yes, that is what I meant to say, “indestructible.”
There is absolutely nothing we can do, no circumstance into which we might
enter, by which God’s love for us can be destroyed, or even altered, or
diminished. “His compassions fail not!”
(Rom
Could we with ink the oceans
fill,
And were the skies with
parchment made.
Were every stalk on earth a
quill
And every man a scribe by
trade –
To write the love of God
above
Would drain the oceans dry,
Nor could the scroll contain
the whole,
Though stretched from sky to
sky!
Let me tell you just four things revealed in the Book about
God’s love for his elect in Christ.
A. He loved us from everlasting (Jer.
31:3; Eph. 1:4-5).
(Jer
31:3) "The LORD hath appeared of
old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."
(Eph
1:4-5) "According as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: {5} Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will,"
B. He loves us freely (Hos.
14:4). – Without cause, without condition, without beginning, without end (1
John
(Hosea
14:4) "I will heal their
backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from
him."
(1
John 4:19) "We love him, because he
first loved us."
C. He loves us to the end (John
13:1).
(John
13:1) "Now before the feast of the
passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of
this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he
loved them unto the end."
D. The love of God for us is
constantly new.—“They are new every morning” (v. 23).
(Eph
3:14-21) "For this cause I bow my
knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (15) Of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named, (16) That he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man; (17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (20) Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us, (21) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen."
III. Our hope is in God’s
faithfulness.
“They (God’s
compassions) are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.”—How can
I talk to you about the faithfulness of God? Others may talk about their
faithfulness, or your faithfulness. I will talk to you about God’s
faithfulness. It is not our faithfulness to God that keeps us from being
consumed, but God’s faithfulness to us.
God is faithful…
A. To Himself – “He cannot deny himself!”
B. To His Purpose (Isa. 46:9-10).
(Isa
46:9-10) "Remember the former
things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God,
and there is none like me, {10} Declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."
C. TO HIS COVENANT
(2 Sam.
23:5; Ps. 89:34).
(2
Sam 23:5) "Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is
all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not
to grow."
(Psa
89:34) "My covenant will I not
break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."
D. To His Son (Ps. 89:27-36).
(Psa
89:27-36) "Also I will make him my
firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. {28} My mercy will I keep for him for
evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. {29} His
seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of
heaven. {30} If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my
judgments; {31} If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
{32} Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity
with stripes. {33} Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not
utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. {34} My covenant will I not break, nor alter
the thing that is gone out of my lips. {35} Once have I sworn by
my holiness that I will not lie unto David. {36} His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the
sun before me."
E. To His People (Heb. 13:5; Isa. 43:1-5; 42:10).
(Heb
13:5) "Let your conversation
be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye
have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
(Isa
42:10) "Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye
that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the
inhabitants thereof."
(Isa
43:1-5) "But now thus saith the
LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not:
for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
{2} When thou passest through the waters, I will
be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when
thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the
flame kindle upon thee. {3} For I am the
LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave
IV. Our hope is the Lord God
himself.
“The Lord is my portion,
saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him!”—Today men talk of his pardon
and miss his presence. They talk of his blessing and miss his Being. They talk
of his grace and miss his glory!
“The Lord is the portion of his people in life and in death, in time and to eternity. All he is and has is theirs. They are heirs of him and shall enjoy him forever, and therefore shall not be confounded. He is a portion large and full, inexpressibly rich and great, a soul-satisfying one that will last forever...Happy are those who from their hearts and with their souls, under a testimony of the Spirit of God to their spirits, and through a gracious experience of him, can say he is their portion and exceeding great reward…These may say, ‘Therefore will I hope in him’ –for deliverance from all evils and enemies, for present supplies of grace, and for the enjoyment of future glory and happiness.” – (John Gill)
(Jer
51:17-19) "Every man is brutish by his
knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten
image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. {18} They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of
their visitation they shall perish. {19} The
portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all
things: and
If Christ is your portion, you will bear witness with me
that he is…
·
A Suitable Portion.
·
A Sufficient Portion.
·
A Sweet Portion.
·
A Sure Portion.
·
A Satisfying Portion.
As Christ is our Portion, we are his portion (Deut.
32:9).—"For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his
inheritance."—We are to him all that he is to us!
V. Our hope is the Lord’s goodness.
“The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to
the soul that seeketh him.”
A.
“The Lord is good!”
·
In All His Attributes.
·
In All His Works.
B. “The Lord is good to those who wait for him.”—To wait on the Lord is to
calmly trust him for deliverance.
(Psa
27:14) "Wait on the LORD: be of
good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the
LORD."
(Psa
37:9) "For evildoers shall be cut
off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth."
(Isa
40:31) "But they that wait upon the
LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not
faint."
(Isa
64:4) "For since the beginning of
the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the
eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth
for him."
C.
“The Lord is good to
the soul that seeketh him.”
Let me tell you six things about those who seek the
Lord.
1. They know their need of him.
2. They seek him sincerely (Ps. 27:8).
(Psa
27:8) "When thou saidst, Seek
ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek."
·
In His Word.
·
In His House.
·
Among His People.
·
In Prayer.
3. They have faith in him.
4. They seek him continually (Phil.
(Phil
3:10-14) "That I may know him, and
the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death; {11} If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead. {12} Not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that
I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. {13} Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
before, {14} I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus."
5. They are sought of him.—“The goodness of God
leadeth thee to repentance” (Rom. 2:4).
(Isa
62:10-12) "Go through, go through
the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up,
cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
{11} Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to
the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with
him, and his work before him. {12} And they
shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be
called, Sought out, A city not forsaken."
"I sought the Lord, but
afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek Him
seeking me!
It was not I that found thee
Savior true!
No, I was found of
thee!"
6. They find him (Jer. 29:10-14).
(Jer
29:10-14) "For thus saith the LORD,
That after seventy years be accomplished at
VI. Our hope is God’s salvation.
“It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”—If God is good to those who wait for him, then it must be good for us to both hope and quietly wait for God’s salvation.
Be sure
you understand this: “Salvation is of the Lord.” It is God’s work and
God’s work alone.
·
The salvation of our souls is his work.
·
Salvation from any danger, any hardship, or any foe is also God’s work
and God’s work alone.
·
He is able to deliver us; and he will!
(Lam
3:31-32) "For the Lord will not
cast off for ever: (32) But though he cause grief, yet will he have
compassion according to the multitude of his mercies."
(Rom
A. It is good for lost souls to take their place in the
dust as sinners before the throne of grace and wait for God’s salvation (Matt.
8:1). “If you will…”
B. It is good for troubled saints to quietly wait for
God’s salvation in all temporal troubles (John
(John
11:40) "Jesus saith unto her, Said
I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory
of God?"
(John
13:7) "Jesus answered and said unto
him (Peter), What I do thou knowest not now; but thou
shalt know hereafter."
C.
It is good for us to wait in
hope for the consummation of our salvation by Christ.
“It is high time to
awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”
Therefore “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Rom.
Conclusion: Here
is the believer’s hope – God’s mercy, his love, his faithfulness, Christ our
Portion, the Lord’s goodness, and God’s salvation. What is your hope?
As he lay on his deathbed,
John Gill wrote something in a letter to his nephew that I want to read to you.—“I depend wholly and alone
upon the free, sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love of God the firm and
everlasting covenant of grace, and my interest in the persons of the sacred
Trinity, for my whole salvation; and not upon any righteousness of my own; nor
anything in me, or done by me under the influences of the Holy Spirit; not upon
any services of mine, which I have been assisted to perform for the good of the
church do I depend, but upon my interest in the persons of the Trinity; the
free grace of God, and the blessings of grace streaming to me through the blood
and righteousness of Christ, as the ground of my hope. These are no new things
to me, but what I have been long acquainted with; what I can live and die by. I
apprehend that I shall not be long here, but this you may tell to any of my
friends.”
Just before he died, Gill said, to one of his friends standing by his bed, “I have nothing to make me uneasy.” Then he quoted one verse of a hymn, written by Isaac Watts, in honor of that Redeemer whom he loved, trusted, and served…
“He raised me from the
depths of sin, -
The gates of gaping hell,
And fixed my standing more secure
Than ‘twas before I fell.”
(Lam
3:21-26) "This
I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. {22} It
is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions
fail not. {23} They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness. {24} The LORD is my portion,
saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. {25} The LORD is good
unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. {26} It is good that a man should both hope and
quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."
(Lam
3:31-40) "For the Lord will not
cast off for ever: (32) But though he cause grief, yet will he have
compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. (33) For he doth
not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. (34) To crush
under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, (35) To
turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, (36) To
subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. (37) Who is he
that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it
not? (38) Out of the mouth of the most High
proceedeth not evil and good? (39) Wherefore doth a living man complain,
a man for the punishment of his sins? (40) Let us search and try our
ways, and turn again to the LORD."
1
Date: Danville-Sunday
Morning—
Tape # X-77a