Sovereign Grace Chapel, located at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. So if you would, please be turning to Lamentations 3. And I didn't mark it, so I don't know if I can find it. Oh, right there, I turned to it. Lamentations 3. And I'm going to start in verse 21. Lamentations 3 verse 21. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

There are some things said here where it says, to have been recalled to mind. The ISV, which is the International Standard Version, says it this way for verse 21. This is what comes to mind, and therefore I have hope. Then Jeremiah goes through what gives a man or a woman hope, and that's eternal hope, not just a fleeting hope. But I do want to say this, that if it were referring to what was previously said, it would still give me hope if I saw this as Christ. And I just want to point this out, this one verse.

If you see the first verse, it says, I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. If I see this as Christ taking that in my stead, then we can see some hope there. But for the rod of his wrath to be upon me is something I cannot withstand. So there's only hope in what he does. But that goes right along with what is said after this verse, verse 21.

The reason we are not consumed are because of his mercies toward those whom he chose in his son. because those mercies are compassion brought from his bosom where we dwell in him. We see these mercies and compassions every day. Why is this? Because he is faithful in showing those mercies and compassion to his people who are found in his son who has been afflicted with the rod of his wrath. What is the result of his faithful mercies and compassion?

My portion is the Lord. So him being my portion, that is where I place my hope. So as it goes on to say, I wait on God and his salvation, which comes by and through his son, Jesus Christ. So let's talk about these things, mercy, compassion, my portion, and my hope. So first, mercy. Mercy means, and this is from God to his sheep, but mercy means a good deed of kindness to his people. But for his people, we can say it is good deeds of kindness towards them. Not singular, but plural.

Now, you know, I mentioned that in the first verse where it says, I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. God's people may come to a place where they feel they are under the wrath of God, but his people never see his wrath. I know this because His wrath consumes. What do we read in our text? It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Because Jesus Christ has met with the wrath of God in our stead. We will not see His wrath and we should be thankful for that because His wrath consumes.

It was the wrath of God that flooded the whole earth, save eight souls. It was mercy that was done toward those eight souls. An act of kindness toward them that delivered them while all others were destroyed or consumed by his wrath. His mercies toward us are too numerous to count. We, in fact, do not even see or know all the mercies he shows toward us. We're too dull to know them. But there is mercy that we can see and know, and it goes back to the beginning. We read in Genesis 3, 14 and 15, this is what we read.

And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. We can follow that mercy all the way through scripture. Because of that promise of God, he brought all things to come to pass. I'm just going to give you some things that give you an idea of what I'm trying to convey here. I'm not going to go through it in details, but we can see this in Matthew 1 where it says, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. You have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What all happened with those men? We are talking about the mercy of God. Lots of things, but just to mention one, Jacob had a son named Joseph. Joseph was put in a pit and sold by the Midianites to the Israelites, Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. We all know what came of that. Joseph was not in the direct lineage of Christ, it was Jacob's son Judah, but I'm talking about things that happened along the way because of this lineage The mercy of God is what we're talking about. The lineage is the mercy of God. The people of God were delivered by Joseph, but then they went into bondage in Egypt.

Then it goes on in Matthew, we have, Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab the harlot. The scripture still calls Rahab the harlot. That's what it says in Hebrews. She was in the direct lineage of our Lord. Just think of what all happened with Rahab, though. An entire city was brought to the ground. And we are talking about the mercy of God. But then we have Boaz begetting Obed of Ruth, the Moabites. And then the last one we have is this, and it's the end game.

This is talking about mercy personified. Matthew 1 16, and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. God's mercy started from the beginning and they all led to Jesus Christ, made of a woman, made under the law.

This was done for this purpose, to redeem them that were under the law. There is no greater mercy than that. Christ doing the work that would set the prisoners free. Free to do what? Serve Him. This all comes from His compassion for His people. So what about His compassion? Now, compassion from God results in mercy.

It's not necessarily the same thing, though. And I will grant you, it's a little bit hard for me to even give a good definition of the difference. And maybe that's because they go together. You will not have compassion without mercy. Not when it comes to God towards his people.

But compassion means the womb as cherishing the fetus. We read it in several places about God having us hedged in. We see that we are hedged in his womb, if you will. God loves his people and it was manifested in what he did in mercy. Just as Walter pointed out in Habakkuk 3 too, in wrath remember mercy. Jesus Christ suffered the wrath of God for us so that we might be loved of God. This was done before the beginning, if you will. This was done from before the foundation of the world. It says God loved us with an everlasting love. His compassion has been toward his people and his son from before the foundation of the world.

Jesus Christ is God's elect. It was manifested in the brightest brilliance you could ever see. Jesus Christ, who is God, manifest in the flesh. His compassion toward us is the greatest act of mercy that could ever be done. He suffered the wrath of God in our stead.

Limitations 3.1, I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. But we see this love mentioned in the Scripture elsewhere as well. Scripture tells us this in 1 John 4,

9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. God has loved us with an everlasting love.

We are in His womb, so to speak. We are what He desires because those who are His are in His Son and He loves the Son above all things. Christ is the head, we are the body. We are one in Him and we are complete in Him. He showed us His love to the Father and His love toward us. in that he experienced affliction by the rod of God's wrath.

I don't know what that's like. And I thank God I don't know and I don't want to know. I do believe it though, that Christ experienced it. And this is where we see God's wrath in its fullest. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Being forsaken of God is wrath against someone.

We being sinful creatures, if we were to ever experience that, would experience that for eternity because we cannot stand. We are imperfect. We are corrupt. We are evil as we are born in Adam. So because our sacrifice would not satisfy God, it would be forever if we had to sacrifice ourselves.

It will be forever if someone pays the debt of sin themselves. It will be forever. Some, those in Christ, will live forever. Others, those outside of Christ, will die forever. Strange, maybe, but true. But thank God we do not have to do that because Jesus Christ did this in our stead. He is our portion. So we have next, my portion. Now this word means allotment or inheritance. So I have an allotment. What is the allotment? The Lord is my portion. We get Jesus Christ as our allotment.

What else could you ask for? I know you hear a lot of folks talk about seeing their loved ones one day. But folks, if we do not desire to see him, then our desires are placed on the wrong thing. I do look forward to seeing God's people again one day. We are to love the brethren. So I don't believe that it's wrong that we want to see his people again, but we will not see them in the relationship that we had with them here. My desire is to see Him, and in seeing Him, if they are in Him, then I will also see them because His body is not going to be maimed. All of His will be there.

I desire to see Him. I know I've used this verse before, but it still lays hold on me. And it's like Paul said, and turn with me to Philippians 3. So I want to read more of the passage around it. Somebody might have to help me find Philippians because I didn't mark it either. Philippians 3 and I want to read verses 8 through 14.

Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ. and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, 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 Jesus Christ Jesus. 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, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, his mercies and compassion cause me to see him. It causes me to look to Him, to reach forth that I might apprehend Jesus Christ as He has apprehended me. He is my portion. He is God the Father's delight, and He is His people's delight.

My allotment is Jesus Christ, and what more could I ask for? What does Christ pray for? John 17, 20 and 21. Neither pray I for those alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Reading that, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who says, that it is his prayer that we will be one in God. His prayers are always answered in the affirmative. If he asked for us to be one in God, then we will be one in God. It's like that saying, Christ is the only one that could touch God and not be consumed and touch man and not be defiled. But here's the thing, he brings them both in himself. So what am I going to do without him? But it is he when he works in us and gives us of himself and he causes us to be joined to our inheritance himself.

Turn with me to Acts 26, Acts 26. Acts 26, I'm gonna read 15 through 18. And I read this account last week, I think, but here's a little more. This is where Christ met Saul on the road to Damascus. So verse 15, starting in verse 15. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

We can say that our inheritance is eternal life. We can say that. But where does our life come from? God's people do have eternal life, but it is not a life which is energized, if you will, by them on their own. Jesus Christ is our life. So if we do not have him as our inheritance, then we do not have eternal life.

Colossians 3, 4 says, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Anything we might have will come from Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is all and in all, the scripture says. If I have Jesus Christ, I have all things. Romans 8, 32 we read, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Therefore, because of this, because of everything God does and who he is, it means Jesus Christ is my hope. So next we have my hope or our hope. This is not a fleeting hope. The word means to wait. This hope is such that it calls us to patiently wait for him.

I don't need to try and hurry God along. Not for anything. God does not need my help. We are saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved by Jesus Christ. We are not called upon to keep any moral law for salvation or because of salvation. It says here, it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. This is good instruction even now for those of us here who named the name of Christ. He does not save us in time so that we can then in some measure save ourselves. He is all of our salvation. Not a drop of it will be of our doing.

I wait for him to open the scriptures to me concerning himself. I wait for him to return so that where he is there I will also be. I wait for that marriage supper of the Lamb where we will then be with Him forever. Then there will be no reaching forth for Him as we will be totally joined with Him. And don't get me wrong, we are now, but then we will know even as we are known. That I look forward to.

I by His grace patiently wait and that is hope for it. Problems come and problems go. But His mercies and compassion fail not. I can have joy in my heart when tears of grief are rolling down my face. It is that hope that He will wipe away all tears when we are with Him. It's all about Him. There is no hope outside of Christ. Outside of Him, there is nothing but the rod of His wrath. Give me Christ because if Christ is for me, then God is for me. And who can be against me? No one. So what do we conclude from this? God is full of compassion and mercy.

They are new every morning as we read. It says, great is thy faithfulness. Not my faithfulness, his faithfulness. When I wake up, he is faithful to remind me every morning that he is in total sovereign control and that he has done what is needed to bring me into himself.

There is nothing for me to do. I have been set free to worship God. He has done it all and will continue to do it all. You want to talk about doing? Then repent and believe God. Because salvation, as some preachers have said, is not due, salvation is done. I'm not gonna drag anyone to God. Who am I but a sinner saved by grace? If anyone's going to be dragged to God, it will be God doing the dragging. This he will do in love.

Some have said that all the records of one being a Jew were destroyed. And I know what they mean and agree with what they're saying. But there is one who still has the record recorded that he not was, but is a Jew. We looked at it a little. Jesus Christ is a Jew and we have it recorded, his lineage, which was the very mercy of God in action. That record will never be destroyed.

It is fact, Walter, and it is truth, and the result of his lineage is the gospel. He is our hope and our portion. We can always see his mercies and compassion because he is faithful to show us that in the scripture. We can read it, we can hear about it, and yes, we can experience it. But we know it is all because of his faithfulness.

Wait for him, seek him. Someone might say, but I already know him. Seek him, seek him, seek him. Isaiah 55, six says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. He is full of mercy and compassion. He is faithful to perform that which he has promised. Great is his faithfulness unto me.

Amen. Thank you, dear Lord God, for allowing us to be here once again, dear Lord. Teach us of yourself, dear Lord, and be with those who are not here and are ailing, dear Lord. Just comfort them in the way that you only know how, dear Lord. All these things we ask in Christ's name, amen. and tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace. My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy name. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease, tis music in the sinner's ears, tis life and health and peace.