May God be pleased to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn to the
Lamentations of Jeremiah, chapter 3, and we'll read the first three
verses. The prophecy of the Lamentations
of Jeremiah, chapter 3, and the first three verses. I am the
man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath
led me and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Surely against
me is he turned. He turneth his hand against me
all the day. It is surely very wonderful and
a blessing to realize that the Word of God is so comprehensive
in the statements and the breadth of those statements that it contains,
especially with regards to the life of the soul, the spiritual
pathway. And we are thankful that God
has ordained that there should be these things left on record
the truth, as it were, the heartbeat of those men of God who passed
through this life and lived on this world in the same way that
we do today. And they were given that grace
and understanding and ability, the influence of the Holy Spirit
to write those things which they felt in their souls at the time
they wrote them, how appropriate they were. We're thankful, are
we not, because of David and the many spiritual insights we
have as we read through the Psalms. But here we have an insight into
the position that Jeremiah, that man of God, that prophet of God,
found himself in. As we perhaps read the prophecy
of Jeremiah, we realize what oppositions that man had and
how faithful he was. And again we should be thankful
to have these people's lives recorded so that as we walk upon
the earth and sometimes we might think we have a difficult path
to live and surely other people not as bad or difficult path
that we're in. Well we have some very extreme
positions in the Word of God so that we can never perhaps
say well our path is worse than theirs. We have to confess that
our path was much easier perhaps than such. And so as we think
of Jeremiah, that man who was a prophet, who was faithful to
his God, who spoke those things which he was commanded by God,
even when he realized that by saying such things, the anger
of the king would be against him. And so he proved a number
of occasions, thrust into the dungeon, dismissed from the king,
but we're thankful that he was still faithful unto his God.
And so may we be encouraged in whatever path we are called to
walk in, to realise that we still have a great God who is dealing
with us for our soul's eternal good. Jeremiah was being dealt
with for his soul's eternal good. And he was able to declare those
workings in his soul that the Lord brought about for the path
that he was led into. And so we read this chapter which
goes into some detail about his spiritual life. And he starts
off by saying, he doesn't look around and say, well that person
or this person. No, he says, I am the man that
has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He was speaking
of himself. And as the Prophet speaks of
himself, and as we read an account like this, may we also be able
to read it in a way that as though it was us that were writing it. That it's an evidence of our
testimony, of our experience. It's not something which is foreign
to us. It's not something which we don't
know anything about and we can't understand. Because the Word
of God is very clear to the Church of God. It tells us it is through
much tribulation that we must enter the Kingdom. We don't like
to dwell on that. We tend to think somehow we managed
to escape. In actual fact, it won't apply
to us. It may apply to everyone else, but there's a very peculiar
special path for us so that we can avoid that situation. Well,
there's no encouragement in the Word of God to think that. we
should realise the Word of God outlines to us the life, the
typical life of the true believer, that one who is called by grace,
that one who is resting in his God, that one who is trusting
in his God. That was the man Jeremiah. I am the man that has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath. Now we know, my friends, God
loves his people. God loves his children. He deals
with them as a father dealing with his children. Sometimes
there are those necessary things which are brought into our life
to correct us. We can very easily become carnally
minded, worldly minded, hard-hearted, far off from God. left to ourselves,
that's the condition which we automatically fall into, where
we have a God who is watching over us, and a God who is a great
God, and a God who will bring us at last safe home to glory,
and therefore we may need that correction We may need that chastisement
to bring us back. And the Lord, you see, has various
ways to do that. Sometimes it is through his great
love and mercy. And sometimes it's as Paul said
when he wrote to the Romans, he spoke of how there is that
leading and that direction to see the the goodness of God,
the goodness of God leadeth us to repentance. And that is often
the amazing favour of God. But there are those times when
the Lord does bring us into seasons of and times of affliction. And
often we may wonder perhaps why it's come upon us. Sometimes
we know why it's come upon us and we realise that God is dealing
with us in love to our souls. And it is because of his love
toward us, he hasn't left us to walk contrary to him, to disobey
him, to walk afar off, to be kindly minded. He takes us and
he deals with us in love to our soul. And so we see here, Jeremiah
says, I am the man that hath seen affliction. He had experienced
it. It was His affliction. The Lord
had brought upon Him. So it is. The Lord sees fit,
does He not, in our lives to bring afflictions upon us. It
may not be physical. It may be physical. It may be
in a mental way. It will be in a spiritual way.
The Lord brings these things into our lives. because of his
love to our soul. And at the time we may not be
able to appreciate the reason for it. Sometimes our eyes are
closed, they're blinded. We don't see the reason, we don't
understand the reason. And it may be nevertheless afterward
we look back and we see God's kindness to us And then it is
that we can thank God. Thank God for not dealing with
us in any other way than for our good, not leaving us to our
own devices. And so here was Jeremiah then,
telling us that he was the man that had seen affliction. And
so if we are to trace out our path, The path of a Christian
we need to realise in our lives have been those times of affliction
that God has brought us into. And then he goes on to say, he
hath led me and brought me into darkness but not into light. The very opposite to what you
and I would naturally expect. We would think, would we not,
that God would always lead us into the light, bring us into
those beautiful sunny places where everything is smooth and
everything is easy. Well, God knows what you and
I need in our spiritual life. And here was Jeremiah. And we
might pause and think, well, Jeremiah appeared to be a very
gracious man. Well, so he did. But you see,
we don't know what was going on in his heart. We have some
idea by the lamentations. But nonetheless, we do know that
the Lord was looking upon him. And therefore, though he was
a gracious man, he wasn't exempt from this path. And we shouldn't
therefore think that we shall be exempt. But we should realize
that here was God, leading Jeremiah, leading him. And he brought him
into darkness, but not into light. Well, we can think, I'm sure
that the same verses that Isaiah uses in his prophecy. Towards the end of the 50th chapter,
he asked the question, who is among you? that feareth the Lord."
No doubt many people might be very quick to say, well, that's
me. I am the person that fears the Lord. But he then goes on
and says, that obeyeth the voice of his servant. And it's again
good if you and I can agree with that statement. But then he says,
that walketh in darkness and hath no light. That puts a different
complexion on it, doesn't it? That gives us a different view.
Perhaps we might not be so willing to concur that that applies to
us, and yet we may be pleased to agree that it does occur to
us because that may be the very situation in which we're in.
We find that instead of walking in light, we find we're walking
in darkness. We can't see the light. We can't
see the way. appears to be dim. Well then
be encouraged by Isaiah and remember what he says. This is what he
says. Does he say, well give up, forget
to pray, don't call upon God's name anymore. No he doesn't say
that. This is what he says. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God. And that's a wonderfully encouraging
word, surely. Because remember, again the word
does tell us, the days of darkness will be many. We might think,
well, I can perhaps manage to assimilate a few. No, says the
word of God, the days of darkness shall be many. Remember, we walk
by faith and not by sight. Here is a walking by faith, to
trust in the name of the Lord and to stay upon his God. That's when things are not clear. They don't appear to be clear.
They appear to be dark. We wonder whether we've mistaken
the way, whether we've gone in a wrong path. No, says Isaiah,
trust in the name of the Lord. You're not in the wrong way,
but you've got to be patient. You've got to wait for the Lord
to appear. You've got to stay upon his God, wait upon God,
call upon his name, pursue the narrow way, do not give up. Well,
we're thankful there's two eminent prophets of the Lord, Isaiah
and Jeremiah. who both are able to state very
similar things about the pathway of darkness. Now, the truth is,
of course, that God's people will not always be in darkness.
And you should not conclude that, well, I'm living in darkness
and it's all right. Because if there is the life of God in your
soul, you won't be content with being in a dark place. You'll
want the light to shine. you'll want that light to shine.
How? In the face of Jesus Christ.
That's what you'll need and it may be as though it's dark at
the moment. You can't see things as you want
to see. Well it may be that Lord's leading
you in this way. He hath led me and brought me
into darkness but not into light. God's dealings, God deals with
us divinely. God deals with us for an infinite
purpose, to bring us into the light, so that we then appreciate
the light. If you've been in a dark room
and you come into the light, it's so strikingly different,
isn't it? It's so amazing to see the light. It's a very pleasant thing, isn't
it, to see the light? If we're always in the light,
you don't appreciate it. But you see when the Lord brings
you out of darkness into light, then you appreciate it. Then
you see the difference. Then you bless God for it. And
so here we have the statement of Jeremiah, he has led me for
a good purpose. And it may be that as you found
yourself in this dark place, and you realize that the Lord
has brought you there, and you can't Bring yourself out of it. You're in darkness. There's no
light. You can't deliver yourself. God
delivers. God brings about the lightness. And as we read further on in
this very wonderful account, the Prophet tells us, it is the
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Now, what did he realise
by saying that? He realised that he deserved
to be consumed. He realised something of his
sinfulness, of his evil, of his wickedness and therefore he recognised
that he deserved to be consumed. It's a good point and it's a
good favoured position if we come to realise that God is just
and righteous if we were condemned to hell. And that's not an easy
statement, is it? But you know, when the Spirit's
work comes upon us, so that we're able to say with Jeremiah, it
is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, And he tells
us the reason, because his compassions fail not. Isn't it a blessing
that you and I have a compassionate God? A God who does not deal
with us as our sins deserve. He is compassionate toward us.
Do you know that? Have you experienced it? Can
you praise God for it? Can you bless his name? And Jeremiah
says, This wasn't just a one-off. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. This may make us very ashamed
when we think of God's goodness and faithfulness toward us and
our unfaithfulness to Almighty God. He hath led me and brought me
into darkness but not into light. in that path which will eventually
bring us into the light. You see, Jeremiah, he realised
that God was dealing with him. It's a blessing to know that
the hand of God is upon us, in whatever way that may be. To
realise that God's hand is upon us, leading us. Remember what the psalmist said,
He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a
city of habitation. We wouldn't necessarily think,
would we, that this was the right way. But you see, it is the right
way. And the psalmist picks up that
theme in the 107th Psalm when he gives the account of Israel's
journeys really And he tells us in the beginning, perhaps the
seventh verse, and he led them forth by the right way that they
might go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works, the children
of men, for he satisfies the longing soul and filleth the
hungry soul with goodness. And he comes to this then, such
as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, being bound
in affliction and iron. Well, that was like Jeremiah.
He was bound in chains, bound in affliction and iron. And they
tell us the reason, because they rebelled against the words of
God. and contend the counsel of the
Most High. You and I may find ourselves
walking in darkness if we're walking contrary to our God. We're told if we walk contrary
to God, he will walk contrary to you and to me. And we have to examine our own
heart, don't we? Not someone else, not a point
of finger anywhere else. but to look at our heart, to
see whether we are the man, that we are the person that are inwardly
rebelling against the words of God and contemning the counsel
of the Most High, setting it a naught, ignoring the truth
of God. Well, what did the psalmist say? Therefore, therefore, He brought
down their heart with labour. What was the effect then? Were
they stubborn? Were their hard hearted still?
The Lord was dealing with them. What occurred? They fell down
and there was none to help. None to help. And to give up
all hope in men helping. We must not turn to men or women
in our time of spiritual need. But when the Spirit of God brings
us to this place, like Jeremiah, like David, like the Church of
God, my friends, there are many fellows, many friends who know
this path. And I believe it is a path where
there is communion of saints. And they're able to recognize
God is dealing with them. The sons and daughters of the
Most High God. They're not forgotten. They're
being dealt with by the good hand of God. Therefore he brought
down their heart with labor. They fell down and there was
None to help. And did they stay there? Did
they remain in that condition? No, they don't. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble. These scenes of trouble, affliction
and darkness to the child of God, eventually they will be
found calling upon the Lord. They may be too hard-hearted
perhaps initially. They may be too rebellious. to
unwilling to bow down before Almighty God. Coming back to
that verse that I quoted, the goodness of God leadeth us to
repentance. When that touches our heart,
then it is that we understand and we know and we want to cry
to God. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble. And what does that produce? It
produces relief in the soul. It brings light to the soul. The darkness begins to dissipate
and to disappear. And the light shines. And why
does it shine? It shines because we come in
our prayers. How do we come? Looking unto
Jesus. and the answer and he saved them
out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness
and the shadow of death and break their bands in sunder. The work
of God. The mighty work of God. It is
a mighty work of God to bring you and me out of darkness and
to break our bonds and to bring us into a wealthy place. And
so the psalmist goes on. He says, Oh that men would praise
the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children
of men. Well I wonder again if you and
I understand what that is. We've been brought out of darkness.
out of bondage. Do we thank our God? Have we
thanked our God? Have we praised our God? Have
we acknowledged? It's of his mercies that we are
not consumed, his compassions fail not. For he hath broken
the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Yes,
my friends, it seemed as though we were tied in, we were chained
in, we couldn't get out, we were there in a dungeon, no key to
the door to get us out. There we were, seemed hopeless
almost. And yet, you see, there was that
faint hope within us. The Lord would look upon us.
The Lord would have mercy. The Lord would bless us. Well,
the psalmist goes on, and just for a moment, Fools, because
of their transgressions and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Their soul abhors all manner of meat, and they draw near unto
the gates of death. You see, we can be hard-hearted,
we can be rebellious, and we can abhor the food that God provides. We can sit in the chapel seat,
and we can abhor it and wish we weren't sitting there. Rebellious thou'st been. And
art rebellious still, but since in love I took thee in, my promise
I'll fulfill." God is faithful. Isn't that wonderful? Then they
cry unto the Lord in their trouble. He saveth them as of distress. He sent his word and healed them. The word of the Lord, my friend,
when it comes with power from on high and it enters into our
hearts, It does us good. We realise it is the Word of
the Lord. It's not the Word of a man. The
Word of a man will not have any real effect. My friends, when
the Lord God applies the Word, then it is, there is, a good
and a gracious and a wonderful effect. And so, Jeremiah tells
us here, He has led me and brought me into darkness but not Well,
hopefully we can understand some of the reasoning for such a statement
as that, and to understand how it applies to us, and how it's
the outworking of God's work in our souls. How necessary it
is that we have the evidence that God is dealing with us,
that he is working with us. It may be in dark scenes, in
dark times, but nonetheless, to know that God is dealing with
us, That's the great issue. And we haven't been left to carry
on aimlessly and to perish in our sins. It's the love of God. The love
of God constrains us. How true that is. How wonderful
it is. How glorious it is to realise
it and to experience it and to know it. Because when the love
of God touches our heart, then we are constrained to do his
will, then we are constrained to follow him. When he brings
us out of darkness into light, we know it's him that has done
it, and our heart goes up in thankfulness and praise. But
Jeremiah nevertheless was still in this position, and he says,
surely against me is he turned. Sometimes it looks like that,
doesn't it? It looks as though he's turned against us. There were those times, weren't
there, in Moses' life when it seemed that God had turned against
him, when he was leading Israel through the wilderness. It wasn't
an easy path, was it? Israel were rebellious continually,
and yet the Lord was with Moses, and the Lord encouraged Moses. And there were those times when
he appeared to think that the Lord was against them, The Lord
was against what they were doing, but he wasn't against them in
the end. He brought them at last safe
home into Canaan. Surely against me is he turned. Well, as we think of ourselves,
the Lord being against us, we can think of Joshua also, as
well as Moses. Joshua led Israel. He thought
on occasions God was against him. Think of Jacob. God thought God was against him,
wasn't he? Surely against me, as he turned,
when his son came back from Egypt without Simeon, and he spoke,
the son spoke to their father, told him what had happened, and
what did he say? All these things are against
me. All these things are against me. We know they weren't. We know they weren't. We know
they were all part of God's grand and glorious plan. We may be
tempted like Jacob, we may be tempted like Jeremiah to say,
surely against me as he turned. He turned his hand against me
all the day. Well, poor Jeremiah could only
look on the outward appearance so many times we may make error
by looking on the outward appearance instead of committing our way
unto the Lord and giving grace to wait for him for him to appear
in due time as we know the Lord wonderfully appeared for Jacob
and what occurred the fulfillment or part of the fulfillment of
the promise given to his father and grandfather, Abraham and
Isaac. The fulfilment of it, in a very
different way, no doubt, to what poor old Jacob anticipated. Surely
against me is he turned. So it may be, look in your life
and I look in my life. It looks as though the Lord's
turned against us. But in actual fact, He's bringing
to pass his glorious act, his strange act. And it's coming
to pass in a way that would bring honour and glory to his great
and holy name. If Jacob had been asked, Jacob, can you tell us
a plan that would bring honour and glory to God? I'm sure he
would never have been able to produce a plan that was so God-glorifying
as it was in that instance when Joseph was taken captive and
we see how his life in captivity in the prison and the wonderful
time when he was delivered from that prison the Lord was working
the Lord was in it and we know with regards to poor Joseph you
know when he was in that prison house the word of the Lord tried
him I'm sure my friends that's one of the greatest afflictions
is when God's word is tried. When we say, well, surely I made
a mistake. I thought that was God speaking
to me. I seem to be in error. Well, you see, in Joseph's case,
it wasn't, was it? There was a fulfillment. It took
some time. It came to pass. Many, many years have passed
since he had those dreams, but in the end, it came to pass. And what a wonderful revelation
it was. What a fulfillment in an amazing
way that Joseph and Jacob would never have thought out. As for
God, his way is perfect. And so it is with all his children. Do not doubt the word of God. God's way for his children is
a perfect way because it is the life they live which is a life
of preparation for their eternal life. Our life here on this earth
is but a preparation our eternal life. It's not our home, it's
not our rest, but it's a preparation. And so we see here, Jeremiah
able to expound these truths to encourage us in the day in
which we live. Now I've given just one or two
little examples, but let us think especially of our great saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. What affliction he had to bear,
didn't he? Did it appear that God was turned against him? Again, we would never have anticipated
that great plan of salvation. But as we may sit and ponder
and pause over that great plan to see the wonder of it. The
wonder of it often think in two extremes. First of all, the Saviour
born into such humble circumstances. No one can be born in a more
humble situation than the Saviour. And therefore, no one can say,
well, I was born in a worse situation. Then look at the other end. Christ's
death upon that cross at Calvary. What an awful, painful death
it was. No one could say, well, I'm dying
a worse death than that. Christ died a very worse death. He was born in the most humble
circumstances. Then, between those two events,
just think what the Saviour did. He went about doing good. He
didn't even have a home of his own. He only really had the clothes
he was stood up in. He had provisions day by day. He had nothing on this earth. He truly was a stranger in it. We, my friends today, should
realize we're following the steps of our master, our great and blessed Lord, who
was so willing to die in our place, that we might be one day
with Him in glory. And so you see the Lord is leading
us in that path, which will perhaps make us sick of ourselves and
fond of Him. We won't be proud of our own
life. We won't be proud of our own attainments. We'll have to
come and say with the Apostle, it's by the grace of God, I am
what I am. Nothing to boast in self but
to boast in the grace and the glory and the mercy and the love
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a favour then to be able
to come and to realise the mercy and the favour of God toward
us in not dealing with us as our sins deserve. You know we
can read in the What we term the minor prophets are not really
minor, they're just shorter than the others. But in Micah's prophecy,
he says, last chapter, eighth verse, Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. will bear the indignation of
the lord because i have sinned against him until he plead my
cause and execute judgment for me he will bring me forth to
the light and i shall behold his righteousness now it's a
favor to be brought by the spirit of god to confess opposition
and therefore like Micah says here to bear the indignation
of the Lord because we have sinned against him. When we sin, we sin against God
and every sin that you and I sin has to be paid for. There's no
free sins. Every sin has to be paid for. Every wrong thought, every wrong
word, every wrong action has to be paid for. And it's paid
for in that wonderful currency, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see how valuable it is. The
hymn writer uses that word, invaluable blood. My friends, without it,
We would be lost, there'd be no hope, there'd be no purpose
in praying, no purpose in waiting upon God, no purpose in bearing
the indignation because there'd be no hope. But may we look,
look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, and see in Him our salvation. See that the Lord Jesus Christ
paid the debt for us, the enormous debt. It gets bigger every day,
doesn't it? Do we mourn over sin? Do we mourn
over sin? You see, our nature loves sin. Terrible, isn't it? Our nature
loves sin. Our new nature mourns over it,
is sorry for sin. It's an evidence of life. If
God has shown to us the terribleness of sin, the hatefulness of it,
and enabled us to mourn over it, and to bring us to that very
gracious position, If we confess our sins, and that's not just
verbalizing, it is verbalizing, but it's not just verbalizing,
because it comes from our heart. We really mean it. If we confess
our sins, the Word tells us He is faithful and just to confess
us, To forgive us our sins and to forgive us from all cleanse
us from all unrighteousness There is forgiveness with God But you
see we have to come to be brought down to confess our sins now
in this chapter that we have here we read together those first
20 verses where the Prophet explains the situation he finds himself
in You can read down it Because it's true, and yet on the face
of it, it may appear to be very discouraging. But nonetheless,
it's God that works. He says, for instance, He hath
set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. He hath
hedged me about, that I cannot get out. He hath made my chain
heavy. It's God that's done it. We might
think it's the devil. The devil wants you to think.
that God can't free you. But you see, God brings us into
these places for our eternal good. And what a blessing it
is to have such a God who's dealing with us for our eternal good. Because of his love toward us,
and his love was so great, that he died in our place. Love so
amazing, so divine, is it not, my friend, does it not call for
a cry of praise and adoration from our hearts as we consider
what a glorious saviour we have? This God who's leading us in
this way, in the same way that he led Jeremiah, the same way
that he led all his saints, everyone in measure understand the truth
of these words. And it is therefore a separating
experience, a separating testimony, but it is the evidence of the
grace of God in our souls as we're able to trace out therefore
the good hand of the Lord upon us. So we realise that God is
dealing with us and he will bring us out of all those positions,
all those scenes of darkness, into the marvellous light of
the everlasting gospel and by his grace one day will bring
us safely home to glory. This, my friends, is the preparation
for our eternal home. As I said, and you and I will
know it, it is through much tribulation, that we shall enter the kingdom,
but be of good cheer, says the Saviour, I have overcome the
world. And we are told we are overcomers
through him that loved us. We can't overcome ourselves,
but bless God, we have such a Saviour. And may we know the comfort of
it, to realise that yes, by the grace of God, I am what I am,
the Spirit of God is leading me on and I bless God for the
evidence of his leading and for his favour towards me and to
have that hope that he who has begun a good work in us will
perform it at the day of Jesus Christ. Amen.