I'd like for you to open your
Bibles with me to the book of Lamentations. The Old Testament
Lamentations chapter 2. Lamentations chapter 2. Now I have entitled the message for
this evening in the form of a question. And the question is this, is
the Lord for or against me? Is the Lord for or against me? And I'll show you why I entitled
to that from this chapter, but I've been thinking about this
quite a bit. Here we are on the last assembly, worship assembly. last Sunday of the year 2013, getting ready to step into another
year. The years come and they go. Lots
of changes come about in our lives for ourselves, for our
friends and loved ones. There are people who have been
with us this year in body and spirit who are not with us tonight. And we're currently praying for
one of our dear brethren who's in intensive care tonight. My
brother Buford Prophet, he's in dire straits. He's very seriously
ill. His wife Judy, our sister Judy,
is by his side and the doctors are seeking a cure. But the point
is this, not only I do encourage you and covet your prayers for
our brother and our sister and the family, But as you look at
yourself and look at things here on this earth, nothing stays
the same. And so we realize, and one of the things that we
realize about that is that our hope and our salvation cannot
and is not in ourselves, but it's in the Lord. And I'm constantly
reminded of the prophet Malachi's thoughts. In Malachi 3.6, he
said, I am the Lord. Change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob. What's a son of Jacob? That's
a sinner saved by grace. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations
3. I'll be dealing with this next
time. He says in verse 22, it's of the Lord's mercies that we
are not consumed. Utterly consumed. because his
compassions fail not. And so you may ask this question,
well, you know, here we are in the last sun, it's a good time
for self-examination. The Bible commands God's people
to examine ourselves, see whether we be in the faith. And what
Got me on to this particular way of approaching this chapter
is found in verse five. Look at Lamentations two and
verse five. And the first line of that verse. It's a sad, startling, frightening
statement. And it says the Lord, now the
word Lord there, the name Lord there is Jehovah. That's the
God of the covenant. That's the God of mercy and grace,
the God who saves sinners. But it says the Lord was an enemy. Isn't that something? Now in
today's modern religious atmosphere, even that which comes in the
name of Christianity, it's unthinkable to most people. You go out and
talk to your friends and your family about this. It's unthinkable
to most people that God would be anybody's enemy. I mean, the
message of the day is peace, peace. The message of the day
is God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody, and
he's just trying to do his best for you, but you won't let him.
You won't cooperate. You know that's what's preached,
basically. To say that God's anybody's enemy
is just startling to most people. And even go further, if you read
Scripture and talk about God's hatred, well, God doesn't hate
anybody, they say. Well, the Bible says He hated
Esau. And we know what that means.
It doesn't mean He loved him less. I've heard scholars say
that. That's not what the Word means. The Lord has enemies, the Scripture
says. Now, who's He talking about here? Now this will open your eyes
if you've got eyes to see. You know, he's talking about
Jerusalem. He's talking about Israel, that nation. This book
of lamentations, what's it all about? It's like funeral messages
strung together. Lament. Sorrow. That's what it's
about. Jeremiah's lament. He's sorrowing
over the sad condition of Jerusalem. Jerusalem under the wrath of
God. And it's summarized in verse
5. Here's the problem. The Lord was an enemy. Now consider that in my case,
in your case. Is the Lord my enemy? Could it
ever be said that He's my enemy? Bill read in Romans 8.31. What shall we say to these things?
Well, what are these things? We'll talk about that in just
a moment. He said, if God be for us, who can be against us
now? But now if God's against us,
who can be for us? Is God against me or is God for
me? Is that not a valid consideration
given our sinfulness? Given the fact that God is a
holy God and a just God and a just judge and must punish sin? I
know my frame, I know my weaknesses. I mean, is that something we
should never even talk about? Because it just doesn't make
people feel good. What is the issue here? I know this, God has enemies
and God has friends. James chapter two and verse 23
speaks of a man named Abraham. And James said he was called
the friend of God. How would you like to be called
the friend of God? That sends chills up and down
me. James also wrote in James four
and verse four, listen to this. He says, no, you not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God. Wherefore, whosoever therefore
will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Now, do
you doubt that there are enemies of God and God is an enemy to
them? The Bible speaks of salvation
as a reconciliation. That's why I read there in Colossians
chapter 1. where it speaks of how in Christ
Jesus dwelleth all the fullness of the God. And Christ made peace. Now where does peace have to
be made? Between enemies. Those who are at enmity or at
war. Christ made peace through the blood of His cross. That's
how peace is made with God, through the blood of the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's not by your works or your
efforts or my works, it's by Christ. And it says, by Him,
by Christ, to reconcile all things unto Himself. God reconciled
all things unto Himself by Christ. By him I say whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. I believe he's talking
about all the saints of God, all the people of God there.
And then he says in verse 21, and you that were sometime alienated,
and what, enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath
he reconciled. Do you know we're born enemies
of God? fallen in Adam, born dead in
trespasses and sin. But now somebody says, well,
now that says we were enemies, but it didn't say God was our
enemy. Well, it says right here in Lamentations 2.5, the Lord
was an enemy. It said there, as I read, that
whosoever therefore will be a friend to the world is an enemy of God.
Somebody said, well, that's the God of the Old Testament. Now
I got news for you. It's the same God of the New
Testament too. He hadn't changed. Look back here at Lamentations
chapter two. The first thing you see is Jerusalem,
how it came from beauty to ashes. And it's a picture of man's fallen
Adam. Look at verse one. How hath the Lord covered the
daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger? The Bible says
God is angry with the wicked. When I see that word cloud, you
know, my mind automatically goes to the pillar of the cloud. That
was a cloud of protection for the Hebrew children when God
brought them out of Egypt. Pillar of fire by night and cloud
by day. That was a protection. But that's
not what he's talking about here. He's talking about a cloud of
anger. Now God's anger, now listen to
me very carefully here. Don't fall into the trap, the
religious trap of men and women today who think God is like them. You remember he said that? He
says, you think I'm one like such as one as yourself. You're
wrong. You see, God's anger, God's hatred
is not emotional. You know what it is? Here's the
word you ought to think of when you see this, God's anger. Justice. That's what you ought to think
of. God's justice. God is a just God. He must punish
sin. And his punishment of sin is
not him throwing a temper tantrum. I've thrown temper tantrums.
You probably have too. God doesn't do that. God acts
in strict justice. And I want to tell you something
now. You say, well, preacher, where's the positive in this
message? Well, we're going to talk about salvation. But even
in salvation, God acts in justice. He must. That's why Christ had
to come and die on the cross. But here's Jerusalem. He says
in verse 1, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty
of Israel, or the glory of Israel, and remembered not his footstool
in the day of his anger. You know what that has reference
to? It has reference to that temple where the Shekinah glory
of God resided in Jerusalem. where God revealed his glory,
his honor, his majesty, all that was typified and pictured in
that tabernacle, that temple, especially in the Holy of Holies
where the mercy seat was, where the high priest went one day
a year on the day of atonement with the blood of the lamb from
off the brazen altar. And that was a picture. That
was a type, the blood of bulls and goats never did anything
as far as taking away sin or making a sinner righteous before
God. It was a picture, it was a type, it was a symbol of someone
greater, greater, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whose
blood did take away all the sins of all his people, all for whom
he died and was buried and rose again. whose blood equals the
righteousness that you and I need and must have if we're going
to stand before God and be accepted and received and identify ourselves
like Abraham as a friend of God. That's it. But Jerusalem rejected
God's glory. And here's a fall cast down from
heaven like Adam fell in the garden when he rejected God's
commandment. God said in the day that you
eat thereof thou shalt or literally dying thou shalt die. And we
fell in Adam. That's why salvation, the application
of salvation to our persons in time in what is called by the
Lord the new birth. And it's described in different
ways now in the Bible. But one of the ways it's described
is the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.
And until you see Christ and believe in him and rest in him
for all salvation, you don't have any beauty before God, no
glory before God. It's only ashes. You're not covered with a cloud
of mercy, but a cloud of his anger. Verse two says, the Lord
has swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob and not pitied. He had
thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of
Judah. You know, if God ever gave any of us what we deserve
and what we've earned, this would be it right here. Salvation is
not deserved. Mark it down. If I'm saved tonight,
I can guarantee you right now, I haven't deserved it, don't
deserve it now. Didn't deserve it at my worst
moment and don't deserve it at my best moment. And then secondly,
salvation is never earned. We don't earn it. We don't work
for it because our works aren't good enough to earn salvation. So when we speak of God's judgment,
We're talking about getting what we deserve when we talk about
His wrath. And that's why we pray, Lord,
don't give me what I deserve. I need what? I need mercy. I
need grace. It says, He brought them down to
the ground. He polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. Verse
3, He cut off in His fierce anger all the horn of Israel. The horn
means their power. They had no power. You see, if
God be against me, who can be for me? I have no power. I'm
powerless. And I'm certainly powerless to save myself. It
says, he has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy and
he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours
round about. His right hand is his right hand
of power. It's his right hand of acceptance.
There's no acceptance with God without Christ. Ephesians chapter
1 says we are accepted in the beloved. Sinners who come before
God seeking fellowship, seeking blessing, seeking salvation,
seeking acceptance without Christ, that's an enemy. I can guarantee
you God is against you if that's the case. Beauty to ashes. And I want you to notice something
else. Notice how God's anger here in this is directed just
as much toward their religious efforts and their religious activities
as well as their immoral behavior. You know, there was a lot of
problems that existed in Judah and Jerusalem in this day. A
lot of moral problems, just like there are in our country. But
you know one thing that it sets forth here? Man's religion, man's
works, free will religion will not help him. Will do him no
good. Verse 5, the Lord was an enemy
even still. Verse 4 says, he bent his bow
like an enemy. He stood with his right hand
as an adversary. God was an enemy. God was their
adversary. He slew all that were pleasant
to the eye in the tabernacle. That's their religious activity
now. of the daughter of Zion. He poured out his fury like fire.
The Lord was an enemy. He swallowed up Israel. He swallowed
up all her palaces. Money wouldn't do him any good.
He destroyed his strongholds and hath increased in the daughter
of Judah mourning and lamentation, sorrow, despair. Verse six, he
had violently taken away his tabernacle. You might have in
your concordance there the word hedge. But what it's referring
to there is that Jerusalem and the people of Israel, they were
sure in their minds that because that temple was there, they were
protected, they were hedged about. That's what that means. But what
the point that Jeremiah's making here is that It didn't protect
them at all. They rejected the glory of God
as set forth in that tabernacle. They took the things of the temple
and that old covenant and turned them into a legal system of self-righteous
religion. Instead of begging for mercy
in Christ, who was prophesied and pictured as the promised
Messiah to come. And what he's saying, that he
had finally taken away that hedge. as if it were a garden, garden
to be plucked up. He had destroyed his places of
the assembly where they met to worship. Kind of reminds you
of Isaiah chapter one where God said, I'm tired of your feast
days. I'm tired of your worship services. I'm tired of your prayers.
He said, I cannot away with it. Can't get rid of it soon enough.
What was, what was the problem? What's wrong with their praying,
their worshiping? You know, it's like people today.
They think in America, because we've got in God we trust on
our coins, that everything's gonna be fine. And they'll say things like this,
it doesn't matter where you go to church, just so you go somewhere.
Now let me tell you something, that is not scriptural, that
is a lie. These folks were going to church,
look at it. Verse six, the Lord hath caused the solemn feast
and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. He says, and hath despised in
the indignation of his anger the king and the priest, both
facets of their religious life, the king who was to lead them
in service to God and the priest who was to stand for them. Verse
seven, the Lord hath cast off his altar. That was the altar
that he commanded to be built. He hath abhorred his sanctuary.
He hath given up unto the hand of the enemy the walls of her
palaces. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as
in the day of a solemn feast. The Lord hath purposed to destroy
the wall of the daughter of Zion." You see, what's going on here?
Why is it that God hates religion, man's religion, so much? Well,
Isaiah asked this question in Isaiah 1. To what purpose is
your assemblies? Why are you doing it? Why do
you read your Bible? Why do you go to church? Why
do you pray? Are you trying to work your way to heaven in all
those things? Some people do. Well, let me
tell you something. If that's the case, the Lord's
your enemy. What are these things given for?
They're given to lead sinners to Christ for all salvation. To beg for mercy in Him. And
then the rest of this part just simply goes on describing How
bad things have gotten. Look down at verse 10. Now here we come to the prophets
who tell lies. He talks about the elders of
the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground and keep silence.
They have cast up dust upon their heads. They've girded themselves
with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang
down their heads to the ground. They're sorrowful. But you see
what it is? It's legal sorrow. It's kind
of like that repentance which comes from getting caught, rather
than that repentance which comes from a sight and a sense and
a knowledge of the glory of God in Christ. And he says that they're down,
they mourn the destruction of the people. Look at verse 13,
he says, what things shall I take to witness for thee? What things
shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal
to thee that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For
thy breach is great like the sea. Who can heal thee? Now,
where's the healing? Now, that's the question. Where's
the remedy? Well, look at verse 14. He said,
thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee. and
they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity."
That means to bring them to repentance. "...but have seen for thee false
burdens and causes of banishment." Now look at this. Here's the
false preachers of Jeremiah's day. Jeremiah spoke of them in
Jeremiah 6 and Jeremiah 8 and Jeremiah 23, all the way through.
Jeremiah was pointing out the sins of the people and calling
them to repentance. The false preachers were doing
what? They were saying, peace, peace, when there was no peace. And here it describes that all
of those in distress, looking for the remedy, but the preachers,
the prophets, were not giving them any help. They were lying
to them. They weren't preaching God's Word. Isaiah said, Isaiah
chapter 8 and verse 20, to the law and to the testimony, if
they speak not according to this Word, there is no light in them. You know, there's only three
things you can do with God's word. You can ignore it, and that's
what most people do, or you can deny it, which really is the
same thing, but some people just openly deny it. If you ignore
it, you deny it. You understand that, or you believe
it. And whether you believe it or
not doesn't make it so. Whether you believe it or not
doesn't make it so. It's so whether you believe it
or not. And these preachers, they were not preaching the doctrine
of Christ. Look over at John chapter 5 with
me. John chapter 5. Here's a New
Testament example of this very thing. Over in verse 39 of John
chapter 5. Christ speaking to the religious
leaders in Jerusalem And he says in verse 39 of John 5, he says,
search the scriptures. Now the sense of the construction
there would read like this. You do search the scriptures.
In other words, Christ is acknowledging that they read the scriptures.
You read the books of Moses. You read the prophets. You read
the Psalms. I know you do. He says, for in
them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of me. In other words, you can read
the scriptures till you're blue in the face, but if you reject
Christ and Him crucified, you've missed it. Because they testify
of Christ. He says in verse 40, you will
not come to me that you might have life. You want life? Well, there's only one place,
one person you can find life in, and that's Christ, the resurrected
Lord of glory. He said, I receive not honor
from men, but I know you that you have not the love of God
in you. I'm coming in my father's name, you receive me not. Another
shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you
believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor
that cometh from God only? Now listen to these verses here.
Verse 45, do not think that I will accuse you to the father. There
is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom you trust. Now
what they trusted in, it wasn't Moses the person they trusted
in, it was the law of Moses. They trusted in the fact that
they claimed to keep the law. That's what they gloried in.
We talked about that this morning. What do men glory in? Well, they
gloried in their law keeping, or they glory in their religion,
or they glory in their activity, or they glory in their baptism.
Some people glory in their faith. I believed, you didn't. And that's
what they think makes the difference between saved and lost. Not Christ. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. So
he says, Moses, in whom you trust, for had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me. For he wrote of me. But if you
believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? Look
over with me at 2 John. Turn to the little book of 2
John. 1st, 2nd, 3rd John. 2nd John
verse 9. This was a real problem in the
early New Testament church, especially right at the end of the apostles'
time. John was the last of the apostles
on earth. He died last of all. And he spoke in verse 7, he says
of 2nd John 9, he says, or 2nd John verse 7, He says, for many
deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh. He's talking about false preachers
who deny the humanity of Christ. There are others who deny the
deity of Christ. Probably many of you haven't
shown up at your door, not here recently. And they don't believe
Christ is God. Well, if you don't believe He's
God, then you're not the worst. I asked one of them one time.
I said, I couldn't believe what you believe because you're an
idolater, I told him. An idolater? And I said, yes.
He said, how do you explain that? And I said, well, do you worship
Jesus? And he said, yes. But you don't
believe He's God? He said, well, no. He's a son
of God. So you don't believe he's God?
He said, no. And I said, well, you worship someone that you
do not believe is God. That's idolatry. He's God and
man in one person. So many deceivers have gone out
into the world. They deny either the glorious
person or the finished work of Christ. And he says in verse
9, now listen to this, 2 John, whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, The doctrine of his person, the
doctrine of his finished work. What did Christ accomplish on
Calvary? The Bible says he saved his people
from their sins. He didn't try to save you or
try to save me. He saved his people. And they're
going to come to him. And it says, those who transgress
and abide not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. You see that? He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. Now these false preachers over here in Lamentations, they
preach vain and foolish things, he said. What are these vain
and foolish things? Well, it could be any number
of things. But Paul summarizes the basic problem that existed
in the unbelieving Jews in Romans chapter 9. Now turn there with
me. Romans chapter 9. We could talk
about a lot of problems. We can talk about moral problems,
religious problems, problems with lack of sincerity, all kinds
of things, all kinds. But Paul, the apostle, as he
was inspired by the Holy Spirit, summarized it all this way. In
Romans chapter nine and verse 30, or verse 31, he said, Romans
nine and verse 31, he says, but Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness, What does that mean? They were trying
to attain righteousness. They knew that in order to be
accepted with God, you had to be righteous. So they followed
after the law of righteousness, but they hath not attained to
the law of righteousness. They didn't make it. When are
you trying to attain to the law of righteousness, the standard
of righteousness? I want to be accepted with God,
don't you? When I die and go to Go stand before God at judgment. What do you want to hear? You
want to be accepted, don't you? You don't want to hear, depart
from me ye that worketh iniquity. I never knew you. So if that's
your desire, then the question is, are you trying to attain
that desire? How are you going to meet that desire? Do you think
you've already made it? Do I think I've already made
it? Well, he says in verse 32, they didn't make it. Verse 31
they tried it, but they didn't they didn't make it now why verse
32 wherefore that means why? Because they sought it not by
faith But as it were by the works of the law now, what is it to
seek it by faith? Well does that mean that my believing
makes me righteous no What is it to seek righteousness by faith?
Well look at they stumbled at that stumbling stone now. That's
a prophecy from Isaiah And who's it talking about? Verse 33, as
it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and
rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. That's Christ. He goes on, look
at chapter 10, verse 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them
record, they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Well, what are they ignorant of? He says, for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness. going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God, what is the righteousness of God? Look at verse four, for
Christ is the end. Now that word end means what? It means the completion, the
fulfillment, the perfection of, Christ is the end of the law,
the perfection of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believe it. What is it to seek righteousness
by faith? It's to seek it in Christ. Find it in Christ. Christ is my righteousness. And his righteousness is perfect.
His righteousness is uncontaminated. Mine's not because I don't have
one. My best efforts to keep the law, my best efforts to do
right do not equal his, cannot equal his, and cannot measure
up. But I have him, I'm washed in
his blood, clothed in his righteousness. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Was the hymn writer, this is all my hope and peace, this is
all my righteousness, not part, it's not part me and part him,
it's all him. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
Now any preacher or any prophet, go back to Lamentations 2, who
comes along and point you in any other way to any other person,
to yourself, to any activity that he claims would make you
righteous or righteous enough before God is preaching vain
and foolish things. The only thing that's profitable
and wise for sinners like us is to point us to Christ for
all righteousness. That's it. And they speak peace
when there's no peace. But my friend, there is peace
in Christ. And look, it says in verse 14, they have not discovered
thine iniquity to turn away thy captivity. In other words, literally
what this means is they don't remove the veil that cloaks or
hides sin. They fail to preach the reality
of sin. Whether it's immorality that's
accepted today, or if it's the religious sin of today. or any
day. Paul spoke of it in Philippians
chapter 3. He said, that which I thought
recommended me unto God. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a
Pharisee of the Pharisees, circumcised the eighth day of the tribe of
Benjamin as touching the law of Pharisee. He said that all
was iniquity in light as it does not measure up to the perfection
that can only be found by the grace of God in Christ. Nothing
else will do it. To preach not only that we are
sin, but we're sinners, but to preach Christ the Savior from
all sin, the only Savior. And you think about it. You know,
today's preaching is not aimed at repentance. You know what
it's aimed at? Acceptance. Let's accept everybody. And they
call it love. They preach, as I said, God loves
everybody. Christ died for everybody. It's
up to you to make the difference. You have the religious leaders.
I mentioned this morning about the article I read how the Pope,
in one of his sermons, he says now that atheists who do good
works will go to heaven. That's vain and foolish. You
see, that's ignoring sin. The sin of unbelief that denies
every attribute of God's nature and glory. The sin of unbelief
that denies the person and work of Christ. You have a man like
Billy Graham who says that all religions, there will be people
from all religions in heaven, it doesn't matter, Buddhist.
You see, that's not God's word. Accept everyone, no matter what
they do or what they believe, and they call it love. And he
calls it, he says, what they've done, they've seen for thee false
burdens and causes of banishment. Burdens are false prophecies
that promise salvation, but deliver what? Death. Alienation from God. And then
beginning there at verse 15, he talks about how all of this
has brought the enemies of God to rejoice. Look at verse 15. All that passed by clapped their
hands at thee. They hissed and wagged their
head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that
men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth? You
see, it gives the... Oh, the old prophet Nathan told
David when David sinned publicly and scandalously and greatly,
he said, you've given the enemies of God occasion to blaspheme.
You haven't honored God. But now here's something that'll
really, it'll either startle you or it will comfort you. It's verse 17. He says, the Lord hath done that
which he had devised. He hath fulfilled his word that
he had commanded in the days of old. He hath thrown down and
hath not pitied, and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice
over thee. He hath set up the horn of thine
adversaries. He gave power to your enemies. All of this, well within God's
providential predestinating purpose for His glory and the good of
His people. And who are His people? Any and every sinner who runs
to Christ and clings to Him. You see, this isn't chaos here.
This isn't a world out of control. God's in control. God is still
working all things after the counsel of His own will. There
are some things that happened this past year that I really
didn't expect. There are some things I kind
of did expect. But either way, it didn't take
God by surprise. Nobody sneaked up on Him. He
didn't have to instigate plan B because there is no plan B
with God. Listen, He said, I have purposed
it. I will do it. who can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? It's all in God's purpose. All things work together for
good to them that love God, who are the called according to his
purpose. It's simply the Lord doing exactly what he said he'd
do. He said it over here in verse 23 of chapter three, great is
his faithfulness. God is just, and here's the thing,
here's the point that Jeremiah's making here. God is just as faithful
to carry out his threats as he is to fulfill his promises. He'll
do it. Well, this passage closes with
Jerusalem's sorrow and Jerusalem's plea. They beg for mercy, they
beg for compassion, they beg for pity. It concludes with an
appeal to the Lord to show pity and compassion. You know we're
all mercy beggars, aren't we? We're in continual need of pity
and compassion. But here's where we have to come
to. If I'm going to answer this question scripturally, is God
for me or against me? Is he my enemy or my friend? What will bring God's pity, God's
compassion, and God's mercy? What will do it? Well, let me
conclude with Romans 8, the passage that Brother Bill read. And this
is a good note to close the year out on. And it will lead us right
into the Lord's Supper that we're going to take tonight. What will
bring God's pity, God's compassion, God's mercy? Remember he said
there in Romans chapter 8 and verse 31, what shall we then
say to these things? What are these things? The fact. that all of salvation for sinners
is totally by God's free and sovereign grace. And he says,
well, here's what we say. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, how can I know that God
is for me? How can you know that God is
for you? Well, look at verse 32. Here it is. He that spared
not his own son. There's your key. but delivered
him up for us all. Now who's the all there? It's
all whom God is for. It's all of his elect people.
It's his church. All who come to faith in Christ. How shall
he not with him? Underscore with him. Because
there's the key. With him. It's all with Christ.
Also freely What does that mean? It goes back to what I said before.
You don't earn it. You don't deserve it. It's unconditional.
Freely give us what? All things. All blessings. And then he says in verse 33,
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? You see,
for me to be accepted with God, some way has to be found for
God who is just not to charge me with my sin. Well, what way
is it? Well, he says it's God that justifies.
He says in verse 34, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ
that died. He charged my sins to Christ.
And Christ died. And He drank damnation dry. He
fulfilled the whole purpose of God. He satisfied the justice
of God against me. In my stead is my surety. And
He did it. How do you know He did it? Yea
rather that is risen again. He arose from the dead. That
means he got the job done. That means sin is put away, righteousness
is established, his people are saved, they will be born again,
they will come to faith in him, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us, and as if he had to say
this, and he says it for our benefit, nothing can separate
us from that love which is of God in Christ. Nothing can do
it. For me or against me? Well, if
Christ is my hope, and He is, I can tell you right now, God's
for me. If He's your hope, just Christ alone now, not Christ
plus. Don't get into that. Just Christ,
Christ, Christ. If He's your hope, God's for
you. Alright. We're going to take
the Lord's Supper and I'm going to ask the men if they'll come
and prepare piano player and the organist to go ahead and
start playing. Any who, if Christ is your hope, you're invited
to take the Lord's Supper with us. That's the best way to put
it.