For my text tonight, I've selected
Lamentations. This book in the Old Testament
is called the Lamentations of Jeremiah the prophet. I want
to look at chapter 3 and read from my text verses 18 through
26. Lamentation 3, verse 18. And I said, my strength and my hope is perished
from the Lord. That's my subject tonight, hope.
I want you to see how many times he uses the word in these seven
or eight verses. Remembering my affliction and
my misery, the wormwood and the gall, My soul hath them still
in remembrance, and is humbled in me. And this I recall to my
mind, therefore have I hope. I have hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions, his love, fails
not. His love is new every morning. 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. Now the old strict Baptists of
England, and I visited two or three of those churches here
in America, especially in Grand Rapids, Michigan, godly people,
they use this word hope in reference to our relationship with God
and our future glory. They use it frequently. Our primitive
Baptist brethren use the word hope. quite a bit in reference
to their relationship with God and their hope of future glory. And the old reformed, Dutch reformed,
they used the word quite a bit. But it's not popular today among
most religious people. In fact, I heard an evangelist
on TV not so very long ago declare this concerning his profession
of salvation and his relationship with God. This is a quote. He said the Lord took the hope
out of salvation and made it a sure thing. Well, to avoid presumption and
to magnify the grace and mercy of him who saved us by his grace,
Let's keep the word hope. Let's keep that word. And let's
look, as Paul did, to the one who makes our hope a sure hope and a steadfast hope. Let me
ask you to turn to Hebrews 6, and I'll read exactly what I'm
talking about here. Let's hold to the word hope.
It's a good word. and avoid presumption, and let's
magnify the grace of him to whom we look, who makes our hope sure
and steadfast. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 17. Listen. In Hebrews 6, 17, we're in God,
Almighty God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise. the immutability of his counsel. That word is unchangeableness. His counsel doesn't change. And
to show us that, he confirmed it by an oath, that by two unchangeable
things, his word, his oath, in which it's 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. That's us. We might have
a strong comfort, consolation. Who have fled for refuge to lay
hold of the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil. He is our blessed hope. Whether
the forerunner, Christ Jesus, our forerunner, is for us entered,
even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He's at the right hand of God.
We're in him. And that's a blessed, blessed
hope. And the word hope is a scriptural
word. It's a comfortable word. I feel
very comfortable using the word hope in reference to my relationship
with God. I feel very comfortable. And
I believe all who rest in Christ, in his person and work, are comfortable
with that word. Let me just, let me quote a few
verses from the Word of God. Paul said in Romans 5, verse
1 and 2, Therefore, being justified through faith, We have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and we rejoice in hope
of the glory of God, because Christ loved us and died for
us, what you quoted a while ago. We have a hope. We rejoice in
hope. Galatians 5, listen to this.
Paul said, We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. We wait with full expectation
that what he said, he'll do. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16,
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, hath given
us a good hope through grace. Titus 1, verse 2, In hope of
eternal life. which God, who cannot lie, promised
before the world began. That's your hope. Titus 2.13,
we are looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of our great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And then Peter
tells us in his first epistle, chapter 3, Now, you be ready, you be ready to give an answer
to every man that asks of you a reason for the hope that's in you. Well, that's what I'm going to
do tonight, this message, give you a reason for the hope that's
in us. But now, to appreciate what Jeremiah
says here in chapter 3 of Lamentations, are you still there? Lamentation
3. We must read the whole context. Now as you read it, let me say
this, as you read, as we read the first 26 verses in chapter
3, some people say, rightly so, that these are the lamentations
Now what is a lamentation? A lamentation is an outward expression
of an inward grief. Lamentations is an outward expression
of inward grief. And some say, rightly so, that
these are the lamentations of our Lord Jesus Christ under the
affliction of our sins which he bore in his body. If you go
back to Lamentation 1, You see that this is subtle. Scripture
is bifocal. The writers talk about Christ
our Messiah and talk about us, his people. Jeremiah said he's
the Lord our righteousness and he said the church goes by this
name, the Lord our righteousness. It's your name too. So here in
Lamentation 1.12, is it nothing to you? Lamentation 1.12, is
it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? In his crucifixion,
it says, they passed by and wagged their heads and said, if you
be to Christ, come down. Let's see if God will help you
now. They passed by. He said, nothing to you, all
ye that pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow, any sorrow
like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord
hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. That's Christ
Jesus. And I'll tell you this too, there's
some true servants of God who've cried that same sorrowful cry. Martyrs, to name so many of them,
suffered, bled and died because of the gospel. But some say,
secondly, that these lamentations are the lamentations of Jeremiah
himself. talking of his own afflictions
and distresses under the sin of his own nature, under sorrow for his own sins.
David said that. My sins, David said, are ever
before me. God be merciful. For Paul the apostle, when he
talked about the things he would do, he didn't, the things he
wouldn't do, he did. He said, O wretched man that
I am. who will deliver me from this body of death, Job. When Job finally was whittled
down by God's questions, he said, Lord, I've heard of you. I've heard of you by the hearing
of the ear, but now, man, I see it thee, I hate myself. He struggled to say that in the
early chapters, but he said, I hate myself. I've spoken once,
yet twice, but I'm going to put my head on my mouth and not speak
again. I repent in dust and ashes."
So, see, you can identify with Jeremiah here. Chapter 3, let's
read it. I am the man. And I've often
said, unless a man's lost, he'll never be found. If a man misses
conviction, he'll miss faith. He'll miss repentance and faith. So this is conviction. I am a
man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath
led me and brought me into darkness, not into light. Surely against
me has he turned. He turneth his hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he
made whole. He hath broken my bones. He hath
built it against me and encompassed me with gall and travail. He
hath set me in dark places. as they that be dead of old.
He hath hedged me about, and I cannot get out. He hath made
my chain heavy, and when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my
prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone. He hath made
my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying
in wait, as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside
my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He
bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow that made a target
out of me. He had caused the arrows of his
quiver to enter into my rings. I was a derision to all my people
and their song all the day." Our Lord said that, Job said
that too. He filled me with bitterness.
He had made me drunken with wormwood. He hath broken my teeth with
gravel stones, covered me with ashes, and thou hast removed
my soul far off from peace." Can't find any peace. I forget
good prosperity. And I said, here's his summarization. He talks about his conviction
of sin and inability. My strength and my hope because
of my sin is perished from the Lord. And then his affliction
and misery, that being the case. Remembering my affliction, my
misery, the wormwood and the gall. And then his humble broken
heart. My soul hath them still in remembrance,
and my soul is humble within me. And I recall all this to
my mind. Therefore have I hope." And then he gives us the reasons
why a man that's a sinner, born a sinner, sinner by nature, practice,
choice, word, thought, and deed, yet that man can have hope. And I'll tell you why. Verse
22, he can have hope because the Lord is merciful. God is
merciful. He says in verse 22, it's of
the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed, like a moth before
the flame. If you watch this, a flame and
a moth comes flying through, it's gone. It's the Lord's mercies
that we're not consumed, like a moth before the flame. Our
hope of forgiveness and redemption and life eternal is not in our
merit, it's in his mercy. It's not because of what we've
done or what we are. It's because of who he is. He's
merciful. It's not in our morality or our
merit. Our hope is in God's mercies. Now, how can I be sure that God
will be merciful to sinners like you and me? Because he told Moses,
he said, that's my greatest glory, is my mercy. That's what he told
Moses. That great prophet of old, Moses, said to the Lord,
Lord, show me your glory. Just show me your glory. And
the Lord said, Moses, I'll cause all my glory and my goodness
to pass before thee. I will be merciful. I will be
merciful to whom I will be merciful. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. And the Apostle Paul quoted that
in Romans chapter 9. He said, therefore hath he mercy
on whom he will have mercy. And whom he will, he'll harden.
But he will be merciful. He said so. And he said, that's
my greatest glory is my mercy. And then secondly, I can know
God will be merciful because The Lord Jesus Christ said that's
why he came into the world, to show mercy. Let's read that over
in Matthew 11. That's right. Our Master, when
he identified his mission into this world, he said, I came,
I came to show mercy. In Matthew 11, Matthew chapter
9, I beg your pardon, Matthew chapter 9 verse 11, Matthew 9
verse 11, the Pharisees, these religious fellows, they saw him,
well let's read verse 10. It came to pass as Jesus sat
at meat in the house, many publicans and sinners came and sat down
with him, with his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said to his disciples, why does your master eat with publicans
and sinners? When Jesus heard that, he said
to them, they that behold need not a physician, but they that
are sick, go learn what that means. I will have mercy. And that's the reason I know
the Lord will be merciful. He said, I will have mercy, not
sacrifice, for I am come. This is why I came. Not to call
righteous people to traditions and ceremonies and rituals. I've
come to call sinners. to repentance. That's a good hope. If God Almighty,
the Heavenly Father said, this is my chief glory, I will be
merciful. If the Son of God who came into
the world to save sinners and die on a cross said, I've come
to show mercy. And then over here in Psalm 130,
you just need to turn over there and listen to David over here
in Psalm 130. Oh, how he extols the mercy of
God, the mercy of God. Listen. He sounds like Jeremiah
here. He says, Out of the depths have
I cried unto thee. Psalm 130, Out of the depths
of sin and despair. Oh, Lord, hear my voice. Let
your ears be attended to the voice of my supplication. Lord,
if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, sin, if you were to
mark sin, Single it out. Charge it. Lord, who would stand? But listen, there's forgiveness
with you. God will be merciful. There's
forgiveness that you might be feared. So I wait for the Lord.
My soul doth wait. In His Word do I hope. My soul
waited for the Lord more than they that watched for the morning.
I say, more than they that watched for the morning. And listen,
here's your hope. Let Israel hope in the Lord. Nowhere else
and no one else. For with the Lord there is mercy. Is that plain? Mercy. With the Lord is mercy. He delights
to show mercy. And with Him is plenty of redemption,
plenty to go around. Boy, you don't have to worry
about your silo ever giving out. Spurgeon one time talked about
two little rats that had a silo about 50 feet in the air and
full of corn all the way to the top. They're down here trying
to get all they can get in case it ran out. It never ran out. Those little rats just said,
keep eating, because God is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us. Even when we were dead and trespasses
and sin quickened us together. That's my hope. Stay at Lamentation
3, he said, I have hope, number one, because the Lord is merciful. That publican in the temple cried,
wouldn't lift his eyes to heaven, let on his hand, but smote on
his breast, and he said, Lord, be merciful. Be merciful to me,
a sinner. You know what the Lord said? He went home justified. my home justified. Here's a second
reason why we have a good hope. He said in verse 21, I have hope
because it's the Lord's mercies that I have not consumed and
because his compassion fails not. It's new every morning.
God's love doesn't fail. Now, my friends, I'm just so
weary of hearing people talk about God's a God of love. Love is not something God does,
love is something God is. You understand what I'm saying?
Love is not something God does, that's something you do. Not
too well, but we do it. But love is what he is. Therefore his love for Christ
and his love for us in Christ is everlasting, because he is
love. Frank just wrote it, God is love. He didn't say he's a God of love.
He said He is love. And His love is everlasting.
He said, I've loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
I've drawn you. And He said His love is unchanging. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, you're not consumed. Why aren't you consumed? God
is love. He can't love any way but perfectly,
infinitely, everlastingly, unchangeably. He can't love any other way because
he is love. If you're an object of his love,
you're an object of everlasting love, you're an object of unchanging
love, and you're an object of infinite love. I heard a preacher
one time say, now, the way that scripture reads in Roman, now,
Jacob hath a love, but Esau hath a love less. What's wrong with that? God can't
love less. You can, I can. I love some people
more than I love others. I read the other day, a fellow
says, I love my God first, and I love him who died on the cross
second. I love my wife third. I love my horse fourth. I'm saying
that. I love my horse, he said, fourth.
But God can't love that way, because he is love, and his love
is everlasting. Unchangeable and infinite. That's
the reason our Lord Jesus, when he prayed for us in John 17,
he said, Father, thou hast loved them as you love me. He has loved, it says here, it's
new every morning. It's new every morning. The love
and compassion of people, us people, changes. Oh, how it changes. It changes
with time. It changes with conditions. It
changes, not always for the better either, with age. But he said,
I am the Lord. I change not. And therefore you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. And that's a hope. And that's
a good hope. Herein is love. Not that we loved
him. He loved us. O love of God, how rich, how
pure it shall forevermore endure. Saints and angels song. Here's
the third. We have a good hope. Therefore I have hope because
it's the Lord's mercies that I'm not consumed and His compassions
fail not. They're new every morning. Verse
23. And great is His faithfulness. Great is His faithfulness. All
of these reasons have to do with Him. Jeremiah didn't say a thing
about when he made his profession, when he accepted Jesus as his
personal Savior, or when he got saved. He doesn't say anything.
He's talking about him. My hope's in him. And my hope's
in his faithfulness, not mine. Now, we're exhorted to be faithful.
Paul said, I've kept the faith, and you will. He said also, it's
required in stewards that a man be faithful. And John wrote in
Revelation 2, Be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give you
a crown of life. But our hope as a believer is
not in our faith or faithfulness, but in His. Great is thy faithfulness. Let me give you some scripture.
Don't turn to it, let me just read it to you. First Corinthians
1-9, God is faithful, by whom you are called. into the fellowship
of his Son, Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you are
called into the fellowship of his Son, called by his Spirit,
by his Word. Hebrews 10, let us hold fast
our profession, for he is faithful that promised. You can hold it,
he's faithful. Hebrews 11, 11, Sarah gave birth
to Isaac when she was past age. because she judged him faithful
who promised." It's a sure thing. He promised it. And that was
the basis of Abraham's faith, God's Word. Let me ask you a
question. Do you believe the thief on the
cross, not the one who cursed Christ, died in sin, but the
one who turned and said, He believed Jesus Christ is Lord. He said, Lord, you're coming
into a kingdom. You're not going to stay dead.
I'm getting what I deserve, but you've done nothing amiss. Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. And our Lord said, today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. Let me ask you a question. I
just thought about this this morning. Do you reckon that man
spent his last hour or so with peace, I believe he did. He didn't say anything else.
Even after it was settled, I believe he died in peace. I'm just sure
he did. What was the basis of his peace?
That man said, today you'll be with me. That's all I need. He
said it. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Now rest in that, because who
said it? And that thief died in peace because the master said,
you'll be with me. And you can rest in that. That's
the basis of Abraham's faith. He believed in what God had promised.
He was able to perform. Look at 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians
chapter 1. Let me read verse 18 through
20. Talk about a good hope. 2 Corinthians
1, 18-20. Paul said in verse 18, 2 Corinthians
1, But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silas and
Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. And all the
promises of God in Christ are, yes, in him, amen, unto the glory
of God. All right, back to my text. His
word, that's our confidence. God's merciful. God is love. God is faithful. And then fourthly,
he says in verse 24, the Lord is my portion, saith my soul,
therefore will I hope in him. Because he's my portion, I'll
hope in him. Now the Lord, sometimes people
use this word portion as provider, and he is, he is our provider.
The Lord is our provider. God will, the Lord will provide.
But the Lord will provide himself. And the Lord is not just our
provider, he's our provision. The Lord just doesn't enrich
us, he is our riches, he is our inheritance. The Lord is our
reward. That's the reason I have trouble
with preachers always trying to motivate people to witness
or give or do something for a reward. I already have my reward. Christ
is my reward. He's my portion. He's my inheritance. That's what he said to Abraham
in Genesis 15-1. He said, Abraham, I'm your great shield, and I'm
your great reward. I am. And let me ask you to turn
to Numbers 18. You know, the Levites, Aaron,
the high priest, this is Numbers 18. Numbers 18, Aaron and his
sons and the Levites, they took care of the tabernacle and the
sacrifices and the holy days and all of these things having
to do with the service of the Lord, things pertaining to God.
So when they divided the land up, they divided it into 11 divisions. And Aaron didn't have any land.
And this is what God said to him. Numbers 18, 20. And the
Lord said unto Abraham, You shall have no inheritance in their
land, neither shall you have any part among them. I am your
part. Isn't that beautiful? I am your
part. I am your inheritance among the
children of Israel. And behold, I have given I have
given the children of Levi, all the tenth in Israel, for an inheritance,
for their service which they serve, even the service of the
tabernacle and of the congregation. But I'm your inheritance. I'm
your inheritance." That's what he said. This world and all material
and physical things of the world will pass away, but he's our
life, he's our inheritance. Psalm 47 says, The Lord is my
light, the Lord is my salvation. The Lord is the strength of my
life, of whom shall I be afraid? A child's trust and hope is not
in the things he possesses, but in the father and mother who
provide. That's where the child's rest
and peace is. It's not in the things he has,
it's in his parents. They're the source of all his
blessings. Even so, the Lord is the portion
of his people. He's the source. He is our inheritance.
He is our portion in life and death and time and eternity.
Christ in you. That's the hope of globing. Now, here's the difference in
religion and this life. And most of us here have experienced
this. And if you listen to most of
religion today, You'll see the difference right
here in this poem. Once it was the blessing. Now
it's the Lord. Once, that's what I was interested
in, the blessing. To be blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed.
You're blessed. But now it's the Lord, I mentioned. That's
what Paul said. Once he said all these things. He said, if
any man thinks he has whereof to glory in the flesh, I'm over.
I was born a Hebrew of Hebrews, a tribe of Benjamin. a Pharisee
concerning Zeal persecuted the church, and these things were
gained to me. I count them now lost, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. So with power, once it was the
blessing, and that's the Lord. Once it was the feeling. All
of these services where people are cavorting around and running
up and down, It's happiness. That's what they're seeking.
Feeling. And that's the reason they think this is a dead church.
Because it's not that physical, sensual, emotional feeling. It's a feeling, all right. But
once it was a feeling, now it's His Word. Here's where I'm fed
with the Word. Here's where I'm blessed with
the Word. Here's how I'm comforted with the Word of God. Here's
how my hope is strengthened. by his word, his promises. Once it was the feeling, now
it's his word. Once the gifts I wanted. You know anybody looking
for gifts? I want the giver now, he said.
If I have the giver, I have all the gifts. Once I sought for
healing, now I seek him alone. Once power I wanted, now I want
the mighty one. I want the power, I want Him.
Once for self I labored, now for Christ alone. That's the
difference. The Lord's my portion, and therefore
I have hope. He's my portion. Now here's the
last one. In verse 25, the Lord's good. Read this carefully. The Lord is good unto them that
wait for Him. to them that seek Him. I know
the Lord's good. It reigns on the just and the
unjust. I know that. Yeah, I know that. But God's
promises of love, goodness, and grace is to certain people. It
says all things work together for good to everybody. No, it
doesn't say that. It says all things work together
for good to them who love God. who are the called according
to his purpose. And this says the Lord is good. He's good to
them that await for him. That by his grace have learned
to wait upon the Lord, and not run ahead of his revealed will,
and not seek my own way, but to wait on the Lord. Wait! David
said, and I don't know how many years David spent running from
Saul from the Philistines, from all these different pagans. He
was just living in caves and out on the plains. And he was the anointed king,
and he knew that. But he had no kingdom. Everybody
was against him. And he said this when he closed
Psalm 27. He said, I would have fainted. I would have fainted unless I
had believed to see. the goodness of God in the land
of the living. That was my hope, and that was
my stay, and that was my encouragement. One of these days, I'm going
to see the goodness of God. And then he said, wait on the
Lord. Again I say, wait on the Lord,
and he'll strengthen your heart. He is good to them that wait
for him. He is good to them. If you can
just wait, He's good to them that wait for
Him. This is an eternal good. It's not just, well, it's not
just today. Today's gone already, you see.
It's good. Goodness of the Lord in the land
of the living, not here in this land. I'm going to see the goodness
of God. Wait on Him. The Lord is good unto them, verse
25, the Lord is good to them that wait for Him. to the soul
that seeks Him. How does a man seek the Lord?
We seek Him where He is, in Christ. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself. That's where you seek the Lord,
in Christ. You seek the Lord in His Word. You come to a place here to worship
where the Word is read. I mean the Word is read, read,
read, read, read, preached, because this is where He is. in the Word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. Seek the Lord and seek him sincerely. He said, I'll be found of him.
Seek the Lord with all your heart. I'll be found of them that seek
me with all their heart. Sincerely. Wait for the Lord. And then they seek him continually. For verse 26 says this. Listen.
You know, Israel used to wait on the cloud to move. I'm trying
to learn that. Wait till the cloud moves. Don't
move till the cloud moves. But when it moves, be ready,
be packed. It's good that a man should both hope and quietly
wait for the salvation of the Lord. Because salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is by the grace of the Lord. Salvation is in the
Lord. Isn't that a wonderful watchword
there, an optoan watchword, verse 26? It's good that a man, woman,
boy or girl should both hope and quietly wait, quietly, for
the salvation of the Lord. He's good. And because He's good,
we have a good hope.