This Is My Hope

Let's go now to the book of Lamentations. And while you're turning to the
Lamentations of Jeremiah, I'll announce my subject tonight.
I'll be preaching this evening, verse by verse, from Ephesians
2. Our past, our present, our future,
and our foundation. Ephesians chapter 2, the first
10 verses will be our subject tonight. Now my text this morning,
Lamentation 3, I read this frequently. This is a special, special scripture
to me personally. I hope it is or will be to you. Beginning with verse 21, and
I can truly say this is my hope. That's the title of this message.
This is my hope. In Lamentation 3, verse 21, the
prophet said this, I recall to my mind, or I make
to return to my heart. I dwell on it. Therefore, I have
hope. This is my hope. It is of the
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His love faileth
not, His compassions, His love faileth not. His compassions
are brand new every morning. Great is not my faithfulness,
His faithfulness. And the Lord is my portion. saith
my soul, therefore, therefore I will hope in him." The Lord
is good unto them that wait for him. He's good to the soul that
seeketh him. And it is good, or God will be
good, to the man that both hopes and quietly waits for the deliverance
of the Lord. Now, in order to appreciate what
he's saying there, we've got to go back and read the early
verses. And as I read the first 20 verses, some people say that these words,
verse 1 through 20, are the lamentations not of Jeremiah so much as the
lamentations of our Lord Jesus Christ. You'll see that as you
read these verses. The cries of Christ, who was
made sin for us, who experienced and endured affliction, darkness,
the wormwood and the gall as he bore our sins in his body
on the tree. The Father appearing to be his
enemy, appearing to have forsaken him. And some say this is not only
the words of Christ, but the words of the prophet himself,
Jeremiah. Jeremiah is speaking these words
out of his own experience, out of his affliction, out of his conflict and distresses. And
that these are the deep feelings of every sinner
whom the Lord brings to saving faith. Like the Apostle Paul
said, I'm the chief of sinners. The chief of sinners. The Apostle
Paul, the greatest preacher other than Christ who ever lived said,
I'm not worthy to be an apostle. I'm less than the least of all
the saints, O wretched man that I am." So these lamentations
are the lamentations of Christ. You'll see that as we go through
this. But they are also the lamentations and afflictions and distresses
and cries of a broken heart overseen. Listen to it, I'm the man, I'm
the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath, God's
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. My flesh and my
skin hath he made old. 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 that I cannot get out. He hath made my chain
heavy. Also 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
hath bent his bow and set me as the mark for the arrow." Have
you ever felt that way? He had caused the arrow of his
quiver to enter into my reins, into my innermost being. I was
a derision to all my people. Christ experienced that, didn't
He? Their song all the day, they made up songs about me, wicked
songs. He hath filled me with bitterness.
He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken
my teeth with gravel stones. He has covered me with ashes. Thou hast removed my soul far
off from peace." I forgot prosperity or good, and I said, my strength
and my hope is perished from the Lord. Now notice these three
verses. Notice them carefully. Remembering
my affliction, David said, my sins are ever before me. I was like a beast before thee,
what a fool, ignorant. My afflictions, I remember them. My misery, I remember. The wormwood and the gall, I
remember. Every wicked word, thought, deed,
imagination, I remember. My soul hath them still in remembrance,
and is humble. What's the result of remembering
our sins and foolishness and evil. It causes our hearts to
be humble before God. My soul, my heart is bowed down
in me, in me, not able to look up. And verse 21, And this I
recall to my mind, I make it return to my heart, all that
I have been and all that I am and all that God has brought
me through in His good providence. But look at these words, therefore
have I hope. I have hope, an expectation of
life. What is this hope? But I tell
you, if you can identify with Jeremiah in his convictions,
you can identify with Jeremiah in his comfort. So that's the
reason I read the first part. If you can take your place with
him in that conviction and affliction, you can take your place with
him in the comfort and the hope and the consolation. If I can
identify with him in his inability, I can identify with him in his
blessings and mercies. If I can truly identify with
Him in His humiliation, I can identify with Him in the Lord's
exaltation. The Lord giveth grace to the
humble, the proud He despises. A proud heart, a proud look goeth
before destruction, a haughty spirit before the fall. If I
can, and I can, can you? I can identify with him in these
times of darkness and affliction and wormwood and gall, I certainly
can. And then he comes along and says,
I have a hope, a good hope. Well, it's not in himself, he
just showed himself. It's not in his merit, he just
revealed that he has none. It's not in his works. It's not
in His service. It's in His Lord. Look at verse
22. When I recall what I am and who
I am and what I've done and what I've gone through, I have hope
because, verse 1, verse 22, number 1, it's the Lord's mercy that
I'm not consumed. My Lord is merciful. Now listen
to me. My Lord is merciful. He's merciful to the miserable.
He's gracious to the guilty. He's kind to the unkind and the
unlovely. Listen to these verses. Don't
turn to them. Psalm 103. The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, plenteous in mercy, slow to anger. plenteous in mercy. That's not us, that's Him. That's
not me. I wish it were. Psalm 116, Gracious
is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. Psalm 117, For his merciful kindness
is great toward us. Great toward us. His merciful
kindness. Now this one I wish you would
turn to. Micah. The little book of Micah. Over here just before Nahum and
over by Jonah, Micah, Nahum. You've got to read this. This
is just such a revelation of the character of our God. While
you're turning, let me say this. You know, it's so difficult for
us to enter into this, what I'm saying right here. The Lord is
merciful. Plenteous in mercy. Delights to show mercy. Because
we're just not that way. Our sinful natures find it hard
to forgive. God finds it easy to forgive. It's His nature. He loves to
forgive. He loves to forget. He loves
to be merciful. He delights in it. We have to
work at it. We have to work at it. Work hard. I mustn't feel this way. I'm
going to make myself feel differently. I must not feel this way. Not
God. Not God. Listen. Micah, chapter
8, chapter 7. Micah 7, verse 18. Who is a God like unto thee? Who is a God? Now, do you ever
notice the world's gods? Now, you stop with me. Hold it
right there. Think about the different gods of the world.
Some of you are knowledgeable in this area. Down in Mexico,
in the Yucatan, their gods were snakes. A snake is cruel, venomous,
hard. Their gods are like giant eagles
with claws. Their gods are sitting up in
their temples with a horrible look on their faces. Cruel, mean,
vengeful. Just think about it, if you will,
just a moment. All the so-called gods of this
world are cruel, heartless, demanding, vengeful, evil. Listen to the description of
our God. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity,
passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage,
passes them by? He retaineth not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. That's our God. Can you get a
hold of that? I want to. He delights in mercy. Back to the text. You know, we
come up with so many human reasons why we should doubt God's mercy,
why we should doubt His love. Well, I'm such a great sinner.
He pardons the great sinners. The greater the sinner, the greater
the glory. But I'm such a weak person. It's not your strength,
it's His. When I'm weak, then am I strong. You come to a street crossing,
and here's an elderly lady, and she's so timid and shy and weak
and old, and she's watching those cars, you just delight to put
your arm around her. Isn't that a thrill? And help
her across the street. You come to one of those old
boys with a muscle shirt on, you know, standing there with
his hat on backwards, Standing there, you wouldn't help him.
Would you even try? I mean, he'd insult you. Our Lord delights to show mercy. The weaker, the more He delights. That's right. I'm afraid I'll
fall again. I better not look to Christ's mercy,
because I could... You will. That's as certain as
the sun came up this morning. You will fail again. Well, the Lord has no time for
folks like me. I told my Sunday school class
this morning, the only people, the only people who disqualify
themselves from God's mercy is those who are unwilling to receive
it. Your sins do not disqualify you
from mercy. That's what mercy is, mercy for
the miserable. Can I tell you again, according
to the Scripture, He delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. The
problem is not with Him, it's with us. Will you trust Him? Will you believe Him? He delights
to show mercy. All right, secondly, I have hope
because the Lord is merciful, and then I have hope because,
verse 22, His compassions fail not. He loves. Mike just sang
it, the love of God, how rich, how pure, how measureless, how
strong. It shall forevermore endure. The saints' and angels' song. Love is not something God endeavors
to do. Love is God. God is love. He is love. You and I try to
love. He is love. It's His nature. He never changes. His love fails
not. It's a love we're to imitate.
Actually, I read this yesterday. Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. This is the love of God. 1 Corinthians
13. And it's a love that we're to
imitate. 1 Corinthians 13. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians
13, verse 4. Love suffereth long. That's God's
love. I know it's the love we're to
imitate and the love we're to have, but I just try to love
this way. God does love this way. Love
is kind. Love envies not. Love vaunteth
not itself. It's not puffed up. Does not
behave itself unseemly. Seeketh not her own. Is not easily
provoked. Thinketh no evil. Love rejoices
not in iniquity, it rejoices in truth, and it beareth everything,
and believeth everything, and hopeth everything, and endureth
everything, and never, never, never fails. That's my Lord's
love. That's the reason I have hope.
He said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. His love
is old as the eternities, but it's new every morning. Verse 23, I have hope because
the Lord is merciful, the Lord is love, and His love is new
every morning. That's the reason I think the
prophet told us, the apostle told us not to let the sun go
down on our raft. Don't mull over it. Don't hold
it. Don't let it be there in the
morning. A little boy in the first grade held up his paper
and he said, Can I have a clean paper? I've messed up this one."
And his kind teacher came over with a new clean sheet and said,
Yes, dear, every day you get a clean sheet. Every day. Why don't we give each other
a clean sheet every morning? He does us. That's what he said. He's merciful. And his love is
brand new every morning. God holds no grudges. He said,
I don't even remember your sins. Wouldn't that be wonderful if
someone came to us and said, do you remember what so-and-so
said? I don't even remember. I've forgotten that. I've totally
forgotten. You don't remember what they
did? I don't remember. Honest, I can't remember. Oh, love of God. My, my. But I'll ask you this. I will ask you to turn to Matthew
7. I think this will reach our hearts a little bit here. It's
not hard for us to forgive our children. It's not hard for us
to show mercy to our children. It's not hard for us to let them
have a new beginning every morning. And our Lord recognized that
in Matthew 7, verse 9. What man is there of you, if
his son asked bread, would give him a stone? You wouldn't dare,
would you? Or if his son asked a fish, you'd
give him a snake? You wouldn't dare. Well, if you
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good
things to them that ask Him? The Lord's love. His children. He loves them in Christ. And
then thirdly, look at my text again. Why do I have hope? Well,
the Lord is merciful, the Lord is loved, and the Lord
is faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. Not
my faithfulness. One of the things that we admire
most in a person, though, is faithfulness, isn't it? We used
to say a promise is a promise. A promise is a promise. We expect
it to be fulfilled. Somebody says to us, I'll do
a certain thing, and he does it, makes us glad. He's faithful. A person says, I'll be at this
place at a certain time, and there he is. Faithful. A person
says, I'll pay a certain amount, and he does. He's faithful. We
can count on him. There are some people you can
absolutely count on their word. They can count on it. They are
going to do what they say and be where they promised to be.
They are faithful. But not like our God. Great,
great, great, great. Unquestionable is His faithfulness. That is the reason I have hope.
Because He is faithful. He's faithful to himself. He's
not a man that he should lie. He's faithful to his son. His son said, all that my father
giveth me will come to me. He's faithful to his purpose,
whom he foreknew, he predestinated, whom he predestinated, whom he
called, he justified, whom he justified, he will glorify, I
promise you. He's faithful to his people.
He said, I am the Lord, I never change. Therefore, you're not
consumed. The gifts and calling of God
are without change. God's faithful. God's faithful. Let me read you
a scripture over in Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. I never noticed this
word here. I've read this scripture, and
you have too, many times, but I want you to watch this right
here. Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 21. The prophet said, I have hope
because God's merciful. I have hope because God is love.
I have hope because God's faithful. In Hebrews 10, 21, and having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near, near
to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith, full assurance
of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, our bodies washed with pure water, let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering." Why?
Because he's faithful. That promise. You see that? Why? How can I hold fast my profession
because I'm doing my best? No, he's faithful. He'll never
turn me away. Never cast back. Look across
the page at Hebrews 11, 11. Now watch this. You ladies watch this. Through
faith, also Saviour Herself received strength to conceive seed and
was delivered of a child when she was past age. Why? Because
she judged Him faithful, who had promised. Bob, you see that
pressure? You see that, John? Why do I
have hope? He's faithful. But I hope you'll hold out. I
know I'm going to because He's faithful. But keep on keeping
on. I will because He's faithful.
Not because I am. He is. He's not going to let
me go. Somebody come to take away one
of those precious children of yours? They got mama to contend
with them. You can't have them. You take
me first, and that's the way God says. My children are my
children. You can't touch them. He's faithful. Well, I believe that. You expect
the thief on the cross to be in heaven. Well, yes, I do. Why? Because Christ said so. And that's
the only reason. Christ said so. And He said this
to you and me. He that believeth on the Son,
regardless of his past, present, or future, if he believes on
the Son, he has eternal life. You believe that? I do. Why?
He said so. He's faithful. Fourthly, I'll
give you this. I have hope because verse 24,
the Lord's my portion. I had a little struggle with
this word. We don't use it this way. We use this word in this
fashion. We think of it as an allotment.
Here's your portion. You get a third and I get a third
and she gets a third. That's your portion. But this
is not... This word means inheritance. The Lord is my inheritance. The
Lord is my full sufficient supply. Everything I need, I have in
Him. Now listen. Here's what one of
our great writers said. The Lord is the portion of His
people, the inheritance of His people, in life, in death, in
time, in eternity. All that He is and all that He
has is theirs. They're heirs of Him. They enjoy
Him now and forever. Christ is their life. He is their
portion, large and full, inexpressibly rich and great, and the full
satisfaction of their souls. All they need they find in Him. In Genesis, He said to Abraham,
I am your exceeding great reward. People in religion talk about
pardon. People in Christ talk about the
person. People in religion talk about
the benefits. People in Christ talk about the
being. Having the being, they have the benefits. Isn't that
right? People in religion talk about
a place. Heaven. People in Christ talk about a
presence. A person. Today, you'll be with me. in
paradise. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ. To be absent from the bodies,
to be present with the Lord. It's a person. Somebody wrote
a poem. Once it was the blessing, now
it's the Lord. Once it was the feeling, now
it's His Word. Once His gifts I wanted, now
the giver I own. Once I sought for healing, now
for Himself alone. Once it was my working, His,
from now on it shall be. Once I tried to use Him, now He uses me. Once the power
I wanted, now I want the Mighty One. Once for self I labored,
now for Him. alone. Last, the Lord's good. The Lord's good. Verse 25, the Lord's good unto
them that wait for Him. You remember the psalm we used
to say when we were children, Psalm 100? Make a joyful noise
unto the Lord. All ye lands, come before the
Lord with thanksgiving. The last verse in that says the
Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting. His
truth endureth to all generations. He's good. He's good, watch, to them that
wait for Him. Our God has a time for all things
that He does. And His people know that. Our
God has a time for all things He does. In the fullness of time, God
sent His Son. He has a time for all that He
does. And we're willing to wait. Psalm 27, we read it Wednesday
night. I would have fainted. I would
have quit. I would have given up had I not
believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. Wait on the Lord. I say, wait on the Lord, and
He shall strengthen thine heart. He's good to those that wait
on Him. And secondly, He's good to those that seek Him. They
seek Him in His Word, seek Him in His Son, seek Him in His offering
for sin, seek Him in His grace, Seek Him sincerely. Seek Him
continually. They seek Him. And then He's good to those.
Now watch this. And it's good that a man should both hope and
quietly. That word quietly is patiently. Patiently. It's not over. It's not over. Let's quit giving
up. I tell you, if I'm in charge,
let's all give up. If you're in charge, let's all
give up. But we're not. He's in charge. He's working
His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
this earth. And I expect, if we expect great things from the
Lord, you'll have them. Ask, and you'll receive. Seek, you'll find. Knock, it
won't be like that. But it's good for a man to hope
and patiently wait, just wait, for the deliverance of the Lord. I say that to all men, to myself
and to my preacher brethren and to you and to everybody. Just wait on the Lord. We don't
force these things. We can't make things happen. He makes things happen. We wait
on Him. Be still and know that I am God. Be still. A lady called me the
other day from California. She watches our program out there.
She and her husband. His name is Vince. Her name is
Paulette. They wanted to talk. We talked
a long time. She said, I want your more tapes
I told her about the commentaries, I said I'd send them. She said,
this is all new to us. This study of the Word of God,
this faith in Christ, this is new. And she said, I want to
talk to some people about baptism and unite with the church. I said, Paulette, wait. Be still. Listen a little while. Listen a little while. Wait till
God speaks. Wait on the Lord. Don't rush. Don't make something happen.
He's brought this to pass. Now settle down and listen to
His Word. Read His Word. Wait on the Lord. And act as He gives you His leadership. Isn't that right? Be still. Because it's going to come to
pass, isn't it? It's going to come to pass. in His own time. All right, let's sing 290. Be
still, my soul, the Lord's on your side, and He's merciful,
and He's loving, He's good, and gracious, faithful, and therefore
we have a good hope in Him.

This Is My Hope

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This Is My Hope

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