Now, here's a passage of Scripture
that I'll be reading from the Old Testament in the book of
Lamentation. Lamentation, chapter 3, verse
21. Now, actually, I'm going to be
speaking from verses 21 through 26, but let me just read verse
21 to sort of catch your attention and to introduce my subject.
Now, here's the subject. The hope of eternal life. The
hope of eternal life. Now here's the text. Lamentation 321. The prophet
Jeremiah said, This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. This I call to mind, Therefore,
I have hope." Now, my friends, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking
here of his hope of eternal life. His hope of eternal life. He
knows some things. He was called of God, inspired
of God, sent of God. And he knew that life on this
earth is but a fleeting shadow. It's like a flower that blooms
for the moment and then it's gone. Just a brief time. He knew that. And he knew that
it was appointed unto men, all men, once to die. Jeremiah knew
that. All of his friends had died,
and his relatives. He knew that it was appointed
to men once to die. And he knew this, he knew that
after death there is a judgment of God in which an account shall
be given according to the things written in God's books. Now he
knew that. And then he knew that after death and the judgment,
there was an eternity. There was eternal existence for
all men, either in the presence of God or either eternally separated
from God. He knew that. And you know that. Job kept saying, if a man dies,
shall he live again? Or is he like the tree that you
cut down and it falls and never grows again? No, man will live
again. But Jeremiah, knowing these things, felt in his heart
that he had a hope of eternal life and eternal glory in the
presence of God. And his hope to enjoy that glory
and to share in that inheritance, he had it in his heart, and therefore
he wrote this. He said, when I call all of this
to mind, I say to you, I have hope. I have hope. Therefore
I have hope. It ought to be interesting to
us, you and me, to read what this man wrote concerning his
hope. He tells us he has a hope of
eternal life, and he gives us a reason for that hope. And it
ought to be interesting to you and me especially since we know
that he wrote under divine inspiration. You know, the Apostle Peter exhorted
us to be able to give an answer to every man that asketh us a
reason for the hope that is in us, and to do it with meekness
and fear, glorifying God. Well, Jeremiah says, I have hope.
I have hope of eternal life. And he's going to tell us the
foundation of that hope. He's going to tell us why he
had such a strong hope. Now, my friends, it's possible
for you and I to have a strong hope of eternal life. Now somewhere,
somewhere between proud presumption, and I fear that, and dead despair,
and I flee that, there is a blessed hope. Somewhere between proud
presumption and dead despair, there's a blessed hope. Somewhere
between that fleshly familiarity with God that we're seeing so
much of today, Somewhere between that fleshly familiarity with
God, where God told me to do this and God told me to do that,
talking like God lived next door and they had a private telephone
line between the two houses. Somewhere between that fleshly
familiarity with God and slavish fear, slavish fear, there's a
blessed hope. Somewhere between modern decisionism,
where a man makes a decision, he decides he's going to heaven
when he dies. Somewhere between modern decisionism and cold fatalism,
there's a blessed hope. And Jeremiah gives it to us here.
This is one of the richest passages of Scripture on assurance and
confidence to be found anywhere in the Word of God. He said,
when I call this to mind, I have hope. I have hope. Now, let me
show it to you. You get your Bible and look in
Lamentations. Chapter 3, verse 22. Now here's
the first reason. Jeremiah, what's the reason for
your hope of eternal life, your hope of eternal joy? First of
all, verse 22. Now listen. It is of the Lord's
mercies that we're not consumed, because His compassion, His love,
fails not. In other words, when Jeremiah
speaks of hope, hope of eternal life, the first word he uses
is the Lord's mercies. My hope for eternal life, he
said, is based on God's mercy. Not on my merit, on his mercy. Not on my morality, on his mercy. Not on my works, on his mercy. That's my hope of eternal life.
When I call this to mind, I have hope. It is the Lord's mercies
that I'm not consumed. You know, a man can build his
hope of eternal life either on his merit or on God's mercy,
but not on both. Can't do it. That's what Paul
said. He said it's all of grace, all of grace. Salvation is all
of grace or all of works, but not both. Not both. You know, if you look back in
verse 19 of this third chapter of Lamentation, the prophet said,
I remember my affliction. I remember my misery. I remember
the wormwood and the gall." In other words, he knew himself
to be a sinner in need of God's mercy. In Psalm 51, listen to
David's prayer, same thing, listen to David's prayer. David said,
"'Have mercy upon me, O Lord. According to thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgression.'" My friend, this is what the publican who
was justified, prayed in the temple. Lord, be merciful to
me, a sinner. So when Jeremiah says, when I
call this to mind, I have hope. And Jeremiah, what is the source
of your hope? What did you call to mind? God's
mercy. God's mercy. God delights to
show mercy. God's plenteous in mercy. This
is a faithful saying that Christ came into the world to save sinners.
sinners of whom I am cheap." He said, the Son of Man came
to seek and to save the lost. In Romans 6, verse 8, Romans
5, verse 8, it says, But God commended His love toward us,
in that why were we yet sinners? Christ died for us. Our Lord
said, I didn't come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners
to repentance. And when you ask a truly inspired
person, a person who knows God, who knows himself to be a sinner,
Who knows his sin and comes short of God's glory? What's your hope
of eternal life? The first thing he said is the
mercies of the Lord. The mercies of the Lord. It's
the Lord's mercies. Mercies that I'm not consumed.
There was an old preacher in Richmond, Virginia, a black man
during the Civil War. who preached to huge audiences. People came from everywhere to
hear this man preach. And he was a great preacher of
the gospel. And somebody asked him one time,
said, when you get to heaven and they stop you at the door,
John Jasper was his name. And somebody says, John Jasper,
what right have you got to be here? What right have you got
to be here in this celestial city? in the abode of God, in
the majestic heavens, what right have you got to be here? What
are you going to say?" And John Jasper said, I'm going to say,
I ain't got no right to be here at all. I'm not here on my rights,
I'm here on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, my Lord and
Savior. I'm here on His righteousness
and I'm here on the mercy of another. My friend, that's the
foundation of hope. The hope of eternal life, the
Lord's mercies. All right, look, if you will,
at verse 23. Now, that's verse 22. In verse 21, Jeremiah says,
when I call this to mind, I have hope. I have hope. And my hope
is the Lord's mercies. And in verse 23, listen to this.
Jeremiah had hope of eternal life because God's love, he said,
is new every morning. God's compassion fails not, it's
new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. My friends, God's love is everlasting. God's love is infinite. God's
love is as old as the beginning. Whom He loves now, He's always
loved. His love is as old as the hills
and the morning stars and the everlasting covenant, yet His
love is new every morning. You see that? He's faithful.
God is faithful. Jeremiah didn't boast of his
own faithfulness. When he talked about his hope
of eternal life, he didn't say, I've been faithful. He said,
God is faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. I
tell you, my friend, if our hope of eternal life is based on our
faithfulness, our faithfulness Well, I'll tell you this, we
have great cause to doubt and fear. People say, I'm just full
of doubts and fears. You've got every reason to be
full of doubts and fears if you're basing your hope of eternal life
on your faithfulness. But I'll tell you this, he is
faithful. That's what Jeremiah said. I
have hope because God is faithful and great is his faithfulness.
He said in Malachi 3, 6, I am the Lord. I change not. I change
not. I don't change. Everything about
us changes. God doesn't change. Change and
decay in all around I see. Oh, thou that changest not, abide
with me. Romans 11, 29 says the gifts
and calling of God are without change. Hebrews 13, 8 says Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God's faithful.
Jeremiah, what's your hope of eternal life? God's mercies and
God's faithfulness. God's faithful to his word. Numbers
23, 19 says, God's not a man that he should lie, neither the
son of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? Hath he spoken, shall he not make it good? Hath God
said, shall he not do it? Hath God spoken, shall he not
make it good? God's faithful. Great is his
faithfulness. God's faithful to his purpose.
He has a purpose. In Romans 8, 29, it says, Whom
he foreknew, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son. And whom he predestinated, he
also called. And whom he called, he justified.
And whom he justified, he glorified. That's his purpose. He'll be
faithful to it. Well, what shall we say to these things? If God
be for us, who can be against us? He cannot fail. He cannot deny himself. The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are His. God's faithful to His Son. In
John 6, 37, our Lord said, All that my Father giveth me shall
come to me. And him that cometh to me I'll
in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven, not
to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that of all that he hath given
me I'll lose nothing. I'll lose nothing. When Israel
came out of Egypt, there wasn't even a dog left behind. The whole
nation came out. And I'll tell you, the whole
nation of the redeemed, the whole nation of the elect, the whole
nation of God's eternal covenant will be redeemed by Christ. He's
faithful. He's faithful. And that's what
Jeremiah says, when I call this to mind, I have hope. God is merciful to sinners and
God is faithful. Now, here's the third reason.
In verse 24, Jeremiah had hope because he said, look at verse
24, the Lord is my portion. The Lord is my portion. What
does he mean, Preacher? The Lord is my life. The Lord
is my provider. The Lord is my nourishment. Therefore,
I'll hope in him. He's my father. He's my father. He'll not fail me. He said, if
you being evil, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children? How much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? He's my husband. He's entered
into an eternal relationship with me. He's my surety. He will fulfill my every need.
The Lord Himself is my salvation and my hope. My friends, this
is where the modern religionist has missed this whole thing called
salvation. Salvation is not a thing, it's
a person. Now, I know salvation is an experience,
but experiences aren't salvation. Christ is salvation. People today
talk of pardon. They don't talk of the person
who pardons. People today talk of the place. I can take you
to the place. I think I've heard a song that
goes like that, I can take you to the place. They don't talk
about the presence. They talk about the place and
not the presence. They talk about the gifts. Don't talk about the
giver. They talk about the blessings. They don't talk about the blesser.
Do you know the sons of Levi, the priestly tribe, didn't own
any property? They didn't have any property,
any land. God was their inheritance. God was their portion. They lived
on God. They lived by God. When a great
violinist, picks up a violin and plays it. The music is not
in the instrument. It's in the violinist. It's in
the hands of the master. That's just a piece of wood put
together, I know, in a certain shape with strings and all on
it. But left alone, it'll stay there forever and never sound
a note. It'll never alone sound a note. And some amateur may come up
and pluck at it, you know, and it'll sound terrible, just terrible.
Nothing worse than a terrible violin. Well, when a master picks
it up and plays it, the music is in him, in his hands. And I say to you, the music of
the life of God is in God, not in me. Not in me and not in you. Somebody wrote this, and try
if you can to lay hold upon this. The Lord is my portion. The Lord
Himself is my portion. He's my life, my nourishment,
all that. The Lord is my portion. Somebody
wrote this poem years ago. I don't even know where I found
it or who wrote it. I can't give credit to the author
because I don't know who the author is. But somebody who wrote
this found something out. And they found out what I'm trying
to say. This person wrote, once it was the blessing, now it is
the Lord. Once it was the feeling, now
it is his word. Once the gifts I wanted, now
the giver I own. Once I sought for healing, now
I seek him alone. Once it was my working, his it
now shall be. Once I tried to use him, now
he uses me. Once the power I wanted, now
the mighty one. Once for self I labored, now
for him alone. Do you see what I'm saying? Jeremiah
said, when I call to mind, when I call to mind, these things,
I have hope. I have hope. And these things
are the Lord's mercies. not my merit, his mercies, and
the Lord's faithfulness to his covenant, to his purpose, to
his name, to his word, to his son, and the fact that the Lord
himself is my portion. If the Lord Jesus Christ is my
life and my portion, he's the vine and I'm the branch, he's
the head and I'm the body, he won't be in heaven and leave
me behind. You see, he's our forerunner and he's already for
us entered within the veil and occupied glory." He said, I go
to prepare a place for you. Being one with Christ, where
He is, I am what He has, I have. Do you see that? He is my portion. And that's the thing I want you
to see more than anything else I've said this morning. The Lord
is my portion. All right, here's the fourth
reason. Now, verse 25. Jeremiah had a good hope of eternal
life because he knew, listen to this, Verse 25, the Lord is
good unto them that wait for him, that wait for him, to the
soul that seeketh him. The Lord is good. The Lord is
merciful. The Lord is gracious. The Lord
is good to them that wait for him. The Lord is good to them
that seek him. Why? Well, I'll tell you why.
First of all, those who seek the Lord's mercy and the Lord's
grace and the Lord's person, Do so with a deep sense of need. Sin seeks forgiveness. Guilt
seeks grace. Misery seeks mercy. And we seek
the Lord because we need Him. Like blind Bartimaeus, Jesus,
thy son of David, have mercy on me. Like the woman with the
issue of blood that tried all the physicians and was no better,
only grew worse. She said, if I can get to Him,
if I can find Him, seeking Him, I need Him. I come to him because
I need him. You see that? The seeking sinner
comes out of a need, and Christ meets and honors that need. Secondly,
those who seek the Lord seek him only in Christ. Charles Wesley
wrote these words, Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom
fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, hide me Oh, my Savior, hide,
till the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven, God. Oh,
receive my soul at last. Only in Christ. The Lord is merciful. The Lord is gracious. The Lord
is good to them that wait for Him. They're not satisfied with
anything else. They won't take anything else.
They want Him. They want Him. And they wait
for Him. And they seek Him. with all their
hearts. That's the third thing. They
do it sincerely. They seek the Lord sincerely.
He said, you shall seek me and find me when you search for me
with all your heart. It's a heart seeking and a heart
pursuit. And then in the next place, those
who seek the Lord do so continually. Like Jacob of old, who said,
I will not let thee go. I will not let thee go, except
thou bless me. My friend, this goes in that
thing of waiting on God. Those that wait upon Him. Those
that linger at His doorstep. Those who, like Mary, sit at
His feet. They wait on the Lord. You can't
find many in this generation who are willing to wait on the
Lord. They want everything instantaneous. They want everything right now.
And they'll just let men give it to them instead of waiting
on God. I'm going to sit at His feet. I want to hear Him say,
Thy sins be forgiven thee. I want to hear him say, rise
up and walk. I want to hear him say, well
done, thou good and faithful servant. I'll just sit at his
feet. I'll be patiently waiting at his feet. I want to do business
with the king. And though the Lord's good to
them that wait on him, David wrote this in Psalm 27, verse
13 and 14. He said, I would have fainted I would have fainted, except
that I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living." He said, I would have fainted. All the things about
me, the circumstances, environment, everything was against me, all
hope just about gone, but he said, I would have fainted unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Again, he said, again I say,
wait on the Lord. And the Lord is good to them
that wait on Him. Will you wait? Are you willing to wait at His
feet? He's good to them that seek Him. And I'll tell you this,
those who wait upon Him and seek Him know He's the only source
of mercy. He's the only source of forgiveness
and pardon. There's no other source. I won't
be satisfied with anything else. I must get to Christ. I must
lay hold upon Christ. And I seek Him because He has
the mercy. And I seek the Lord only in Christ
And I seek Him sincerely. I'm not playing games. Don't
play games with this now. Don't play games. You better
be sincere. You'll find me when you search
for me, He said, with all your heart. And do it continually.
Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't be discouraged
or distracted. And then listen to this. Those
who seek the Lord will be found. He said, blessed are those that
hunger and thirst for righteousness. They shall be filled. Now here's my fifth reason. In
verse 26, Jeremiah had a good hope because he knew this, listen
to this, that salvation is of the Lord. Listen to verse 26. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Oh, my friends, there is where
his hope was. You see those five things? Jeremiah says, when I
call, I know my misery, and I know my affliction, I know the wormwood
and the gall, and I know the flesh, and I know the world,
I know all these things, and I know that there's a life to
live, and a death to die, and a judgment to face, and an eternity
to spend. But this I recall, this I recall,
and therefore I have hope. I recall the Lord's mercies.
His loving kindness and tender mercies. And I recall this, that
He's faithful. He will not fail. He's faithful
to His purpose. He's faithful to His Son. He's
faithful to His Word. God is faithful. He shall not
fail. He's faithful in all things.
And He is my portion. I have cast my lot with Him.
I've committed my soul to Him. He is my portion. He will not
disown me. He is my portion. And I know
this, those that wait on Him, He's good to them. Somebody said
last week, no sinner has ever perished coming to the door of
mercy as a beggar. No sinner has ever perished casting
himself at the feet of Christ. He's good to them that wait for
Him. But don't you take any other
kind of religion. Don't you take any other kind
of hope. Sit at His feet. And He's good to those that seek
Him. And then last of all, you can have all the confidence in
the world of an eternal hope if the salvation which you have
is of the Lord. Because salvation is of the Lord
in its planning. He planned it. He purposed it
in Christ Jesus. From before the foundation of
the world, God Almighty ordained that there'd be a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and that new heaven
and new earth would be populated by a people redeemed by the blood
of his Son. That's his everlasting covenant. And Christ is the surety and
the great shepherd of that everlasting covenant. God planned it. And
not only that, but God executed this salvation in the fullness
of time. He sent his son into the world, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were born under the law
that we might receive the adoption of son. And it pleased God to
bruise him, to nail him to a cross for our sins, for the salvation
of our soul. Salvations of the Lord is execution. And then salvations of the Lord
in its application. The Apostle Paul said, when it
pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal
His Son in me, God revealed Christ to the Apostle Paul. God did. He applied that salvation. Salvation
is of the Lord in its application. Now watch this. Salvation is
of the Lord in its sustaining power. We are kept by the power
of God through faith. God keeps His people. He will
not suffer us to fall. Though we stumble, We shall not
ultimately be cast down, but he upholdeth us with his hand."
God will sustain that salvation. He that has begun a good work
in you shall perfect it, shall finish it, shall complete it
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now watch this. Salvations
of the Lord in its ultimate perfection. Someday he'll take us out of
the grave, take us to glory, and make us into the exact image
of his Son. and we are forever reigning with
the Lord. Salvations of the Lord.