While we're reading this passage,
I brought a message from this passage Monday night up at the
television station on the hope of eternal life from this passage
to be aired on June the 17th. Jeremiah was a prophet of God,
no question about that. And I know this is applicable
to Christ. I don't know of any scripture
like the writings of David in the Psalms that's not applicable
to Christ. Especially if you look at verse
30 of this chapter. You see verse 30? It says, He
giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him, filled with reproach. The Lord will not cast off forever. And this is applicable to Christ,
but Jeremiah is speaking here of himself. He's speaking of
himself. And he said, remembering verse
19, my affliction, my misery, he knew himself to be a great
sinner. Jeremiah knew he was a sinner. He knew that death
was upon him. He knew it's appointed unto all
men once to die. He knew after death was the judgment
when the great books of God would be opened. And he knew beyond
judgment there was an eternity to spend. And somebody said one
time that hell is not so much the physical agony and torture. Sometimes we get bogged down
on the rich man who said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he
may dip his finger in water and touch my tongue. I'm tormented
in this flame." And we work on that physical agony. But as heaven is an eternal,
enjoyable union with Christ, hell is an eternal separation
from Christ. And that which makes hell to
be hell is not so much the physical suffering as to be separated
from Christ, from all that is true and holy and pure and glorifying,
which is Christ. That's hell. That's the reason
we can say that our Lord Jesus Christ endured hell on Calvary's
cross, for he cried, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? So
this man Jeremiah speaks of his sins, his affliction, his misery,
the wormwood and the gall. All of those are the effects
of sin. All of those are the results of sin. A man who's not
a sinner would not bear affliction, misery, wormwood or gall. But
he knew he was a sinner and he knew he needed God's grace. And he speaks of his hope. He
says in verse 20, My soul hath them still in remembrance, and
is humbled, bowed down in me. And this I recall to mind. Therefore,
I have hope. I have hope. All of this, all
of this that you've said, I'm a man that's seen affliction.
God has cut me off. I prayed. He doesn't hear me.
He doesn't hear me. He was unto me as a bear. lying
in wait. He had turned aside my ways.
He's bent his bow and made my heart the target of his arrows. And you talk about your misery
and your affliction and wormwood and gall, and yet you say you
have hope, a hope of eternal life, a hope of the mercy of
God, a hope of the grace of God. Oh, yes. And he tells us in a
moment four or five or six reasons why he has hope. Why he has hope. In the midst of all this darkness
and dismal experiences and afflictions and death about him, yet he has
hope. In the midst of all this weakness
and inability, yet he has hope. And it would do good for us to
examine his hope because he's a man writing under divine inspiration. There's no question about that.
There's no question regarding the fact Jeremiah had hope and
there's no question regarding the scriptural foundation of
that hope. What he says has got to be so. And it would be well
for me if I would try to match his hope. That'd be well for
me. All right, let's see what it
is. Verse 22. He says, first of all, my hope is based on the
Lord's mercies. It is the Lord's mercies that
we're not consuming. That's the reason we have hope.
It's not my merit. It's His mercies. It's not my
works. It's His mercies. That's the
reason I have hope. It's His mercy. David said the
same thing. Turn to Psalm 51 and listen to
David. Psalm 51, the first two or three
verses. Listen to this. David said, Have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. That's what I'm
depending on, God's mercies. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. That's the first foundation of
Jeremiah's hope, Bob, is the mercy of God. The mercy of God. Not merit, not works, not his
deeds, not his morality. Mercy. All right, here's the
second one. He says in verse 22, it's the
Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. Every one of us. You,
me, everybody. Because his compassions, that's
his love. His love fails not. Yours does. Mine does. If you live long enough,
you'll see the utter failure of every man's love. That's exactly
right. Everybody's but God's. His is
perfect love. Perfect. In some area, to some
degree, everybody's love fails because it's not God's love.
It's not. But His love never fails. His
love never fails. They are new every morning. God's
love is as old as the morning stars, but it's new every morning. God's love is infinite and everlasting
and old as the beginning. God's love is the oldest thing
in the universe, but it's new every morning. Think about it.
New every morning. Can you think of that? Our love
diminishes. Our love is affected by a bad
night or a bad morning. Our love is affected by too many
things. His love is new every morning. It's as unchangeable
as God. It's as infinite as God. It's
as eternal as God, and it's new every morning. You may not love
Him like you ought to, but He loves you in an infinite fashion,
new every morning. Every morning. I hope we can
get hold of that. That's where His hope is. The
love of God toward him, not his love toward God. He remains faithful. Always faithful and always loving,
new every morning. And the next reason he says,
great is thy faithfulness. God is faithful. God is faithful. He's faithful to his word. He
said, I'm the Lord, I change not. Have I spoken and shall
I not do it? Have I declared it and purposed
it? Shall it not come to pass? I
guarantee you. Ron read that in the study. What
the Lord doeth is forever. And when God speaks, it's forever.
He declared the end from the beginning. He's faithful to his
word. He's faithful to his purpose. The gifts and calling of God
are without change. I'm confident of this. If God
elected me in Christ, gave me to Christ, Christ suffered for
my sins, I cannot be lost. Not only based upon the perfect
sacrifice of Christ, but on the word of God. He cannot deny himself. He cannot deny himself. He cannot
deny his word. His gifts and calling are without
change. God spoken it, it'll come to
pass. I guarantee it. Well, I don't,
he does. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, he knoweth them that are his. He's faithful
to his Son. The Lord Jesus said, All that
my Father giveth me will come to me, and him that cometh I
will in no wise cast out. For 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 everyone that the Father
hath given me I lose nothing. And a picture of that is when
Israel came out of Egypt. They didn't even leave a dog
behind. Old Brother Muse used to say, not a hoof nor a hair,
not an animal. Everybody came out. And that
everlasting covenant, God's faithful to His Word, to His purpose,
and to His Son. And here's Jeremiah's hope. You
can carry on all this foolishness you want to about you raising
a Christian home, And you made a profession when you were a
boy or girl, and you've been true to the church, and you've
given your money, and you've tried to do right, and you just
go on and on and on. But old Isaiah said, I'm a man
that's seen the burden of affliction. I'm the heart God aimed his arrows
at. I'm the one God hedged about
with trouble. I'm the fellow that was born
of affliction and misery and wormwood and gall, but I got
But my hope's not anywhere in the circle of this flesh, which
is vanity of vanity. My hope's in the mercy of God.
My hope's in the love of God. My hope is in the faithfulness
of God. I don't have one shred of hope in anything of the flesh,
not one atom, not one. It is as if I were totally passive
in this gift of life, and all I did was receive it. An empty
cup God filled. A dead body God raised. That's
so. He didn't stop there. He said,
verse 24, I have hope because the Lord is my portion. He's
my portion. I looked up that word portion.
In the Greek, it's inheritance. Inheritance. The Lord is my life. The Lord is my inheritance. The
Lord is my portion. And an illustration of that could
be the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe that never owned any land. The other 11 tribes had land,
but Levi never had any land. God took care of them. God was their inheritance. God
was their portion. And he said, that's the reason
I have hope. Christ is my life. He's my life. He's my portion.
He's my life. He's my inheritance. He's everything. And then he said, therefore I
hope in Him. I hope in Him. The Lord is my
portion, therefore will I hope in Him. Now watch verse 25. Hope
is built on God's goodness. Not my goodness, His goodness.
The Lord is good. I have hope because the Lord
is good. The Lord is plenteous in mercy.
He delights to show mercy. The Lord is good. The Lord is
good. To whom is God good? He's good
unto those that wait for Him. Boy, I tell you, I wish we could
take a funnel and pour that into our hearts and minds. Wait on
the Lord. That's the hardest lesson for
us to learn there is in this book. Wait on God. They just
won't do it. We just won't do it. We're going
to move. We're going to move when we want
to move. We're going to move in the direction we want to move.
We're going to do what we want to do. We're not going to wait
on God. Just not going to do it. Look at Psalm chapter 27.
Listen to David. Oh, he said this in Psalm 27,
verse 13. He said, I would have fainted.
I would have fainted. I would have given up. I would have completely passed
out. I would have surrendered. unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I'm talking
about it manifested in this land, to this center, in my circumstances. He said, I believe God's going
to be good to me. I believe that. And if I hadn't
have believed that, he said, I'd have surrendered a long time
ago. I'd have quit. I'd have thrown in the towel. You ever
see a boxing match and a fella gets beat up so bad his manager
throws in the towel? He says, quit. Quit. David said, I would have, except
I believed. That's all I had to hold to was
my faith. Faith in what? Faith in men?
Faith in himself? Goodness of God. I believe in
the goodness of God. It'll come. God said, vengeance
is mine. I will repay. Avenge not yourself,
beloved. The battle is mine. Can we learn
that? The battle is mine. It has to
do with every circumstance, every part of our lives, if we just
learn to wait on God. I would have fainted, David said.
I would have, I would, when Absalom took over, when all this happened,
I'd have given up, but I just believe God's going to straighten
it out. He'll do it in his own time, though. And what we do
when we move ahead of God is we mess up the whole thing. So
he says in verse 14, so wait. Wait! Hold it! Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. And don't run
around waiting on Him with your lip hanging down and your chin
on your chest. Be of good courage. Be of good
courage. Wait on God, but be of good courage. And while you're waiting, He'll
strengthen your heart. But he said, I tell you now,
Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Because He's
good to them that wait on Him. Those that like, you know, Martha.
Martha, I'm not talking about you now. I'm glad you're busy. You keep on being busy. But Martha,
Martha was so busy, cumbered about with so much care. But
Mary sat at His feet, waiting on God. Waiting on the Lord,
just sat there. I'm willing to wait. He's good
to them that wait on Him and listen. And He's good to the
soul that are seeking. That are seeking. I'm going to
seek the Lord. Well, where are you going to
seek Him? Are you going to seek Him in His Word? Are you going to seek Him in
His gospel? Are you going to seek Him among
His people? I know where I'm not going to
find Him, Charlie. I'm not going to find Him in the hangouts of
the world. He ain't there. Now, He may be there in judgment
and wrath. He may be there in affliction.
He may be there in trouble because He's everywhere. But He's not
there in mercy. He's not there in grace. I'm
going to find Him where He is. And I'm going to seek Him where
He may be found. Seek ye the Lord while and where
He may be found. Call upon Him while He is where
He is near. You shall seek me and find me
when you search for me. How? With all your heart, on
purpose, with an objective, with a goal, with a sincerity, with
undivided attention. Like Jacob of old, I will not
let you go until you bless me. I may hang on here all night.
I may hang on until I'm an old man, but I'm going to hang on
until you bless me. So give me Christ or I die. That's
what the old man said. Give me Christ or I die. So he's
good to them that seek him, but they seek him where he is. He's
revealed in his Word. The man that's seeking the Lord
will be much in the Word. One man told Spurgeon, he said,
salvation is somewhere in the page of this book, and I'm going
to read it till I find it. You won't find him in Reader's
Digest. You're not going to find him
in that Cincinnati Enquirer. You'll find him in the Word.
You'll find him among his people. You're not going to find him
somewhere else. I'll seek him. He's good to them that seek him.
All right, let's look at this last. It's good, verse 26, it's
good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Jeremiah, what's your hope? My
hope, my hope's in the mercy of God. My hope, my hope's in
the love of God and whoever more. My hope is in the faithfulness
of God. My hope is in the Lord, who's
my portion. My hope in the goodness of the
Lord. My hope in the fact that salvation's
of the Lord. that it's all of the Lord from
beginning to end, from Alpha to Omega. And it's good that
a man should both hope in that, hope in God's purpose, hope in
God's covenant, hope in God's mercy and goodness, and quietly
wait. Old Moses stood there on the
bank of that Red Sea and looked out over that vast body of water.
and realized the impossibility of them ever getting to the other
side. Totally impossible. He looked yonder at the descending
troops of Pharaoh with their horsemen, how many hundred chariots
and how many thousands of men with their bows and their swords
and their spears descending upon them with the fierceness and
anger of the forces of hell. And old Moses stood out there
with a helpless bunch of wandering people, lifted his heart to God,
and then he said, stand still, wait, and you're going to see
the salvation of the Lord. You can't open the Great Red
Sea, so why don't you wait? You can't. I can't open it, so
why won't I be able to wait on Him? I can't fight the forces
of hell. that descend upon me from without
and within, I'm no match for the least little demon with his
little pitchfork. I'm no match for him, let alone
Satan himself, so I might as well stand still. I might as
well wait on God. If I go to hell, I'll deserve
it. If He saves me, it'll be for His glory, so I might as
well wait. I don't deserve it. If He gives me salvation, it'll
be by His grace, same way as Israel. If He splits the sea
and delivers them, that's grace. If He leaves them to be devoured
by Pharaoh, that's justice. They murmured against Him all
the way. They stood there at that sea and cursed God. So whatever
He does with me, it'll be for His glory. So I might as well
wait. And you had too. So I'm certain
of this. And it comes down to this. that
a man can either build his hope for eternal life on the free
grace of God, or like most men are doing today, on his works
of religion, but not on both. I'm taking Jeremiah's route.
This is the scriptural way. This is God's way. This is the
way for sinners. This is the sure way. It's a
fact that a man can build his hope for eternity on all of grace
or all of works, but not both. not both. Paul said, therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the works of
the law. Put the crown on the head of
faith. Our Lord said, if you can believe, all things are possible
to them that believe. He said to everybody, heal, said
your faith made you whole. If the Son of Man comes, when
the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on this earth? Well,
I'll tell you where he doesn't find faith He's going to deal
in judgment, because all of our works are filthy rags. Four times
it says this, that just shall live by faith. When Peter was
vacillating and wavering, our Lord looked at him and said,
Well, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. That's where
it all is. Let's take just a brief look
at faith, and I'll give you six things about this faith that
I believe I believe that will be helpful. Number one, that
faith that saves has a single object. Paul said to the Philippian jailer,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is the unaided work
of Christ. His person and work are sufficient
for a dying thief or a faithful apostle, but the object of faith
is Christ. Faith's got to have an object.
A general faith doesn't save. Just a principle of faith doesn't
save. Faith that saves has got to have
not only an object, but the right object, the anointed, appointed
object of faith, and that's Christ. You read all the way through
the Word. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
He that believeth not on the Son shall never see life. This
is eternal life. God has given us eternal life
according to the record. And this life is in His Son.
He that hath the Son hath eternal life. So the object of faith
is Christ. And you don't begin in faith
and are made perfect in the flesh. You don't begin by grace and
are made perfect by works. It's faith in Christ from beginning
to end. It's faith in Christ in the early
stages, and these all died in faith. faith in Christ, that
last stage. There are men and women here
in this congregation who are recently converted to Christ,
and you're like a babe looking to Christ. You're wringing your
hands in helplessness, and you're conscious of your inability and
your frailty, and you feel like a little bird perched on a wire
that can be blown off by the least puff of wind, and you're
just saying, Cecil Roach has been saved 30
years and he feels the same way right now. Is that right? Holy
Lord our Father. That's right. Hadn't he progressed
any? Oh yeah, but not in faith. Faith's
always, not in the object, it's always Christ. It's been that
way from the start to the end. Never be anything else. It's
always Christ. Isn't that right, Paul? It's
always Christ. I tell you really, more Christ now than it was back
then. That's right, it's more Christ
now than it was then. You feel more helplessness now
than you did 30 years ago. In fact, when we first come along,
we feel like the cock of the wall. Been there about 30, 40
years, feel like somebody walked on you. Feel like to walk, don't
you? But that's it, the object of
faith, Christ. Secondly, the faith that saves not only has
a single object, but it's exercised. This faith, to be faith, has
got to be exercised. Now, what's the word you would
use for exercise? I don't know, but the thought
is this. This faith, to be saving faith, is a committal, a personal
committal to Christ. Paul said he's able to keep that
which I've committed. Not only that, but it's a confession.
Paul said it, thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord.
Again, it's a reception of Christ as many as received him and turned
to Romans 14. Let's look at this Romans chapter
14 verse 8 and 9 take a look at this scripture and It's a
consecration to Christ He said in Romans 14 8 listen whether
we live we live under the Lord Whether we die, we're down to
the Lord, so whether we live or die, we're the Lord's. That's
what it is right there. That's what I'm saying. This
faith is exercise. It's not just a mental agreement
with facts and adopting the correct theology, but it's a surrender. A surrender. Barnard used to
call it laying down your weapons of warfare, putting up your swords,
stacking your arms. Committal. And this faith has
a single object, and unto that single object Christ, we have
made a committal. And then this faith that saves
is productive. I want you to turn to James a
moment. In the book of James, it's productive faith. True faith
is a life that lives, not just a life that's professed, it's
alive. True faith is a principle that
produces. Not just professes, but produces. That's right. And true faith
is a nature. A nature that operates. And that's what James is saying.
Faith and conduct are inseparable. It controls. It's a nature that
controls. It's a nature that operates.
In James chapter 2, verse 14, Now what does it profit, my brethren,
if a man say he hath faith? and hath not works. Can that
faith save him? Say, for example, a brother or
sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you
say, well, you just go on in peace now and you be warmed and
filled and you don't give him those things that are needful.
What profit is it? He can't be warmed with words.
He can't be filled with words. That won't warm him or fill him.
Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead. Being alone,
a man may say, you have faith, I have work, show me faith without
works. I'll show you faith by my work.
That's what I'm saying. This true faith is productive. It's a life that lives. It's
a principle that produces. It's a nature that has some control
over the person's conduct. And then, fourth place, this
faith that says, we'll persevere. It'll persevere. This faith that
looks to Christ. He said, if you continue in the
faith. If you continue in the faith. And Hebrews 11 said, these
all died in faith. And John said, some folks left
us. And he wasn't talking about just the local assembly. They
left the gospel. They left the gospel. They left
the testimony of the gospel. And he said the reason they left
is they never did know it. If they had known it and been
of us, they'd know doubt, no question about it, because to
talk of temporary faith is foolishness. If it does not continue, it never
was faith, because faith is a committal. It's a total committal. And if
it doesn't continue, then it wasn't a total committal. If
it doesn't continue, it wasn't a living principle. We're the
household of Christ if we hold fast our profession firm unto
the end. And then fifthly, this faith
that saves will be tried. Yes, it will. Let me read you,
while you're in James, turn to James 1. You're already in James
1, verse 2. My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into different temptations or trials, knowing
that the trying of your faith work in patience. Trial has to
come to faith. It has to. To produce the graces
of faith, you have to have trial. You've got to have struggle.
You've got to have struggle. I've heard this. I don't know
much about oysters, but they tell me that that oyster that
forms the most beautiful pearl does so in great pain. and agony
as the pearl is being formed. And even so, he talks about the
goal of faith being tried. Turn to 1 Peter, and I'll read
that to you. 1 Peter chapter 1. It's 1 Peter chapter 1. It says
here in verse 4, verse 5, we're kept by the power
of God through faith. under salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for
a season, for a while, if need be, and need be, it's there,
you're in heaviness through manifold trials, that the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Now let me tell
you something. If this faith which I claim,
and which you claim, is not going to be found unto the glory and
honor and praise of the Lord Jesus Christ at His appearing,
I'd rather be rid of it now, hadn't you? And you'd rather
shuck it now than then? And you'd rather be exposed now
than then? So whatever trial God has to send our way to prove
our faith and to receive Trials do not produce faith. I wish
we could get that through our heads. I wish I could shove that
into my head and yours. That's the reason these preachers
camp on the doorstep of the hospitals. They think trial produces faith,
and it doesn't. That's the reason preachers follow
ambulances. That's the reason one fellow
came to town here and started writing letters to everybody
whose name was in the obituary column, that if he was in trouble,
needed him, he'd come to the aid, you know. Trials don't produce
faith. They don't do it. They don't
bring men to Christ. The Holy Spirit brings men to
Christ using the Word of God, using the Gospel. The Holy Spirit
brings men to Christ. Trials do not produce faith.
Trials reveal faith. Trials prove faith. Trials strengthen
faith. That's what they're for. And
whatever God has to send now to reveal the truthfulness of
my faith and the sincerity of my faith, then let it come, because
I don't want to be left out there meeting Christ with a shabby,
no-count faith. Do you, Charlie? And that's what
he says here. The trial of your faith. It's
necessary that your faith be tried with fire. Fire. And I'll tell you, Somebody told
me one time, the more precious the gold, the hotter the fire
that tries it. The more precious the metal,
the hotter the fire. And the more precious the faith,
the hotter the fire. Well, that's so. It's going to
be tried. Let me read a scripture over
here. I jotted down. I forgot what it was. Let me
see. I don't want to miss it. First Corinthians 3.13 says,
Every man's work will be tried. Every man's work. Because it
will be revealed by fire, either now or then. All right, last
of all, the faith that saves grows. Yes, it does. This is true of any grace. If
anything is living, it grows. Oh, I know. You can't feed on
the Word of God and not grow. You can't feed on the person
of Christ and not grow. He said, grow in grace and in
the knowledge of Christ. Desire the sincere milk of the
Word that you may grow, thereby God gave us pastors and apostles
and prophets that we might grow up. That's the very word of you,
grow up. Let me show you that in Ephesians
4. It would be worthwhile just to look at it. In Ephesians chapter
4, Ephesians 4, verse 14, he says it would be, Ephesians 4,
14, Be henceforth no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men, the cunning
craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking
the truth in love, we may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ. So faith, like love, joy, patience,
it grows. Although I don't think it ever
grows to the point where a man boasts of his faith, not at all,
I think really probably the stronger his faith, the less he'll have
to say about it, or any other grace, the less he'll have to
say about it. Mike's going to sing a special
for us. Tom, you come up and lead in prayer. You know, I believe
you listened to me a little better tonight. Caught you off guard.
Might just come out here some Wednesday and just preach and
sing later. Might come give us a special.