Praise the Lamb for sinners slain,
amen. If you will open your Bible tonight
with me to Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah chapter 29. And my text this evening is verse
11. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not
of evil, to give you an expected end. If you have a marginal reading,
you see the margin there at the end is an expectation, to give
you an expectation. I recently heard a man's comment
on this verse, which was something like this. He said, many Christians
are applying this verse to themselves when it doesn't apply to Christians,
but to the nation of Israel. I had to ask myself, I've thought
about his statement several times, and I had to ask myself if that's
true. if that's true, that Christians
should not apply this verse to ourselves. And isn't it true
that scripture may have more than one application? And the
answer, of course, is yes. So first, the first application
of this verse is to the nation of Israel. If you look in verse
one, Our text tonight is part of a letter, a letter that Jeremiah
wrote, no doubt was inspired of God and sent to the captives
in Babylon. Now, these are the words of the
letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem onto the
residue of the elders, which were carried away captives. and
to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar
had carried away captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. So this text is part of a letter
which was sent to the Israelites who had been taken into Babylon,
who had been captured by Nebuchadnezzar when he defeated the armies of
Judah and took control of Jerusalem. They were captives. They were
in captivity, we know, because of their sin. That is the nation
of Israel, the nation of Judah here. They were in captivity
because of their sin. God had caused them to be carried
into Babylon. You notice in verse 4, Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried
away captives, now notice, whom I have caused to be carried away
from Jerusalem into Babylon. God's word concerning this captivity
was that it would last for 70 years. They would be in captivity
in Babylon for 70 years. And God's word to them was that
during this 70 years they were to live as though they were in
their homeland. Notice that in verses 5 through
7. This is a way you are to conduct yourself there as captives in
the land of Babylon. build you houses and dwell in
them, and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them. Take you wives
and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons,
and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters,
that you may be increased there and not diminished, and seek
the peace of the city, whether I have caused you to be carried
away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it, For in the peace
thereof shall you have peace." In other words, God said you're
going to be in captivity for 70 years. And while you're there,
live as though you were in your own land. Build houses, give
your sons and daughters in marriage, and pray for the peace of whichever
town the armies carry you. The armies of Nebuchadnezzar,
whatever town they carry you to as captives, pray for the
peace of that town, because in giving peace to that town, you
will have peace. At this time, as always, they
were plagued with false prophets. Notice in verses eight and nine.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, let not your
prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you deceive
you, neither hearken to your dreams which you cause to be
dreamed, for they prophesy falsely unto you in my name. I have not
sent them, saith the Lord. As I said, they at this time,
as all through their history, had false prophets. And these
false prophets kept telling those captives that God was going to
deliver them now, that they were going to be delivered and sent
back to their homeland. But God had said they were going
to be there for 70 years. False prophets have always been. God had warned through Moses
before the nation of Israel ever came into the land of Canaan,
that there would be false prophets. I want you to look back to Deuteronomy,
keep your place here, but look back to Deuteronomy chapter 13. This is before they entered into the
land of Canaan. And you know, even during Moses'
lifetime, while they were in the wilderness, there were men
who rose up and claimed that God spoke by all of the nation
of Israel, that Moses was no one special, that others had
a message from the Lord. And many were killed, we know,
at that time. But here, Moses, or God through
Moses, warned them If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer
of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or
the wonder come to pass. How about that? How about that? They give you a sign, give you
a wonder, and that sign, that wonder comes to pass. Where have
he spake unto thee saying, let us go after other gods? In other words, that wasn't all.
The sign that came to pass, but their message was, let us go
after other gods, which thou hast not known and let us serve
them. Thou shalt not hearken unto the
words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. Now notice
this, for the Lord your God proveth you to know. whether you love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul. God proved the
nation of Israel, and no doubt even today, he proves men who
profess to be believers by the number of false prophets that
are in our land that are all over the world, always have been. But the end is they take us away
from the word of God, I mean, if a man speaks and he speaks
according to this word, we are to hear him. But if he speaks
something that is not in accordance with the word of God, then we
mark him off as a false prophet, no matter what sign, no matter
what wonder may come to pass under his ministry. God proves
us to know if we love the Lord. Now, God knows if we love Him
or not, but in this way, He proves us that we find out what is in
our heart. Do we really love the Lord? Do
we really love Him and obey Him and keep His Word? Or are we
deceived? In our Lord's Sermon, which is
called the Sermon on the Mount, you remember He warned against
false prophets. That's found in Matthew chapter
7. He said beware of false prophets. I remember reading Lloyd Jones'
commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, and he made this comment
about these false prophets. They're always near the gate. Remember, straight is the gate
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life everlasting. And in that context, right after
that, the Lord says, beware of false prophets. They're always
around the gate to deceive. and tell people, well, there's
no need to go in that straight gate. There's a wide gate. The straight gate, of course,
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only way to the Father.
He's the only way of salvation. But our Lord warned against,
beware false prophets which come to you, and they come in sheep's
clothing. They've got a big old Bible under
their arm, and you would think they were the apostle Paul. I mean, they can talk. They can
talk a good game, no doubt about it. Our Lord said, you beware
of them. I was deceived just a few weeks
ago by a man, and it was amazing. He was such a good talker. I mean, he convinced me that
he was a brother in Christ, and all the time, he was trying to
con me. But he, man, he was good, I'll
say that about him. He knew the scriptures. He was
telling me what my name means. David, beloved, and how that's
a type of Christ, and he just went on with some other types.
Beware of false prophets, because they come in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly, they're ravening wolves. And then in Peter, the
Apostle Peter's second letter, he said this, there were false
prophets also among the people, meaning the nation of Israel.
There were false prophets also among the people. Now listen,
even as there shall be false teachers among you. There are
false prophets, false teachers, in this generation as always. Now go back with me to Jeremiah
29. God said 70 years. He didn't
say 50 years. He didn't say 55 years. He didn't
say 69 years. God said 70 years captivity and
70 years it would be. Notice that in verse 10. For
thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon,
I will visit you and perform my good word toward you and causing
you to return to this place. At the end of the 70 years, God
would visit them and cause them to return. And I want you to
notice, my text is verse 11, but if you look in verse 12,
in verses 12, 13, and 14, I looked at these verses and what a blessing,
what an encouragement to pray. What an encouragement to all
of us to pray and claim the promises that God has given us. Notice
then, verse 12, then, when, when the 70 years was almost accomplished. Then shall you call upon me,
and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
You see, they would have the word, God's word. And as we've
often said, that's the best way of praying, isn't it? Is to pray
back to God what he tells us in his word. Lord, you said,
this is what you said. That's the way Jacob of old said.
Lord, you told me to go home. when he was about to meet his
brother Esau, and he didn't know what was going to take place.
He just heard Esau was coming with 300 armed men. But God,
you told me, you told me to return. And it all worked out, didn't
it? But notice, then shall you call upon me, and you shall go
and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and you shall
seek me and find me, when you shall search for me with all
your heart. And I will be found of you, saith
the Lord. And I will turn away your captivity,
and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the
places whither I've driven you, saith the Lord. And I will bring
you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away
captive. One of the places in the book
of Ezekiel where we have the promises of the new covenant,
and God says, I will, and you shall, I will, and you shall.
And then at the end of that chapter, God says, for all of these things,
I will be inquired. You know, God promises them,
yes, but we pray, we ask for them. And when I looked at this
here, then, that word then, I thought over here, look in Daniel chapter
nine, God said you're gonna be there 70 years. Daniel chapter nine and verses
two and three. In the first year of his reign,
Daniel, now notice this, I understood by books the number of the years. Here he is in Babylon and he's
got the book of Jeremiah that we're reading and studying from
tonight, that chapter, and he understands that they were going
to be in captivity for 70 years. So what does he do? Just sit
down and say, well, God said it, it's gonna take place. No,
he seeks the Lord. He calls upon the Lord. I, Daniel,
understood by books the number of the years where of the word
of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish
70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem, and I set my face
unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications and
fastings and sackcloth and ashes, and I prayed unto the Lord God,
Lord my God. No, he understood by the word
of God that The 70 years was almost ended, and what does he
do? He sets his face to pray, to
pray and ask God to accomplish his will, his word. What an encouragement
to pray. Sometimes people think, well,
if everything's already ordained of God, why should we pray? Because God told us to. That's
good enough, isn't it? That's good enough because he
told us to pray. He told us, seek and you shall
find, knock and it shall be opened. Ask and it shall be given unto
thee. That's enough. God said it. So that is the first application
of this verse, no doubt, to the nation of Israel. God says unto
them, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, even
though I've sent you into captivity, you're going to be there 70 years.
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts
of peace and not of evil. In other words, he did not send
them into captivity. Actually, we'll see a verse in
a minute that tells us he did this for their good. He didn't
send them there to destroy them. to cause their nation to come
to an end? No. Thoughts of peace and not
of evil to give you an expectation. So that is the first application
of this verse. But may it also have an application
to Christians? I believe so. I think so. And
I think we lose We deprive ourselves of the blessing if we fail to
see the application. And as far as it referring or
being applied to believers today, remember these words of the apostle
in Romans 15. He said, for whatsoever, whatsoever
things were written aforetime. And he's talking about the Old
Testament. There's no question about that. whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, and we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Patience and
comfort through the scriptures might have hope. And doesn't
this verse, this text tonight, here in Jeremiah 29 and verse
11, Doesn't it minister to us? Doesn't it minister to give God's
children patience and comfort while living in this world? These two things. First, God's
thoughts of peace and not of evil. God's thoughts are eternal. His thoughts are eternal. He has thought upon his children
from eternity, and they have always been thoughts of peace
concerning his children. His thoughts have included his
everlasting love of them, never has changed, and it never will
change. Why? Because he doesn't change. I am the Lord, I change not. He said in the book of Malachi,
thoughts of peace and not of evil. His thoughts of how he
would reconcile those that he loved unto himself through the
work, through the substitutionary work, through the sufferings,
through the death, through the blood shedding of his dear son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Thoughts of peace, not of evil. We know that Christ has always
been as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. His
thoughts have ever been of peace and not of evil. You know that
verse says that we through patience and comfort, this gives us no
doubt patience as we go through this world, the very thought
that his thoughts concerning you have always been thoughts
of peace, if you're one of his children. No matter the circumstances,
no matter what providence may have you involved in tonight,
his thoughts for you, if you're one of his children, are thoughts
of peace. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil. Not of evil. Have ever been of peace and not
of evil. It has been his thoughts, his
purpose to make all things, all things work together for your
good to those who are called according to his purpose. That's
been his thoughts. God told Israel, if you want
to look back here to Jeremiah chapter 24, God told Israel, Why he was doing what he did
when he sent them into captivity, it was for their good. Look at
Jeremiah 24 in verse five. Thus saith the Lord, the God
of Israel, like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that
are carried away captive of Judah. whom I have sent out of this
place into the land of the Chaldeans," now notice, for their good. For their good. Now they may not have thought,
they may not have perceived it when they were being carried
away out of their country. And when you go through some
trial, some evil in this world, It may be very difficult, but
we walk by faith and not by sight. And God has caused this for your
good, for my good. The troubles and struggles that
God's children experience in this world, we might call evils
in the sense that they're tribulation or testings and things like that. But God always intends them for
the good of His people. Never are they thoughts of evil.
And God gives His children an expected end. What is the child of God's expected
end? Now, the word hope, has changed
its meaning, of course, over the years. And the word hope,
as we understand it in the word of God, is expectation. Our expectation. He's given us
an expectation. Now, all men, I don't care who
they are, all men live with some kind of a hope. One of the writers,
I thought this was so good, one of the writers said, the lost
Those who are lost, those who are dead in trespasses and sins,
they find it very easy to have an expectation. They find it
very easy to have a hope. I'm talking about when they die,
they hope they're going to be in heaven. They're going to enjoy
eternity. They have a hope. But this writer
pointed this out. The reason for this I'm talking
about those who do not know God. The reason they have this hope
is they've never been shown their unworthiness and their guilt. They've never been shown that.
God the Holy Spirit has never revealed that unto them. But
the saving work of God the Holy Spirit will break up that expectation. He will break up that hope. by
showing us our sinfulness. When God begins the work of grace
in the heart of His people, that hope that we had, everything's
going to be all right, God will tear that hope up. How will He do that? He'll show
us our unworthiness. He'll show us our sinfulness. When He has come, that is God
the Holy Spirit, He shall convince the world of sin. And it's not
just that we've broken the commandments of God, He will convince the
world of sin, our unrighteousness, our evil, our wickedness. When he shuts one door, that
is when God the Holy Spirit, when he shuts one door of hope,
he opens another door. He turns the sinner from the
law. That's where he's found and got
his hope from the law of trying to keep the law and obeying the
law. But when God convicts him, he
turns from the law to the gospel, to the gospel. He turns from
self, what I'm doing and what I've done and what I hope to
do, to the Savior. What he's done, who he is, what
he's accomplished. And he turns from one hope of
going about to establish our own righteousness, to embrace
the righteousness which is of God. Now, A child of God comes to
have what Paul calls a good hope through grace, a good expectation
through grace, through God's sovereign grace. This hope or
expectation is a good hope, good expectation in the sense that
it has a good foundation. It's not built upon Our work,
but it is built upon Christ alone and his finished work. What is this expected end? This
expectation. Those with this expected end
are able to meet with evil, with troubles in this world, with
patience and comfort and knowing what is waiting them. Paul said, for I reckon that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. What is the child
of God expected in? Listen, it's to be with Christ,
and it is to be like Christ. That's the expectation, the hope
that the Lord has given us, to be with Christ, and to be with
Christ, and to be like Christ. John said it like this, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is. The psalmist said this,
as for me, here's my testimony. Now I say the same thing, I know
you will too. As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. That's when we will be satisfied. That is the expected end that
God gives his children. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. I heard this story many years
ago, and I haven't forgotten it. I may have told it to you
before, but bear with me. A missionary was returning home
after giving his life in Africa, preaching the gospel. He was
aboard a ship, and the ship docked in New York. He'd given his life
there, many, many years of preaching the gospel. And on board the
ship with him was the ex-president of the United States, Roosevelt. He was returning from a wild
game hunt in Africa. The ship docked in New York,
and there was the president's welcoming committee, a large
band, and a parade to welcome the ex-president home. And after
all the hoorah took place and was over, this missionary stepped
off the ship, and there wasn't anyone to meet him, anyone to
welcome him. And just for a second, his heart
kind of fell within him. And then he was quickly reminded,
but you're not home. But you're not home. The president
was home. but you're not home. I think
of that story quite often, and I think of Cliff Heller after the many years, and his
wife as well, but the many years of their labor in New Guinea. What a welcome, what a welcome
awaits them in glory. when they reach home. We have an expected end to be
with Christ and to be like Christ. Couldn't ask for any more. Nothing
could be better. Let us sing a hymn.