1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:02,580 Opening Seminar 365 2 00:00:02,580 –> 00:00:05,880 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin 3 00:00:05,880 –> 00:00:07,120 Smith of Open the Bible. 4 00:00:07,120 –> 00:00:13,940 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN 365 or visit our website 5 00:00:13,940 –> 00:00:18,260 www.OpenTheBible.org Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor 6 00:00:18,260 –> 00:00:20,620 Colin. 7 00:00:20,620 –> 00:00:23,059 This is the third in a four-week series 8 00:00:23,059 –> 00:00:28,240 on this little known book of the Bible often neglected that speaks to an issue 9 00:00:28,260 –> 00:00:31,100 that touches something that every one of us experiences. 10 00:00:31,100 –> 00:00:34,560 It is a book that is for all who grieve. 11 00:00:34,560 –> 00:00:35,660 And we have been picking up 12 00:00:35,660 –> 00:00:37,720 some themes from the book of Lamentations. 13 00:00:37,720 –> 00:00:39,660 Tears and talk. 14 00:00:39,660 –> 00:00:42,599 God gave you tear ducts for a reason. 15 00:00:42,599 –> 00:00:43,860 God has given us a whole 16 00:00:43,860 –> 00:00:49,480 book that puts grief into words and he has given us that for a reason. 17 00:00:49,480 –> 00:00:50,480 Last 18 00:00:50,480 –> 00:00:54,919 week we looked at the whole issue of guilt and of grievance. 19 00:00:54,919 –> 00:00:55,919 We saw it 20 00:00:56,099 –> 00:01:01,540 comes with guilt attached and how wonderfully God has provided for the cleansing of the 21 00:01:01,540 –> 00:01:06,139 conscience in regards to guilt that is true and guilt that may be false. 22 00:01:06,139 –> 00:01:07,279 We saw 23 00:01:07,279 –> 00:01:12,239 that grief often comes with grievance attached and that there is no better place to pour 24 00:01:12,239 –> 00:01:18,919 out grievances that may be in the soul that in the presence of God himself. 25 00:01:18,919 –> 00:01:19,919 We saw 26 00:01:19,919 –> 00:01:24,860 how that is wonderfully model for us, so helpfully model in the book of Lamentations. 27 00:01:25,779 –> 00:01:30,160 And we ended the last time by seeing that what the scripture really calls us to do 28 00:01:30,160 –> 00:01:37,919 is to look through our guilt and look through our grievance to the cross of the Lord Jesus 29 00:01:37,919 –> 00:01:45,379 Christ and that it is very difficult not to believe that God loves you when you’re looking 30 00:01:45,379 –> 00:01:47,720 at the cross. 31 00:01:47,720 –> 00:01:53,940 Now today we’re going to look at another pair of themes from the book of Lamentations, 32 00:01:54,940 –> 00:02:01,059 and particularly, I want to focus your attention on the word hope, which comes four times in 33 00:02:01,059 –> 00:02:07,559 this book of Lamentations, and all of these are in chapter three that’s before us today. 34 00:02:07,559 –> 00:02:14,220 So just to show you where hope is in this book, I have forgotten what happiness is, 35 00:02:14,220 –> 00:02:21,520 so I say my endurance has perished and so has my hope from the Lord. 36 00:02:21,580 –> 00:02:25,639 That’s the first reference to hope and it’s a person saying, I haven’t got it. 37 00:02:25,639 –> 00:02:28,039 I used to have it, but my hope has perished. 38 00:02:28,039 –> 00:02:29,039 It’s gone. 39 00:02:29,039 –> 00:02:30,139 I don’t have hope. 40 00:02:30,139 –> 00:02:35,199 That’s chapter three in verse 18, but than notice that a few verses later the same person 41 00:02:35,199 –> 00:02:40,839 says, verse 21, but this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. 42 00:02:40,839 –> 00:02:49,679 There is something that this person who has lost hope calls to mind and says, therefore 43 00:02:49,679 –> 00:02:50,679 I have hope. 44 00:02:50,839 –> 00:02:51,839 What is hope? 45 00:02:51,839 –> 00:02:55,240 Well, obviously we want to find out what is it that this person calls to mind when they 46 00:02:55,240 –> 00:03:00,520 had no hope that brings them to the place of saying, I have hope. 47 00:03:00,520 –> 00:03:06,679 And then this person says in verse 24, the Lord is my portion says my soul therefore 48 00:03:06,679 –> 00:03:09,880 I will hope in him. 49 00:03:09,880 –> 00:03:15,380 But then notice just a few verses later, verse 29, let him sit alone in silence. 50 00:03:16,240 –> 00:03:17,240 it is laid on him. 51 00:03:17,240 –> 00:03:22,460 Let him put his mouth in the dust there may yet be hope. 52 00:03:22,460 –> 00:03:26,979 While there’s some doubt there, isn’t there that there may be hope and maybe, might. 53 00:03:26,979 –> 00:03:34,919 You have the whole range of experience in relation to hope in these four references 54 00:03:34,919 –> 00:03:36,979 that we’ve just looked at together. 55 00:03:36,979 –> 00:03:38,779 There’s hope lost. 56 00:03:38,779 –> 00:03:40,380 There’s hope found. 57 00:03:40,380 –> 00:03:41,399 And there’s hope questioned. 58 00:03:41,660 –> 00:03:46,539 So you’ve got every possible place you could be on the spectrum of hope or no hope is right 59 00:03:46,539 –> 00:03:47,860 here in front of us. 60 00:03:47,860 –> 00:03:52,080 And surely one thing that we learn from this – since all of these are spoken by the same 61 00:03:52,080 –> 00:03:54,059 grieving person. 62 00:03:54,059 –> 00:03:59,960 Surely we learn that the strength of your hope may vary as you walk through the journey 63 00:03:59,960 –> 00:04:01,240 of grief. 64 00:04:01,240 –> 00:04:07,720 The same person is saying, I have hope, I will hope, I’ve lost hope. 65 00:04:07,720 –> 00:04:09,119 There may be hope. 66 00:04:09,160 –> 00:04:12,520 And that comes from the same mouth and it is the mouth of one of God’s people. 67 00:04:12,520 –> 00:04:14,139 It’s one of God’s believing people. 68 00:04:14,139 –> 00:04:18,660 And so clearly that indicates that in a journey through grief, this may be something that 69 00:04:18,660 –> 00:04:25,799 varies and these experiences will be touched and they’re there for us in the Bible. 70 00:04:25,799 –> 00:04:33,220 But surely the really big surprise for us is that hope appears at all in the book of 71 00:04:33,220 –> 00:04:35,220 Lamentations. 72 00:04:35,220 –> 00:04:39,040 This is our third week in the series and so we’ve begun to get a little bit of a feel 73 00:04:39,040 –> 00:04:42,540 of what these people have endured. 74 00:04:42,540 –> 00:04:47,700 Their homes have been destroyed. 75 00:04:47,700 –> 00:04:49,579 Their city has been ruined. 76 00:04:49,579 –> 00:04:56,000 They’ve been invaded by a brutal enemy who has made them slaves. 77 00:04:56,000 –> 00:05:03,359 Many of them have lost children in that awful starvation when the city was under siege. 78 00:05:03,359 –> 00:05:08,839 Many of them who had mature sons and daughters had their sons and daughters taken off into 79 00:05:08,839 –> 00:05:14,399 exile in Babylon so that they would never see them again. 80 00:05:14,399 –> 00:05:22,040 Some of the women, and perhaps many, had been brutally abused. 81 00:05:22,040 –> 00:05:28,299 Here are these people having suffered one trauma on top of another and they’re trying 82 00:05:28,839 –> 00:05:36,220 to build a life in the rubble and the ruins of their once great but now destroyed city. 83 00:05:36,220 –> 00:05:41,519 So, it’s really not surprising, when you think about all these people have endured, 84 00:05:41,519 –> 00:05:46,859 to read in verse 17, I have forgotten what happiness is. 85 00:05:46,859 –> 00:05:52,260 I have forgotten what it is, it seems like, can’t remember the last time I was happy, 86 00:05:52,260 –> 00:05:57,420 or verse 18, my hope has perished. 87 00:05:57,500 –> 00:05:58,760 It’s quite surprising. 88 00:05:58,760 –> 00:06:04,880 The really amazing thing is that in these circumstances you have a grieving person say, 89 00:06:04,880 –> 00:06:10,880 verse 21, I have hope, and verse 24, I will hope. 90 00:06:10,880 –> 00:06:16,179 And so quite obviously what that brings before us today is this very important question, 91 00:06:16,179 –> 00:06:24,459 how can grieving people find hope in the valley of sorrow and loss? 92 00:06:24,459 –> 00:06:29,619 Now the Bible gives us two answers to that question. 93 00:06:29,619 –> 00:06:37,179 There is an ultimate hope and there is an immediate hope and both of them are really 94 00:06:37,179 –> 00:06:38,179 important. 95 00:06:38,179 –> 00:06:43,140 You don’t need one or the other, you really do need both. 96 00:06:43,140 –> 00:06:45,140 And I want us to look at both together. 97 00:06:45,140 –> 00:06:49,700 First, from the New Testament, I want us to look at the ultimate hope. 98 00:06:49,760 –> 00:06:55,380 And then we’re going to come back to Lamentations, chapter three that focuses on the immediate 99 00:06:55,399 –> 00:06:56,399 hope. 100 00:06:56,399 –> 00:07:00,920 So that’s where we’re going today as we seek to let the word of God do its wonderful 101 00:07:00,920 –> 00:07:03,179 work in our lives. 102 00:07:03,179 –> 00:07:08,100 So first then the ultimate hope, that is hope in God’s ultimate purpose, I want to draw 103 00:07:08,100 –> 00:07:14,179 your attention to 1 Thessalonians, chupter 4 and verse 13, one of the great statements 104 00:07:14,179 –> 00:07:20,299 about grief in the New Testament, and a series on grief would not be complete without this. 105 00:07:20,299 –> 00:07:26,000 “‘We do not want you to be uninformed,’ the Apostle Paul says, 106 00:07:26,000 –> 00:07:28,640 ‘about those who have fallen asleep, 107 00:07:28,640 –> 00:07:34,640 that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.’” 108 00:07:35,000 –> 00:07:39,179 Now, the Apostle Paul is not saying 109 00:07:39,179 –> 00:07:42,679 that Christians do not grieve. 110 00:07:42,679 –> 00:07:47,679 That would be a terrible misunderstanding of this verse. 111 00:07:47,679 –> 00:07:50,899 Christians grieve, too. 112 00:07:50,899 –> 00:07:53,059 Jesus wept. 113 00:07:53,059 –> 00:07:57,779 The Book of Lamentations is in the Bible. 114 00:07:57,779 –> 00:08:02,160 The pain of grief and loss is as real and as deep 115 00:08:02,440 –> 00:08:06,500 for a Christian as for anyone else. 116 00:08:06,500 –> 00:08:08,399 In fact, think about this. 117 00:08:08,399 –> 00:08:10,980 It is those who love most deeply 118 00:08:10,980 –> 00:08:15,320 who hurt the most at the loss of a loved one. 119 00:08:15,320 –> 00:08:18,440 And therefore, the more a person grows in love, 120 00:08:18,440 –> 00:08:21,399 the more deeply they are going to hurt 121 00:08:21,399 –> 00:08:25,720 and feel the pain of love that was very deep 122 00:08:25,720 –> 00:08:29,619 and love that was separated through the loss 123 00:08:29,619 –> 00:08:31,079 that comes with death. 124 00:08:31,160 –> 00:08:35,840 So, Paul is not saying that Christians don’t grieve. 125 00:08:35,840 –> 00:08:39,900 What he is saying is, look, there are two kinds of grief. 126 00:08:40,919 –> 00:08:44,340 There is a grief that is without hope. 127 00:08:44,340 –> 00:08:47,520 And there’s grief that is with hope. 128 00:08:48,659 –> 00:08:51,419 Now, grief that is without hope, of course, 129 00:08:51,419 –> 00:08:54,880 is the experience of a person who does not believe 130 00:08:54,880 –> 00:08:57,799 that Jesus rose from the dead. 131 00:08:57,799 –> 00:09:00,359 So, for that person who does not believe 132 00:09:00,359 –> 00:09:02,400 that Jesus rose from the dead, 133 00:09:02,400 –> 00:09:06,239 death is a final separation. 134 00:09:06,239 –> 00:09:09,260 That person may have fond memories of the past. 135 00:09:09,260 –> 00:09:12,559 They may have hopes of a new chapter in the future. 136 00:09:12,559 –> 00:09:14,679 But for the person who does not believe 137 00:09:14,679 –> 00:09:17,059 that Jesus rose from the dead, 138 00:09:17,059 –> 00:09:21,200 there is no hope of enjoying the company 139 00:09:21,200 –> 00:09:23,440 and the love and the affection 140 00:09:23,440 –> 00:09:27,940 of the person who has died ever, ever again. 141 00:09:28,859 –> 00:09:31,239 Now Paul says in this verse, 142 00:09:31,239 –> 00:09:33,020 brother, sister in Christ, 143 00:09:33,020 –> 00:09:35,679 our grief is not like that. 144 00:09:36,919 –> 00:09:41,119 We do not grieve like those who have no hope. 145 00:09:41,119 –> 00:09:42,859 No our grief is different 146 00:09:42,859 –> 00:09:46,219 because it is shot through with the living hope 147 00:09:46,219 –> 00:09:49,659 that is ours through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 148 00:09:49,799 –> 00:09:51,719 Jesus Christ, he says in verse 14, 149 00:09:51,719 –> 00:09:56,400 we believe that Jesus died and rose. 150 00:09:56,400 –> 00:09:58,739 We know that death was not the end for Jesus 151 00:09:58,739 –> 00:10:02,380 and therefore we know when we lose a loved one in Christ 152 00:10:02,380 –> 00:10:07,219 that death is not the end for that person either. 153 00:10:07,219 –> 00:10:09,859 And more than that, the apostle says here 154 00:10:09,859 –> 00:10:14,859 that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 155 00:10:14,900 –> 00:10:15,900 Asleep. 156 00:10:16,859 –> 00:10:20,840 In other words, death, when that came 157 00:10:20,840 –> 00:10:23,440 to your Christian loved one, 158 00:10:23,440 –> 00:10:27,739 death is a separation of the soul from the body. 159 00:10:27,739 –> 00:10:29,580 That’s what it is. 160 00:10:29,580 –> 00:10:31,940 And when your loved one died, 161 00:10:31,940 –> 00:10:35,780 what happened was that for a loved one in Christ 162 00:10:35,780 –> 00:10:37,340 to be away from the body 163 00:10:37,340 –> 00:10:40,780 was for the soul to be at home with the Lord. 164 00:10:40,780 –> 00:10:45,359 That’s Second Corinthians chapter five and verse eight. 165 00:10:45,359 –> 00:10:49,619 For them it was a translation to be immediately, 166 00:10:49,619 –> 00:10:52,919 consciously, and joyfully 167 00:10:52,919 –> 00:10:55,700 in the presence of the Lord, 168 00:10:55,700 –> 00:10:57,859 which is better by far. 169 00:10:57,859 –> 00:11:00,580 But their soul is with the Lord, 170 00:11:00,580 –> 00:11:01,640 but not the body. 171 00:11:01,640 –> 00:11:03,619 The body was buried someplace, 172 00:11:03,619 –> 00:11:06,820 or the ashes were scattered someplace, 173 00:11:06,820 –> 00:11:09,559 and what the Apostle Paul is telling us here 174 00:11:09,580 –> 00:11:13,479 is that when the Lord Jesus returns in glory, 175 00:11:13,479 –> 00:11:16,840 he will bring with him the souls that are with him. 176 00:11:18,479 –> 00:11:21,419 And when he does, he will give to them 177 00:11:21,419 –> 00:11:23,719 these souls that are already immediately, 178 00:11:23,719 –> 00:11:25,859 joyfully in his presence. 179 00:11:25,859 –> 00:11:30,000 He will give to them the gift of a resurrection body. 180 00:11:30,960 –> 00:11:34,640 And at the same time, for those who are alive 181 00:11:34,640 –> 00:11:37,119 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 182 00:11:37,320 –> 00:11:40,580 we too will find these bodies change, 183 00:11:40,580 –> 00:11:42,039 transformed at a moment. 184 00:11:42,039 –> 00:11:44,080 And we will be given the resurrection body 185 00:11:44,080 –> 00:11:47,380 at the same time as our loved ones 186 00:11:47,380 –> 00:11:52,239 whose souls are already in the presence of the lord. 187 00:11:52,239 –> 00:11:56,080 And that is why Paul says, we shall not all sleep. 188 00:11:56,080 –> 00:11:59,719 There will be a generation of Christians who don’t die, 189 00:11:59,719 –> 00:12:01,760 those who are living at the return of the Lord, 190 00:12:01,760 –> 00:12:05,000 we shall not all sleep, but we will all be changed. 191 00:12:05,000 –> 00:12:06,679 That is those who are already with the Lord 192 00:12:06,840 –> 00:12:09,400 and those who are still living at the time of his return, 193 00:12:09,400 –> 00:12:11,640 we will all be changed and it will happen, 194 00:12:11,640 –> 00:12:14,859 in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, 195 00:12:14,859 –> 00:12:19,159 and here’s when it will happen, at the last trumpet. 196 00:12:20,320 –> 00:12:22,760 So, returning to Thessalonians, 197 00:12:22,760 –> 00:12:26,940 Paul says that we will be caught up together with them, 198 00:12:26,940 –> 00:12:30,159 that is the souls who come with the Lord Jesus. 199 00:12:30,159 –> 00:12:33,280 We’ll not only be reunited with Jesus 200 00:12:33,280 –> 00:12:34,979 and see him face to face, 201 00:12:34,979 –> 00:12:39,979 but we will be reunited with those who have died in Christ, 202 00:12:40,799 –> 00:12:44,859 and he says we, that is we who are living 203 00:12:44,859 –> 00:12:46,820 and those who have gone on before us, 204 00:12:46,820 –> 00:12:49,359 will be forever with the Lord, 205 00:12:49,359 –> 00:12:53,419 therefore, encourage, comfort one another with these words. 206 00:12:53,419 –> 00:12:58,419 So, here’s the great long-term hope of a Christian believer. 207 00:12:59,179 –> 00:13:01,539 Here’s the ultimate hope. 208 00:13:02,460 –> 00:13:07,000 You will see your believing loved one again 209 00:13:07,000 –> 00:13:09,400 and C.S. Lewis says very memorably 210 00:13:09,400 –> 00:13:14,400 it’s for this reason that Christians never say goodbye. 211 00:13:15,859 –> 00:13:18,140 I love that, in an ultimate sense, 212 00:13:18,140 –> 00:13:22,599 Christians never say goodbye. 213 00:13:22,599 –> 00:13:25,799 Now, there’s something else very, very wonderful here. 214 00:13:26,900 –> 00:13:29,359 In the presence of the Lord, Jesus Christ, 215 00:13:29,679 –> 00:13:33,460 we will be made perfect, and complete, and whole. 216 00:13:34,479 –> 00:13:39,359 All of God’s people will fully reflect 217 00:13:39,359 –> 00:13:41,280 in a unique and individual way, 218 00:13:41,280 –> 00:13:45,919 we will all reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. 219 00:13:46,840 –> 00:13:48,659 And here’s what that means. 220 00:13:49,760 –> 00:13:54,760 Those who died in infancy will not be eternal infants. 221 00:13:55,760 –> 00:14:00,760 They will have flourished to the full development of life 222 00:14:01,440 –> 00:14:04,599 that God intended and redeemed them for. 223 00:14:05,859 –> 00:14:08,960 And similarly, those who lived a very, very long life 224 00:14:08,960 –> 00:14:13,219 that perhaps in some cases, in the latter years 225 00:14:13,219 –> 00:14:17,320 was marked by the difficulties of increasing frailty, 226 00:14:17,320 –> 00:14:19,820 and perhaps even of dementia, 227 00:14:20,739 –> 00:14:24,320 well you see, they’re not going to be eternally frail. 228 00:14:24,659 –> 00:14:26,739 They’re not going to be eternally forgetful. 229 00:14:27,580 –> 00:14:30,020 No, in the resurrection, they’re going to be 230 00:14:30,020 –> 00:14:35,020 at the full height of all their created and redeemed powers 231 00:14:35,580 –> 00:14:38,719 for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. 232 00:14:38,719 –> 00:14:42,260 In the resurrection, each of us will be everything 233 00:14:42,260 –> 00:14:45,179 that God created and redeemed us to be. 234 00:14:45,179 –> 00:14:49,460 Each will reach the full potential and power 235 00:14:49,460 –> 00:14:53,580 of his or her redeemed humanity. 236 00:14:54,500 –> 00:14:56,679 Now, let me make this application then, 237 00:14:56,679 –> 00:14:59,359 especially to fathers and mothers who have endured 238 00:14:59,359 –> 00:15:04,039 the unspeakable sorrow of losing a child 239 00:15:04,039 –> 00:15:09,039 and also those who are grieving over a miscarriage. 240 00:15:11,320 –> 00:15:15,719 How great will be your joy 241 00:15:16,960 –> 00:15:21,179 when you see the young one who perhaps you knew 242 00:15:21,179 –> 00:15:24,140 for a limited period of time, 243 00:15:24,140 –> 00:15:29,140 or perhaps the one who did not come to birth in this world, 244 00:15:29,179 –> 00:15:31,960 who you never held in your arms, 245 00:15:31,960 –> 00:15:34,140 yet that life was conceived? 246 00:15:35,140 –> 00:15:37,940 How great will be your joy 247 00:15:39,039 –> 00:15:43,679 when you see that son, that daughter 248 00:15:43,679 –> 00:15:48,679 in the full flourishing of their redeemed humanity. 249 00:15:49,640 –> 00:15:53,239 All that God ever intended them to be 250 00:15:53,239 –> 00:15:56,760 in the maturity and the strength of that, 251 00:15:56,760 –> 00:15:59,440 the redeemed humanity that came from you 252 00:15:59,440 –> 00:16:04,039 and was made by God to be all that he intended it to be. 253 00:16:05,260 –> 00:16:07,080 And I think there’ll be a lot of parents 254 00:16:07,080 –> 00:16:11,179 who will be saying, well, look at you now. 255 00:16:13,119 –> 00:16:14,559 At a moment that’s gonna be. 256 00:16:15,640 –> 00:16:18,200 Pastor Al Martin, whose wife died 257 00:16:19,099 –> 00:16:22,799 of cancer after a long and very debilitating 258 00:16:23,840 –> 00:16:28,840 battle with that terrible and emaciating disease. 259 00:16:29,400 –> 00:16:31,979 He writes this, in these last months, 260 00:16:32,820 –> 00:16:36,719 she, referring to his wife, embraced with noble grace 261 00:16:36,719 –> 00:16:39,919 and dignity the many indignities 262 00:16:39,919 –> 00:16:42,500 connected with the loss of much 263 00:16:42,500 –> 00:16:45,919 of her physical beauty and strength. 264 00:16:45,919 –> 00:16:47,359 Isn’t that an awful thing? 265 00:16:48,179 –> 00:16:50,039 Here’s this beautiful woman, 266 00:16:50,039 –> 00:16:54,039 and cancer is taking its toll progressively 267 00:16:54,039 –> 00:16:56,020 in her appearance, so that she 268 00:16:56,020 –> 00:17:00,640 becomes unrecognizable to what she was before. 269 00:17:02,200 –> 00:17:03,299 Del Martin writes this, 270 00:17:03,299 –> 00:17:07,479 I vividly remember kneeling by her bedside 271 00:17:07,479 –> 00:17:09,579 just a few weeks before she died, 272 00:17:10,420 –> 00:17:13,359 and saying to her, sweetheart, 273 00:17:13,359 –> 00:17:17,939 when God is done with you in the day of resurrection, 274 00:17:17,939 –> 00:17:22,660 you will be so beautiful that I will not recognize you. 275 00:17:23,699 –> 00:17:27,959 I will need God to introduce you to me. 276 00:17:29,920 –> 00:17:30,819 That’s beautiful. 277 00:17:32,319 –> 00:17:34,479 God’s ultimate purpose. 278 00:17:34,479 –> 00:17:39,000 We grieve, but not like those who have no hope, 279 00:17:39,000 –> 00:17:43,280 our Jesus died and rose. 280 00:17:44,239 –> 00:17:48,540 Now, that’s the first way in which the bible gives us hope. 281 00:17:48,540 –> 00:17:51,199 The hope of God’s ultimate purpose 282 00:17:51,199 –> 00:17:52,920 that will be gloriously fulfilled 283 00:17:52,920 –> 00:17:57,040 through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 284 00:17:57,040 –> 00:17:59,920 But there’s something else that is given to us alongside, 285 00:17:59,920 –> 00:18:02,760 and I want you to see the significance and importance of it, 286 00:18:02,760 –> 00:18:04,079 and for this we come back 287 00:18:04,079 –> 00:18:06,959 to the book of Lamentations and chapter 3, 288 00:18:06,959 –> 00:18:10,560 and it is of course, the hope that is given to us 289 00:18:10,560 –> 00:18:12,680 in God’s immediate presence. 290 00:18:12,680 –> 00:18:16,040 So there’s an ultimate hope and there’s an immediate hope. 291 00:18:16,040 –> 00:18:21,040 There’s a hope for tomorrow and there is a hope for today. 292 00:18:23,560 –> 00:18:26,859 Now here’s the question that I’ve been asking 293 00:18:26,859 –> 00:18:30,579 as I’ve been pondering Lamentations chapter 3. 294 00:18:32,239 –> 00:18:36,140 Jerusalem was the most blessed city on the face of the earth 295 00:18:36,140 –> 00:18:39,319 and Lamentations records the grief of the people 296 00:18:39,819 –> 00:18:42,119 when it’s utterly and completely undestroyed. 297 00:18:43,760 –> 00:18:46,599 This was the place where God has put his name. 298 00:18:46,599 –> 00:18:48,640 This is the place where the temple was 299 00:18:48,640 –> 00:18:51,339 where God’s presence came down. 300 00:18:51,339 –> 00:18:52,680 This is the great place to which 301 00:18:52,680 –> 00:18:54,739 so many promises have been attached 302 00:18:54,739 –> 00:18:58,520 and now it’s a heap of rubble and a heap of ruins. 303 00:19:00,140 –> 00:19:04,400 Now what would you expect the message of hope to be 304 00:19:04,400 –> 00:19:06,060 in Lamentations? 305 00:19:06,060 –> 00:19:09,319 See we know from the Bible story 306 00:19:09,319 –> 00:19:13,640 that 70 years later after this catastrophe 307 00:19:14,579 –> 00:19:16,560 there was a generation of God’s people 308 00:19:16,560 –> 00:19:20,020 led by Ezra and Nehemiah who came back 309 00:19:20,020 –> 00:19:22,660 to the ruined city and rebuilt its walls 310 00:19:22,660 –> 00:19:27,619 and rebuilt the temple and a new community was established. 311 00:19:27,619 –> 00:19:31,099 So you might expect that as a comfort 312 00:19:31,099 –> 00:19:35,260 and a hope for the grieving people in Lamentations 313 00:19:35,280 –> 00:19:39,140 that God would say well now 70 years from now 314 00:19:40,300 –> 00:19:44,479 there’s going to be a new community in Jerusalem, 315 00:19:44,479 –> 00:19:46,959 rebuilt, the gates are gonna be rehung, 316 00:19:46,959 –> 00:19:48,540 the temple’s gonna be rebuilt, 317 00:19:48,540 –> 00:19:50,219 houses will be constructed, 318 00:19:50,219 –> 00:19:53,160 children will play in the street again. 319 00:19:54,339 –> 00:19:55,819 But you don’t find anything like that 320 00:19:55,819 –> 00:19:57,339 in the Book of Lamentations. 321 00:19:58,640 –> 00:19:59,560 Why not? 322 00:20:00,660 –> 00:20:03,260 Because it’s in other prophecies of the Old Testament 323 00:20:03,260 –> 00:20:04,420 that this would happen 324 00:20:05,900 –> 00:20:07,859 then there’s something else as you 325 00:20:07,859 –> 00:20:10,380 roll forward the Bible’s story. 326 00:20:10,380 –> 00:20:12,300 Many of you know that when you come to the end 327 00:20:12,300 –> 00:20:15,780 in the Book of Revelation in chapter 21 328 00:20:15,780 –> 00:20:18,199 John was given this marvelous vision 329 00:20:18,199 –> 00:20:20,619 of the new Jerusalem 330 00:20:20,619 –> 00:20:22,859 coming down outbreak from heaven, 331 00:20:22,859 –> 00:20:25,579 coming down from God, 332 00:20:25,579 –> 00:20:29,560 the new Jerusalem that wasn’t simply Jerusalem rebuilt 333 00:20:29,560 –> 00:20:32,619 but Jerusalem made perfect, 334 00:20:32,619 –> 00:20:37,619 a holy city in which there would be no more crying, 335 00:20:37,619 –> 00:20:41,760 no more mourning, no more death and no more pain. 336 00:20:43,800 –> 00:20:46,300 Now you say well you wouldn’t expect that in lamentations 337 00:20:46,300 –> 00:20:47,780 because that’s in the New Testament. 338 00:20:47,780 –> 00:20:49,579 Well wait a minute. 339 00:20:49,579 –> 00:20:52,780 In other prophets in the Old Testament 340 00:20:52,780 –> 00:20:55,680 you have exactly that anticipation 341 00:20:55,680 –> 00:20:58,459 of the ultimate perfected Jerusalem 342 00:20:58,459 –> 00:21:00,540 in which there will be no more tears. 343 00:21:00,579 –> 00:21:05,099 For example in Isaiah in Chapter 65 in Verse 19 344 00:21:05,099 –> 00:21:08,819 God says I will rejoice in Jerusalem 345 00:21:08,819 –> 00:21:11,300 and be glad in my people. 346 00:21:11,300 –> 00:21:14,680 No more shall be heard the sound of weeping 347 00:21:14,680 –> 00:21:16,500 and the cry of distress. 348 00:21:16,500 –> 00:21:20,579 That’s in the Old Testament and it’s referring of course 349 00:21:20,579 –> 00:21:23,420 to the new Jerusalem. 350 00:21:23,420 –> 00:21:27,699 The completion of God’s ultimate purpose. 351 00:21:28,359 –> 00:21:31,500 But there isn’t anything about that 352 00:21:31,500 –> 00:21:32,859 in the Book of Lamentations. 353 00:21:34,180 –> 00:21:35,540 Why not? 354 00:21:38,040 –> 00:21:40,420 Surely the reason is this. 355 00:21:42,060 –> 00:21:46,560 That while the fulfillment of God’s ultimate purpose 356 00:21:46,560 –> 00:21:50,699 is very wonderful, to a grieving person 357 00:21:50,699 –> 00:21:54,040 it may seem a very long way off indeed. 358 00:21:54,880 –> 00:21:58,800 The grieving person isn’t so much thinking about 359 00:21:58,800 –> 00:22:00,839 well one day I will be in heaven. 360 00:22:02,079 –> 00:22:04,459 The grieving person is asking this question. 361 00:22:04,459 –> 00:22:06,160 How am I gonna get through the next hour, 362 00:22:06,160 –> 00:22:07,900 the next day and the next week? 363 00:22:09,599 –> 00:22:11,380 What’s the hope but not for tomorrow? 364 00:22:11,380 –> 00:22:15,939 Where’s the hope for me today? 365 00:22:17,800 –> 00:22:21,180 Now if you look at verse 19, 366 00:22:21,219 –> 00:22:24,140 here’s where the grieving person is 367 00:22:24,140 –> 00:22:26,099 in the book of lamentations. 368 00:22:26,099 –> 00:22:29,500 My soul is bereft of peace. 369 00:22:30,719 –> 00:22:34,640 I have forgotten, verse 18, what happiness is. 370 00:22:35,699 –> 00:22:39,040 My endurance has perished. 371 00:22:39,040 –> 00:22:40,979 Any grieving person knows about this. 372 00:22:40,979 –> 00:22:42,560 I’m just tired all the time. 373 00:22:42,560 –> 00:22:44,579 I don’t have any inclination to do things. 374 00:22:44,579 –> 00:22:46,900 I’ve lost energy. 375 00:22:46,900 –> 00:22:49,479 Everything seems like an enormous effort to me. 376 00:22:50,420 –> 00:22:55,420 My soul continually remembers affliction, verse 20. 377 00:22:56,939 –> 00:23:00,199 Anyone in this congregation who has experienced trauma 378 00:23:02,020 –> 00:23:04,719 or anyone who has suffered violence, 379 00:23:05,900 –> 00:23:07,839 you know exactly what this is about. 380 00:23:07,839 –> 00:23:10,579 My soul remembers it continually. 381 00:23:11,839 –> 00:23:14,140 The flashbacks that come when you’re in the car 382 00:23:14,140 –> 00:23:16,920 and when you’re in the shower 383 00:23:16,920 –> 00:23:18,439 and when you’re in your bed at night, 384 00:23:18,439 –> 00:23:20,520 my soul just goes over and over and over 385 00:23:20,520 –> 00:23:22,260 these awful memories. 386 00:23:25,439 –> 00:23:28,680 And then we have these extraordinary words of verse 21. 387 00:23:29,939 –> 00:23:34,839 This I call to mind and therefore I have hope. 388 00:23:34,839 –> 00:23:38,579 You say, now, what does the person who’s grieving, 389 00:23:38,579 –> 00:23:42,699 exhausted, has suffered trauma, 390 00:23:42,699 –> 00:23:46,680 what do they call to mind that they have hope? 391 00:23:46,719 –> 00:23:48,160 And the answer to that here 392 00:23:48,160 –> 00:23:50,959 isn’t the ultimate hope of heaven. 393 00:23:52,140 –> 00:23:55,300 What is it that brings hope to the person 394 00:23:55,300 –> 00:23:57,040 who has forgotten what happiness is, 395 00:23:57,040 –> 00:24:00,459 who’s bereft of peace, who’s mind goes over and over 396 00:24:00,459 –> 00:24:02,359 and over again, what has happened? 397 00:24:04,760 –> 00:24:05,579 Here’s what it is, 398 00:24:05,579 –> 00:24:09,619 the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 399 00:24:10,599 –> 00:24:13,140 His mercies never come to an end. 400 00:24:14,140 –> 00:24:18,880 They are new, every morning great is your faithfulness. 401 00:24:18,880 –> 00:24:21,420 You see, that’s the hope that God gives 402 00:24:21,420 –> 00:24:23,459 to the person who is asking the question, 403 00:24:23,459 –> 00:24:26,260 How am I gonna get through the next hour? 404 00:24:26,260 –> 00:24:28,819 How am I gonna get through the next day? 405 00:24:28,819 –> 00:24:32,520 How am I gonna get through the next week? 406 00:24:34,140 –> 00:24:36,660 Isn’t this wonderful, God gives us an ultimate hope 407 00:24:37,699 –> 00:24:40,979 and he gives us an immediate hope. 408 00:24:41,020 –> 00:24:43,260 He gives us a hope for tomorrow 409 00:24:43,260 –> 00:24:47,079 and he gives us a hope for today. 410 00:24:48,540 –> 00:24:52,119 One member of our grief group said 411 00:24:52,119 –> 00:24:54,459 that in the early days of her grief, 412 00:24:54,459 –> 00:24:58,400 after losing her son she felt 413 00:24:58,400 –> 00:25:02,819 like she was sinking in a pit and she said, 414 00:25:02,819 –> 00:25:05,819 I kept thinking to myself, I am going down 415 00:25:05,819 –> 00:25:07,979 I am going down, how am I gonna get out. 416 00:25:07,979 –> 00:25:09,939 It seemed like there was nothing firm 417 00:25:09,939 –> 00:25:14,060 underneath her feet and this was what she said. 418 00:25:15,260 –> 00:25:20,260 I learned to thank God for the smallest things. 419 00:25:21,939 –> 00:25:24,939 I thanked him when the sky was blue, 420 00:25:24,939 –> 00:25:27,540 I thanked him that the sun was shining. 421 00:25:27,540 –> 00:25:30,579 If I heard a bird sing, I thanked God 422 00:25:30,579 –> 00:25:32,880 that there was a bird that was singing 423 00:25:34,219 –> 00:25:38,260 and she said, I found that every time I thanked God 424 00:25:38,260 –> 00:25:42,219 it was as if I put a tiny step forward 425 00:25:42,219 –> 00:25:46,319 towards climbing out of that awful pit. 426 00:25:48,040 –> 00:25:51,739 Do you see the focus of hope for those 427 00:25:51,739 –> 00:25:53,780 who are trying to put a life together 428 00:25:53,780 –> 00:25:55,880 in the ruins and the rubble 429 00:25:55,880 –> 00:25:58,560 of the city of Jerusalem in lamentations. 430 00:25:58,560 –> 00:26:01,619 What is it, it’s the hope of God’s immediate presence. 431 00:26:01,619 –> 00:26:05,739 It’s the recognition of God’s mercies 432 00:26:06,619 –> 00:26:08,859 that are new every morning. 433 00:26:09,760 –> 00:26:12,420 Your redeemer is faithful and true, 434 00:26:12,420 –> 00:26:14,859 He has said, I will never leave you 435 00:26:14,859 –> 00:26:18,380 and I will never forsake you. 436 00:26:20,020 –> 00:26:21,599 Now here’s the last thing this morning 437 00:26:21,599 –> 00:26:23,819 and it’s very important. 438 00:26:23,819 –> 00:26:26,660 The question that this obviously raises 439 00:26:26,660 –> 00:26:31,060 in the mind of any grieving or suffering person is this. 440 00:26:32,060 –> 00:26:36,839 How can I really believe that God, 441 00:26:36,839 –> 00:26:40,579 who has brought such pain into my life, 442 00:26:40,579 –> 00:26:45,540 is actually for me, and that His mercies 443 00:26:45,540 –> 00:26:49,199 towards me are new every morning? 444 00:26:49,199 –> 00:26:51,180 In other words if I can put it this way, 445 00:26:51,180 –> 00:26:55,000 how can the person who says verse 15, 446 00:26:55,000 –> 00:26:58,020 He has filled me with bitterness, 447 00:26:58,020 –> 00:27:02,260 oh God’s brought things that are so bitter into my life. 448 00:27:03,619 –> 00:27:07,180 How can that person also say, verse 22, 449 00:27:07,180 –> 00:27:11,180 the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases? 450 00:27:11,180 –> 00:27:14,579 How can you recognize the steadfast love of the Lord 451 00:27:14,579 –> 00:27:16,839 when you’ve experienced that which is bitter? 452 00:27:18,000 –> 00:27:19,979 Or to put it another way, how can 453 00:27:19,979 –> 00:27:24,079 the person in verse 16, the person who says 454 00:27:24,079 –> 00:27:28,239 he has made my teeth grind on gravel. 455 00:27:28,239 –> 00:27:29,439 Isn’t that a picture? 456 00:27:30,459 –> 00:27:33,380 You can almost feel that, when you say that, 457 00:27:33,380 –> 00:27:37,660 he’s made my teeth grind on gravel. 458 00:27:39,300 –> 00:27:41,680 Well, if that’s your experience, 459 00:27:41,680 –> 00:27:44,380 that life’s that hard, that harsh, 460 00:27:46,880 –> 00:27:50,839 repulsive, how can the person who says that 461 00:27:50,900 –> 00:27:52,560 you could also say verse 23, 462 00:27:52,560 –> 00:27:55,099 his mercies are new every morning. 463 00:27:56,319 –> 00:28:00,239 Or, to put it one other way if you look at verse 32, 464 00:28:00,239 –> 00:28:02,359 the last verse that was read this morning, 465 00:28:02,359 –> 00:28:04,520 which brings these two things together, 466 00:28:04,520 –> 00:28:09,520 how can the person who says that God has caused grief 467 00:28:12,619 –> 00:28:15,800 also say and know that he will have compassion. 468 00:28:15,800 –> 00:28:19,199 That’s verse 32, though he caused grief, 469 00:28:20,199 –> 00:28:22,479 yet he will have compassion? 470 00:28:22,479 –> 00:28:25,219 How in the world do you hold these two things together, 471 00:28:25,219 –> 00:28:28,180 God has caused grief in my life, 472 00:28:29,180 –> 00:28:31,800 how am I now also to believe that he, 473 00:28:31,800 –> 00:28:34,880 the same God, will have compassion? 474 00:28:34,880 –> 00:28:37,920 That’s the question and it’s right here before us 475 00:28:37,920 –> 00:28:40,060 in the book of Lamentations. 476 00:28:41,160 –> 00:28:44,319 Let me tell you the story that I found very helpful. 477 00:28:45,300 –> 00:28:50,079 In November of 2013, the Philippines were hit 478 00:28:50,079 –> 00:28:54,020 by the strongest typhoon ever recorded at landfall. 479 00:28:55,560 –> 00:28:57,099 It brought an awful tragedy. 480 00:28:57,099 –> 00:29:00,880 6,500 people lost their lives, 481 00:29:00,880 –> 00:29:03,439 though that was the official number 482 00:29:03,439 –> 00:29:05,880 and it was widely recognized that many more 483 00:29:05,880 –> 00:29:10,420 not accounted for would have died in that awful disaster. 484 00:29:10,420 –> 00:29:15,300 More than a million people were made homeless 485 00:29:15,300 –> 00:29:18,619 as their homes and their livelihoods destroyed. 486 00:29:19,660 –> 00:29:21,880 Christopher Wright, who has a marvelous book 487 00:29:21,880 –> 00:29:25,920 on lamentations, records the story of a young girl 488 00:29:25,920 –> 00:29:29,660 who managed to reach one of the evacuation centers 489 00:29:29,660 –> 00:29:33,920 just as the storm was hitting land. 490 00:29:33,920 –> 00:29:38,000 So here’s the water that is now washing up 491 00:29:38,000 –> 00:29:40,660 over the land, a tremendous force, 492 00:29:40,660 –> 00:29:42,959 and in tremendous volume. 493 00:29:42,959 –> 00:29:45,959 And as the waters rush in, this little girl’s mother 494 00:29:45,959 –> 00:29:49,119 shouts to her to get up to a higher floor 495 00:29:49,119 –> 00:29:53,760 in this evacuation center to which they had made their way. 496 00:29:53,760 –> 00:29:56,560 And as the waters are coming rushing in 497 00:29:56,560 –> 00:30:01,079 towards this building, this little girl shouted out, 498 00:30:01,079 –> 00:30:05,219 Jesus, Tamalapó! 499 00:30:05,280 –> 00:30:10,060 Jesus, Tamalapó! 500 00:30:10,060 –> 00:30:15,060 Which means, Jesus, please, enough! 501 00:30:17,060 –> 00:30:20,839 And as she shouted, someone, I guess one 502 00:30:20,839 –> 00:30:23,439 of the rescuers working the evacuation center 503 00:30:23,439 –> 00:30:28,060 lifted her to safety, and she wonderfully survived. 504 00:30:28,060 –> 00:30:32,260 Now think with me for a moment about the instinctive 505 00:30:32,319 –> 00:30:35,780 cry of that little girl. 506 00:30:35,780 –> 00:30:40,780 Jesus, Tamalapó, Jesus, please, enough! 507 00:30:43,339 –> 00:30:47,979 Instinctively, that little girl held together 508 00:30:47,979 –> 00:30:52,979 in that spontaneous cry two very profound truths. 509 00:30:55,540 –> 00:31:00,540 One, that God brings disaster. 510 00:31:02,819 –> 00:31:06,459 She’s not someone who thinks that a storm blows 51100:31:06,459 –> 00:31:07,780 by a random chance. 512 00:31:07,780 –> 00:31:10,099 If you believe in a sovereign God 513 00:31:10,099 –> 00:31:11,819 you’re not going to escape this. 514 00:31:11,819 –> 00:31:16,579 That somehow the hand of God is behind 515 00:31:16,579 –> 00:31:19,459 the hardest things in life as well as the best 516 00:31:20,660 –> 00:31:22,099 and she recognizes that 517 00:31:22,099 –> 00:31:25,699 and that’s why she asks Jesus to stop. 518 00:31:26,739 –> 00:31:29,199 Jesus, please enough! 519 00:31:30,000 –> 00:31:33,619 But at the same time as recognizing 520 00:31:33,619 –> 00:31:35,739 that God brings disaster, 521 00:31:35,739 –> 00:31:38,619 she also, in this spontaneous cry, 522 00:31:38,619 –> 00:31:43,000 recognizes that God delivers from disaster. 523 00:31:43,819 –> 00:31:47,280 That even where the worst things happen, 524 00:31:47,280 –> 00:31:51,119 even when the greatest grief is brought 525 00:31:51,119 –> 00:31:54,599 into a person’s life even in this disaster, 526 00:31:54,599 –> 00:31:57,599 she believes that God is for her 527 00:31:57,640 –> 00:32:00,719 in such a way that she can ask Him for help. 528 00:32:01,880 –> 00:32:05,459 Jesus, please, enough. 529 00:32:06,839 –> 00:32:10,959 Intuitively, she held together the two parts 530 00:32:10,959 –> 00:32:15,040 of Lamentations chapter three and verse 32. 531 00:32:15,040 –> 00:32:20,000 Though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion. 532 00:32:20,000 –> 00:32:23,079 So she cries out, Jesus, Tamilapu. 533 00:32:24,520 –> 00:32:27,280 Jesus, please, enough. 534 00:32:28,079 –> 00:32:31,959 Now how is it possible for her 535 00:32:31,959 –> 00:32:33,520 to hold these things together? 536 00:32:33,520 –> 00:32:36,319 Though God causes grief yet he will have compassion. 537 00:32:36,319 –> 00:32:38,599 Here’s how she can hold these two things together, 538 00:32:38,599 –> 00:32:43,599 because she has come to know God by the name of Jesus. 539 00:32:44,959 –> 00:32:46,880 Jesus, Tamilapu. 540 00:32:49,959 –> 00:32:52,680 You know there are whispers of the name of Jesus 541 00:32:52,680 –> 00:32:54,640 all over the book of Lamentations, 542 00:32:54,640 –> 00:32:57,099 but never more so than in chapter three. 543 00:32:58,520 –> 00:33:02,359 Verse one, I am the man who has seen affliction 544 00:33:02,359 –> 00:33:04,199 under the rod of his wrath. 545 00:33:04,199 –> 00:33:06,180 Can you hear that in the mouth of Jesus 546 00:33:06,180 –> 00:33:09,020 as he went under the rod of divine wrath 547 00:33:10,060 –> 00:33:11,719 and bore the very wrath of God? 548 00:33:11,719 –> 00:33:14,800 “‘For us, I’m the man,’ he says. 549 00:33:16,060 –> 00:33:20,160 Or at verse 30, let him give his cheek 550 00:33:20,160 –> 00:33:22,199 to the one who strikes. 551 00:33:22,199 –> 00:33:25,339 That’s what Jesus did as they slapped him 552 00:33:25,420 –> 00:33:27,439 and abused him so horribly, 553 00:33:27,439 –> 00:33:30,979 and that which was held up as a trial. 554 00:33:32,380 –> 00:33:36,060 Or verse 14, I have become the laughing stock 555 00:33:36,060 –> 00:33:39,239 of all peoples, the object of their taunts 556 00:33:39,239 –> 00:33:40,640 all day long. 557 00:33:40,640 –> 00:33:43,219 Verse 14, that’s what happened to Jesus 558 00:33:43,219 –> 00:33:45,079 as he was nailed there to the cross 559 00:33:45,079 –> 00:33:47,300 and they’re laughing and they’re taunting. 560 00:33:48,459 –> 00:33:50,160 You say you’re the son of God, 561 00:33:50,160 –> 00:33:52,319 come down if God wants you. 562 00:33:53,040 –> 00:33:55,579 Or perhaps most of all verse eight 563 00:33:55,579 –> 00:33:57,780 of this extraordinary chapter 564 00:33:57,780 –> 00:33:59,040 where the one who suffers, 565 00:33:59,040 –> 00:34:00,800 the one who has known what it is 566 00:34:00,800 –> 00:34:04,640 to stand for us under the very wrath of God 567 00:34:04,640 –> 00:34:07,000 and give his cheek to those who strike 568 00:34:07,000 –> 00:34:08,199 and be laughed at. 569 00:34:08,199 –> 00:34:11,479 He says, though I call and cry for help 570 00:34:11,479 –> 00:34:14,620 he shuts out my prayer. 571 00:34:14,620 –> 00:34:17,060 And you remember how that, too, 572 00:34:17,060 –> 00:34:19,040 was the experience of Jesus. 573 00:34:19,040 –> 00:34:21,260 My God, my God. 574 00:34:21,320 –> 00:34:25,080 Why have you forsaken me? 575 00:34:26,620 –> 00:34:30,060 You see, the reason that the little girl intuitively 576 00:34:30,979 –> 00:34:35,979 was able to hold together the God who causes grief 577 00:34:36,080 –> 00:34:38,199 and the God who has compassion 578 00:34:39,280 –> 00:34:42,439 is that she knows God by the name of Jesus 579 00:34:42,439 –> 00:34:47,439 and at the cross, God brings grief to Jesus 580 00:34:48,260 –> 00:34:53,260 and He shows compassion through Jesus. 581 00:34:55,939 –> 00:34:58,719 And you see, that’s where our hope lies. 582 00:34:58,719 –> 00:35:03,060 Jesus went to the cross so that God’s mercy 583 00:35:04,120 –> 00:35:08,139 would reach you in the hardest days of your life 584 00:35:08,139 –> 00:35:11,560 and so that God’s love would hold you 585 00:35:11,560 –> 00:35:15,139 in the darkest days of your life, 586 00:35:15,399 –> 00:35:18,500 and it is through Jesus Christ that we have the hope 587 00:35:18,500 –> 00:35:21,760 of God’s ultimate purpose 588 00:35:21,760 –> 00:35:26,260 and the hope of God’s immediate presence. 589 00:35:26,260 –> 00:35:31,260 This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. 590 00:35:32,260 –> 00:35:37,100 His mercies never come to an end. 591 00:35:39,379 –> 00:35:42,560 So thank God for the little mercies. 592 00:35:43,520 –> 00:35:48,620 The sky is blue, the sun shines, a bird sings, 593 00:35:49,459 –> 00:35:52,580 but let the little mercies that are multiple 594 00:35:52,580 –> 00:35:57,580 in every life lead you to call to mind the great mercy. 595 00:35:59,219 –> 00:36:00,919 And what is the great mercy? 596 00:36:00,919 –> 00:36:04,739 It is that the son of God loved you 597 00:36:04,739 –> 00:36:06,820 and gave himself for you. 598 00:36:06,820 –> 00:36:11,820 Call that to mind and you will have hope. 599 00:36:12,840 –> 00:36:16,800 You really will because it’s in Christ 600 00:36:16,800 –> 00:36:20,439 that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 601 00:36:20,439 –> 00:36:23,600 His mercies never come to an end. 602 00:36:23,600 –> 00:36:25,860 They are for you in Jesus Christ 603 00:36:25,860 –> 00:36:30,860 new every morning for great is his faithfulness. 604 00:36:33,320 –> 00:36:36,320 Father, please bring to us 605 00:36:36,320 –> 00:36:39,479 not only the ultimate hope of tomorrow, 606 00:36:40,459 –> 00:36:42,979 but the immediate hope of today 607 00:36:43,979 –> 00:36:47,179 through your mercies that are without end. 608 00:36:48,239 –> 00:36:51,419 And grant that through your word and by your spirit 609 00:36:51,419 –> 00:36:54,100 and around the table to which we now come 610 00:36:54,100 –> 00:36:56,540 our minds may be called 611 00:36:57,699 –> 00:37:01,399 from all that weighs us down 612 00:37:02,739 –> 00:37:04,500 to Christ, the son of God, 613 00:37:04,500 –> 00:37:06,780 who loved us and gave himself for us, 614 00:37:06,780 –> 00:37:08,699 that we may be lifted and strengthened 615 00:37:08,760 –> 00:37:12,159 and that we may find hope in your mercy 616 00:37:12,159 –> 00:37:16,280 to face whatever we are facing in each of our lives today. 617 00:37:16,280 –> 00:37:18,639 And these things we ask in Jesus’ name 618 00:37:18,639 –> 00:37:21,139 and God’s people together said, Amen. 619 00:37:23,959 –> 00:37:25,199 You’ve been listening to a sermon 620 00:37:25,199 –> 00:37:27,600 with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 621 00:37:27,600 –> 00:37:32,899 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 622 00:37:32,899 –> 00:37:36,540 or visit our website, openthebible.org.