A Future and A Hope
Notes
Transcript
Intro; Last week we looked at our culture of being one of Delight and Desire out of [Psalm 37]. We take delight in material things and we desire to be prosperous in all our ventures. I said that’s what we call the American Dream. But the American Dream is not what God will is for us.
God wants us to take Delight in Him so the Desires of our hearts will be to seek His will for our lives to bring Him glory! I gave you a statement from John Piper about Delight and Desire;
“God is most glorified in us when we are most delighted in Him.”
Most will take that statement to mean that God is glorified when everything is going our way. But that would be wrong. Just like the scripture we are going to look at this morning which is too often taken out of context.
Text; Jer. 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Prayer
I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt the the Lord God has good thoughts towards all mankind or He would not have sent His Son Jesus to die for our sin.
In this we can also be assured that God wants all mankind to be at peace with Him by faith through salvation in Jesus Christ.
And the scriptures reveal that those who place their faith in Christ will have a future and a hope of eternal life.
But that’s not the context of this scripture! This scripture is too often claimed as a christians life verse not understanding the proper application of it. This verse is given to a a specific group of Israelites who are in captivity for the chastisement of their sin. The promise is given to bring them out of captivity, after 70 years. So the next generation would benefit, not those already there. Unfortunately, Christians, just like the Israelites then, want to believe that God will never let trials or tribulations such as this come into their life. Yet, that is the very context of this scripture!
God is the very One who brought this calamity upon Israel!
4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
So let’s take a look at what God thinks about us for “A Future and A Hope.”
1. Thoughts of the Lord; 11a
1. Thoughts of the Lord; 11a
What does the Lord really think about His kids?
I believe He thinks the best for his kids just like any parent would want for their kids. But God’s best doesn’t start with material possessions, it starts with “spiritual obedience!”
“Peace and not evil” - Peace [sha-lom] deliverance, salvation, prosperity, to make complete; speaks of the spiritual realm, not physical or material.
God’s thoughts towards us are to make us at peace with Him so we can be at peace while in the world.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Peace of Christ;
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Israel had lost the peace of God because of their idolatry and immorality and the only way they could get that peace back was for God to chastise them and bring them to repentance.
2. Chastisement to Peace; 12-14
2. Chastisement to Peace; 12-14
The key to continual peace with God is to stay in His will. And the only way to get back in His will when we sin is to call on Him in repentance!
God was using the Babylonian captivity to break the people. In their suffering and distress they would beg God to save them, and they would repent and recommit their lives to Him and obey His Holy Word.
God often uses the circumstances of evil to accomplish His good. The people had lost everything: their homes, property, and wealth. Many had also lost their husbands and sons in battle and their wives and daughters to the abuse of the conquering soldiers. Now they lost their freedom and were held captive in a foreign nation. God was using this evil for their good.
I believe God uses the circumstances of evil in our society today to chastise His church to draw us back to Him!
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
The farther we fall from God the greater His chastening is to bring us back to Him. Chastisement of God’s love brings God’s Peace!
3. Future and A Hope; 11b
3. Future and A Hope; 11b
The future and hope of the people that God had for them depended upon their response in repentance and how they dealt with their captivity.
When a parent carries a child to the wood-shed and that child doesn’t learn from it, then you’ll be back there again before you know it. The same thing applies when God disciplines us. God gave instructions on how to handle his discipline and what to learn from it.
5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
Can you believe that God told them to learn to live with where they were! Captives and conquered!! Man that stinks. But the secret to joy is not to know everything about God’s plans, but to trust Him in them.
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
God plans for them was not to destroy them, but for Israel to have a future and hope in Him. But discipline was needed for the purpose of learning so they/we don’t make the same mistakes again and that we mature/grow in the Lord.
8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.
10 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.
Quit listening to these prosperity preachers who say “God would never use evil, hardship and trials to bring about His good!”
God’s promises are glorious and great, but they are future. God tells us now what he will do later so we will not be overcome by the present.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Future blessing don’t eliminate present pain. But more importantly, present pain does not eliminate future blessing. Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. That’s where faith comes in!
Close;
God instructs us to make the most of our circumstances no matter how bad they are. God will always provide for His people. He will always give us the strength to conquer whatever confronts us.
But the promise of peace with a future and a hope in this passage is one of spiritual well being rather than a guarantee of material prosperity. The exile was not the end, God was not finished with Israel.
Whatever crisis you may be in right now, God is not finished with you either! Turn to Him in repentance and wait for His plan to unfold!
