But I feel that one of the reasons that I do not preach from the Book of Lamentations any more than I do is because the “Weeping Prophet” Jeremiah wrote it.
Most folks enjoy spending their time with people who are laughing and having a good time, and we try to AVOID those who are always MOURNING AND WEEPING about something!
Illus: My brother Doug who has gone to be with the Lord had lots of friends. In fact when he died the church was packed with grieving friends. The reason he had so many friends was because people enjoyed being around him.
The opposite is about those who are always sad about something. They have very few friends.
Proverbs 18:24 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly…”
The Book of Lamentations is all about MOURNING AND WEEPING!
But MOURNING AND WEEPING is certainly a part of our life.
Illus: There is an old Arab parable that says: “All sunshine and no rain makes a desert.”
It takes good times and bad times to balance out our lives.
God has designed life as a mixture of
* Pain and pleasure
* Victory and defeat
* Success and failure
* Mountain tops and valleys
However the bulk of Lamentations of course is about Jeremiah’s lamentations.
While this is a book that is filled with sorrow it is also a book about GOD’S FAITHFULNESS!
God's dependability does not change!
Faithful means: trustworthy; steadfast; unfailing; dependable; reliable; consistent.
Simply put: “God is faithful” means “He will not fail you.”
The Faithfulness of God speaks to the core of God’s character. God is always faithful to Himself and to us.
God is immutable unchanging; therefore, He can never cease to be what He is and He will always be consistent with His Holy and righteous character.
• Psalmist said in Psalm 57:2-3 - “Psalms “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.”
• The Psalmist said again in Psalm 100:5 – “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
• Again the Psalmist said in Psalm 145:13b - "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations."
• Paul said in Philippians 1:6 – “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could sit down with some of the men and women in the Bible and talk about their memories of times with God?
• Wouldn’t it be awesome to hear Joseph’s rendition of the events that took him from a dreary prison cell to the palace
• Or…from Daniel as he told how a faithful God kept him alive and unharmed during an entire night in a den of lions?
• What if Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could show us the clothes they wore in the fiery furnace—without a burn or scorch mark on them, or even the aroma of smoke?
Sometimes in the busyness of life, we forget to remember His faithfulness.
Let’s look at some of the ways God is faithful to us.
I. GOD IS FAITHFUL IN HIS PROTECTION
Look at Lamentations 3:21-23, we read, “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS.”
Jeremiah was overwhelmed with God’s FAITHFULNESS!
God is faithful!
For example:
(1) When we are tempted to sin “1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
(2) When we do sin, however, He assures us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)
Illus: In fact, He is so faithful in creation that scientists are able to make accurate calculations concerning daybreak and sunset.
God is a faithful God, and every day there are many things that could harm us but God faithfully watches over us.
For example, God has not promised us that we would not have to go INTO THE VALLEYS, but He has promised us He would TAKE US THROUGH THE VALLEYS.
Look at Psalm 23:4, we read, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
The Psalmist said that He will WALK WITH US THROUGH THE VALLEYS.
Isn’t it wonderful that we serve a God of FAITHFULNESS!
He is always faithful to watch over us.
Illus: The story is told of a young man who was an Atheist and was training to be an Olympic diver.
The only spiritual influence in his life came from a Christian friend who tried to share the gospel with him whenever he could.
The diver wasn’t very interested in spiritual matters and clearly made that known.
One night the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he attended. The lights were all off, but the moon was bright, so there was plenty of light to practice his dives.
The young man climbed up to the highest diving board and as he turned his back to the pool on the edge of the board and extended his arms out, he saw his shadow on the wall.
The shadow was in the shape of a cross.
As the man stood up on the diving board, a maintenance man walked in and turned the lights on. The diver gasped in horror ¬the pool had been drained for repairs!
Instead of diving, he knelt down and asked Jesus to come into his life.
WHEN WE SAY GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHAT DO WE MEAN?
* We mean, He is 100% reliable, 100% of the time.
* He does not fail, forget, falter, change, or disappoint.
From cover to cover, the Bible teaches the FAITHFULNESS OF GOD!
* Look at Psalm 89:1, we read, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”
* Look at Psalm 119: 90 “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.”
* Look at Lamentation 3:23, we read, “…Great is thy faithfulness.
All of these verses of scripture are saying the same thing; YOU CAN DEPEND ON GOD THE FATHER, HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!
Illus: There is a song that we sing sometime with these words, “Oh how He loves you and me!”
To say that God is faithful is to say that God is committed to WATCHING OVER US EACH DAY!
Let me illustrate with a true story.
Illus: In the country of Armenia, in 1988, Samuel and Danielle sent their young son, Armand, off to school.
Samuel squatted before his son and looked him in the eye. “Have a good day at school, and remember, no matter what, I’ll always be there for you.” They hugged and the boy ran off to school.
Hours later, a powerful earthquake rocked the area. In the midst of the pandemonium, Samuel and Danielle tried to discover what happened to their son but they couldn’t get any information. The radio announced that there were thousands of casualties.
Samuel then grabbed his coat and headed for the schoolyard. When he reached the area, what he saw brought tears to his eyes. Armand’s school was a pile of debris. Other parents were standing around crying.
Samuel found the place where Armand’s classroom used to be and began pulling a broken beam off the pile of rubble. He then grabbed a rock, pulled it to the side, and then grabbed another one.
• One of the parents looking on asked, “What are you doing?”
• “Digging for my son,” Samuel answered.
• The man then said, “You’re just going to make things worse! The building is unstable,” and tried to pull Samuel away from his work.
• Samuel set his jaw and kept working. As time wore on, one by one, the other parents left. Then a firefighter tried to pull Samuel away from the rubble. Samuel looked at him and said, “Won’t you help me?” The firefighter left and Samuel kept digging.
• All through the night and into the next day, Samuel continued digging. Parents placed flowers and pictures of their children on the ruins. But, Samuel just kept working.
• He picked up a beam and pushed it out of the way when he heard a faint cry. “Help! Help!”
• Samuel listened but didn’t hear anything again. Then he heard a muffled voice, “Papa?”
• Samuel began to dig furiously. Finally he could see his son. “Come on out, son!” he said with relief.
• “No,” Armand said. “Let the other kids come out first because I know you’ll get me.”
• Child after child emerged until, finally, little Armand appeared. Samuel took him in his arms and Armand said, “I told the other kids not to worry because you told me that you’d always be there for me!”
• Fourteen children were saved that day because one father was faithful.
I like that true story because it reminds me that GOD THE FATHER IS FAITHFUL TO HIS CHILDREN.
The Book of Lamentations is about MOURNING AND GROANINGS, but it is also about GOD’S FAITHFULNESS in watching over us each day.
No wonder Jeremiah says, “GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS!”
God is FAITHFUL IN HIS PROTECTION of us.
But also, God is –
II. FAITHFUL IN HIS FORGIVENESS
Look at 1 John 1:9, we read, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
There are some people who will not forgive you. It does not matter what you do, they are not going to FORGIVE YOU!
But God’s Word has this to say about these people!
Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This verse of scripture we need to look at two things.
(1) It is not teaching if we forgive others than the Lord will forgive us.
That is, we do not acquire salvation based on works.
That is, I cannot say I forgave someone and that makes me a child of God.
That is not what the Bible is teaching.
The word of God tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
This verse is not teaching salvation based on works.
But it is teaching…
(2) If we are not willing to forgive others than God will not forgive us.
Look again at Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
The Greek word for forgive has many different meanings. I want to focus on three that directly apply to this passage.
(1)The first meaning is to let go, let alone or to let be.
(2)The second meaning is to give up or to keep no longer.
(3)The third meaning is to disregard.
• This means that everything that God has the right to hold against you, He lets go of when He forgives you as if you had ever sinned.
• Not only does God let go of what you’ve done but He also disregards it and no longer remembers it.
This is what it means to experience the forgiveness of God the Father.
If you only forgive when someone asks, you completely miss the point Jesus is making.
Forgiveness is an act of personal will. It is a choice and you make the choice to be either forgiving or unforgiving.
Three Reasons to extend forgiveness even when not asked
1.) The person may not know they wronged you or what the problem is
2.) The situation continues to hurt you until you let it go
3.) You open yourself for further sin – anger, bitterness and resentment that can lead to some serious health problems
When forgiveness is given the matter is no longer held against the person.
The situation is no longer remembered in a negative light.
The person doing the forgiving is set free from the hurt and the pain.
Forgiveness is an experience of grace
Grace is undeserved blessing from God given to people.
In essence, grace is getting what you need rather than what you deserve.
(Barne’s Notes state it like this) “Our Savior says we should forgive even if the offence be committed seventy times seven times in Mt 18:22.
By this is meant, that when a man asks forgiveness, we are cordially and for ever to pardon the offence; we are to declare our willingness to forgive him.
If he does not ask forgiveness, yet we are still to treat him kindly; not to harbor malice; not to speak ill of him; to be ready to do him good; and be always prepared to declare him forgiven when he asks it.”
• Some of you today need to come to the Lord today during the invitation and ask God to forgive you for all the sins you committed against Him as your Creator.
• Some of you today need to go home and get on the telephone and call someone and ask forgiveness.
We cannot be forgiven if we choose to be unforgiving.
Jesus makes it abundantly clear that the expectation of those who are forgiven is to also forgive others.
• When we choose to harbor resentment toward others, we are choosing to ignore the command of Christ.
• When we refuse to forgive, we are living in disobedience with God. Instead of embracing His power to give us the strength and grace to forgive, we decide to reject God’s will for our lives.
• Forgiveness is a choice that we make each day. Each day we make the choice to hold grudges and become bitter.
• Each day we make the choice to be like Christ and let go of the desire to retaliate against others.
We will never be more like Jesus than in those moments when we choose to forgive.
Our character is changed when we live in a spirit of forgiveness.
Illus: There are people who have committed thousands and thousands of offence against God and they want God to forgive them when they will not forgive a person who has committed one offence toward them.
That is, God’s Word tells us if we are not willing to forgive others we cannot be forgiven.
Listen, when people stand before the Lord on the Judgment day, not one person will be able to say, “God, I came and asked you for forgiveness but you WOULD NOT FORGIVE ME!”
God is FAITHFUL in His forgiveness.
The Word of God tells us in John 6: 37b, “…And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Illus: In one of D.L. Moody’s sermons there is a moving story of a sinful man who came to the evangelist seeking the way of salvation.
• Moody opened his Bible to a text and pointed out these words, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy ladened . . . "
* The man said, "But, Mister Moody, I’m a drunkard." "It does not say," replied Moody, "Come unto me all ye that are not drunkards."
* The man said, "But Mister Moody, I’ve abandoned my wife and my children." "That is a dreadful sin," replied Moody, "but it does not say ‘Come unto me all ye that have not abandoned wife and children.’"
* The man continued, "But, Mister Moody, I’ve stolen. I’ve been in jail." "I am sorry to hear that," Moody said softly, "but it does not say ‘Come unto me all ye that are not thieves and have not been in prison.’ It simply says, ‘Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy ladened...’”
• “And, sir, if I understand what you have just told, me, this gracious invitation includes you!"
Hell is full of people who are there not because God would not save them. They are there because they would not come to Him who said, COME UNTO HIM AND I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.
It does not matter how evil we have been, God is FAITHFUL IN FORGIVING US OF OUR SINS through Jesus Christ!
Illus: During the early years of missionary activity in China, four members of one family accepted Christ as Savior, but the youngest, a little boy, did not. His father felt he was to understand what the Bible teaches about salvation
Later he came to his father and said he wanted to confess publicly that he had received the Savior.
The father was still reluctant and felt he was not old enough.
The boy gave this touching reply: "Jesus has promised to carry the lambs in His arms. I am only a little boy. It will be easier for Jesus to carry me."
The simplicity and genuineness of the boy's faith made a profound impression on the father, and he quickly sensed that his son knew what he was doing.
Soon the youngster made known his faith in Christ and followed the Lord in believer's baptism.
As you and I face the battles, burdens, valleys, storms and trials of life, we must always remember that we are His little lambs and that He is well able to carry us safely through.
GOD IS FAITHFUL!!
Conclusion:
So, what kind of battles are you fighting today?
Bring them to the Father and trust in His unchanging, unfailing faithfulness.
Again I remind you that Hell is full of people tonight, not because the Lord would not forgive them of their sins; it is filled with lost people because they would not come to the Lord to forgive them of their sins.
Illus: Picture if you will a giant eagle soaring majestically above the Niagara River, his great wings spread in flight.
As he glides silently overhead looking for prey, he spies the carcass of a bird floating upon a block of ice on the River below.
He swoops down, lands on the ice, and begins to devour the dead bird.
From time to time, while he eats, he looks up and sees the river is broadening out — a sign it is nearing the falls — but hastily returns to his meal, waiting until the ice is about to go over the falls when he will spread his wings and fly to safety. Why worry about the falls? Here is a great feast. There’s plenty of time.
So the ice floats onward carrying its strange cargo nearer, yet nearer, the gigantic falls. The roar of this great spectacle of God's handiwork grows louder and louder as if crying out a warning that death is near, but to no avail.
At last, as the block of ice is about to plunge over the falls, the eagle lifts his wings to take flight. But, while he has been engrossed in eating, his long talons (Claws) have become frozen in the ice. He is unable to free himself, and goes screeching over the falls to his death.
The same can be said of many people today. They go floating along on the river of life interested only in material things.
"The Judgment Day Falls" cry out, but they pay no heed. They intend to fly into the safety of his everlasting arms. But they wait too long.
We can say with Jeremiah tonight, GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS!
We have seen that –
I. HE IS FAITHFUL IN PROTECTING US
II. HE IS FAITHFUL IN FORGIVING US
Josh Turner – Great is thou faithfulness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31ymVm-6YIw
