That’ll Put a Smile on Your Face
Jeremiah 29:1-13
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church, West Monroe, LA
Originally preached January 25, 2004
*Wade Hughes tells us that the average child laughs 400 times a day...
--But the average adult only laughs 15 times a day. (1)
*Have you lost the laughter in your life?
-Sometimes we do
--But that’s not good.
*Pro 17:22 tells us that
-A merry heart does us good like a medicine...
--And as we look into the Word of God today, we see that God wants to put a smile on your face.
1. He cares about your pain...
-(We see this in vs. 4-9)
*The people who got this letter from the Lord were in great pain...
1-They were in pain first of all because of losing...
*They had gone through a terrible loss to the Babylonian Empire.
*Think for a moment about the splendors of ancient Babylon. Melvin Newland helps us see with these words:
-"In 597 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army captured Jerusalem. The invaders took the King prisoner, plundered the temple, & carried off 10,000 captives to spend the rest of their lives in a foreign land along with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego who had been taken in an earlier invasion.
-Three months later, following a 600-mile journey around the Arabian Desert, the Jewish captives entered Babylon, the largest & most magnificent city in the ancient world. Its walls were so thick that 4 chariots could race side by side around its top. Three-hundred sixty-five guard towers & a moat fed by the River Euphrates made the city virtually impregnable.
-Entering through the Ishtar Gate, the Jewish captives were led down Processional Street, whose light blue brick walls displayed 120 white enameled lions with manes of yellow & red. The street ended at Nebuchadnezzar’s palace & the Temple of Marduk, which stood, taller than the pyramids, on what some scholars believe was the ancient site of the Tower of Babel.
-Babylon was a cultural & architectural wonder. But in the 6th Century B.C., it was no place for a devout Jew. It was foreign, idolatrous, & the home of the pagans who had plundered Jerusalem & taken them captive." (2)
*Babylon was a cultural & architectural wonder, but that was no comfort to God’s people.
-All of the splendor just reminded them of the strength of their enemy, their godless enemy who had plundered their city & carried them away as slaves.
-The Jews had lost the most precious things in their lives.
2-They were in pain because of losing, but also because they had been lied to.
*Vs. 9 mentions the false prophets that were telling the people that it would all be over in 2 years, but that was a lie.
*And it hurts to be lied to.
-By the way: Don’t deceive people!
-You are doing far more damage than you know.
3-They were in pain because they had been lied to, but also because they had left the Lord.
-Not all of them of course...
--But most of them had turned away from God.
*Time after time the Lord had warned them about their sinful rebellion, but they wouldn’t listen.
*And it brought great pain not only to their lives, but to the lives of their children, and to the innocent people who had tried to follow the Lord.
4-Sin always causes pain.
*Your pain might be from your own sin or maybe from somebody else’s sin...
--But God cares about your pain.
*Even when it’s your fault, He cares.
-He cared enough to tell these people the truth about their 70 years of captivity.
-He cared enough to send them this letter of ultimate comfort & hope from the Lord.
-He cared enough to send His Son to die on the Cross for this sinful world.
*Jesus Christ went through immeasurable physical & emotional pain for us, because He cares about our pain.
*King Duncan tells about a bridal shower, where the card on the last gift said:
-"May this always be so...
--Much love, Mother & Dad."
*The bride opened the gift, and inside a frame was an old, yellowed piece of paper with a little girl’s handwriting on it.
-It was the bride’s handwriting from years ago.
*On that long ago day she had written:
-"Today we had a test in history
-I had to go to the dentist too.
-We did not win the paper drive.
--This is the worst day I have ever had in my life."
*Mom & Dad wanted that to always be the worst day of her life.
-They wanted the best for their daughter. (3)
*And though some bad days will come to us, our Heavenly Father surely wants the best for us!
-He even wants to put a smile on your face.
2. God cares about your pain.
*And He’s carrying out His plan for your life.
-(We see this in vs. 5-11)
*Vs. 11 in the NIV says:
-"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD,
-Plans to prosper you & not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
*God had put together a plan for the Children of Israel, and God has a plan for your life, too!
*He’s got a plan for today.
-(Vs. 5-7 remind us of that...)
*Melvin Newland really put this in perspective when he said:
-"I wonder how we would feel if we were standing in the shoes of those exiles, those ancient Jews? What do you think God would have told us to do, if we had been His people taken by force to live in a pagan society? What would we have done?
-Well, those Jews had false prophets who told them what to do, who wrongly assured them that they would be home within two years. So some of the exiles attempted to withdraw from society, avoiding contact with the pagan Babylonians who surrounded them.
*But that wasn’t what God wanted them to do...
-God told them, "Build houses & settle down; plant gardens & eat what they produce. Marry & have sons & daughters; find wives for your sons & give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons & daughters. Increase in numbers there, do not decrease. Also, seek the peace & prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."
-Did you hear that? God was telling them to care about Babylon, to pray for, get involved in, & seek to influence the nation in which they now lived, even though they were unwilling exiles having to live in a very pagan society.
*Like the Jews in Babylon, we Christians have been told to be salt & light in our nation, too. But unlike them, we have a far greater opportunity to influence & set the moral direction of our nation & its government.
-No Jew ever had the opportunity to vote on Nebuchadnezzar. No 1st Century Christian ever cast a primary ballot to select his party’s nominee for Caesar.
*As citizens, we choose the national, state, & local legislators who make our laws. We select the presidents, governors, & mayors who administer those laws. We set the course of our judicial system by electing judges or those who appoint them. In the last 2,000 years, no other group of Christians has had the level of influence & power we enjoy as citizens of the U.S.
*Now, why have I mentioned all this? It is because I’m convinced that God hasn’t changed His expectations. He still expects His people to concern themselves with the affairs of the society in which they live. It is as much a part of our stewardship to Him as is the management of our time, our talents, or our money." (4)
*Christians: In a very real sense we are in the same situation those Jews were.
-This world is not our home.
--We are living in enemy territory.
*That’s why the Bible says that Satan is the prince & the god of this world.
-That’s why the Bible tells us to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
--That’s why the Bible tells us that we are ambassadors for Christ.
*We Christians have been told to be salt & light in our nation.
-And we have a far greater opportunity to influence our nation than those ancient Jews.
*God wants you to be a good influence in the place where you live.
-Your situation may be far from perfect, but every day can count for God, and it should.
*You don’t have to have a perfect situation.
-Do what you can, where you can & you will be a blessing!
2- God’s got a great plan for today, and for tomorrow.
-(We can see this in vs. 11)
*God’s plan for believers is to give you an expected end.
-That’s a hopeful future.
*And God is carrying out His plan for your life!
-It will sometimes be delayed, like it was here, but God’s plan is the best plan for you.
*That’s why D.L. Moody once said:
-"If God be your father, make your plans large." (5)
*And Eph 3:20 says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
*God’s plan for all believers is to one day spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
-That’s what Jesus Christ offers to all who trust in His crucifixion & resurrection...
-To all who receive Him as Savior & Lord.
*And that will put a smile on your face when nothing else can!
3. God is carrying out His plan for your life, and He promises to hear your prayers.
-(We see this in vs. 12)
*The awesome truth is that God wants to listen to you!
-That’s His promise here, and we can always count on His promises.
*Ashley Oubré was 10-years-old, when she gave a speech at the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.
-Ashley reminded the listeners of Jesus’ words in Matthew 18 that we must become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of God.
*And she ended by saying,
-“You teach us that when we have a problem, we should talk it out with others and with Jesus . . .
-You say that Jesus can solve all our problems, both big and small.
-But we notice, when people get older and have problems, they are embarrassed to talk like that among themselves.
-We wonder if you really mean it, or is Jesus only for kids?
-I am still young enough to believe that Jesus knows how to solve my problems, the problems of the city, and of the world.” (6)
*I am still young enough to believe that Jesus knows how to solve my problems, the problems of the city, and of the world...
-We’re young enough to believe it too!
--And that puts a smile on our face.
4. God promises to hear your prayers, and He promises to prove His presence.
-(We see this in vs. 13)
*First of all, notice that Jesus Christ deserves to have first place in your life.
-We ought to seek Him with all our heart!
*And also notice that God wants to be with you.
-The worst part of the captivity for the Jews was that they were away from Jerusalem.
*And they thought that they were away from the presence of the Lord, because the glory of God was literally in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.
-But God was telling them here that even though they were 600 miles away, He had not abandoned them.
*They could sing the song that David wrote in Psalm 139:7-10...
-"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
-If I ascend up into heaven, you are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.
-If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
-Even there shall your hand lead me, and your right hand shall hold me."
*God was available to them in Babylon, and today, because of the Cross of Jesus Christ, God is more available than ever!
-Jesus sends His Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of all who receive Him as Savior & Lord.
*He also promises to be here with us when we meet together.
-He is here right now.
Conclu:
*Listen to the words He spoke to those Jewish captives.
-Listen to the words He speaks to you in vs. 11-13:
-"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
-Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
-And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
*If you don’t know Him...
-Give your heart & your life to Jesus Christ.
--Put your trust in Him.
*Receive Jesus as your Savior & Lord, and let God put a smile on your face.
1. 011903 - SermonCentral Newsletter - Joy for the New Year - illus Contributed by: Wade Hughes, Sr.
2. Adapted from SermonCentral - Passed On To Me - Sermon by MELVIN NEWLAND Jeremiah 29 5 7
3. Author Unknown (illustration found on Dynamic Illustrations - ond03 - Perspective)
4. Adapted from SermonCentral - Passed On To Me - Sermon by MELVIN NEWLAND Jeremiah 29 5 7
5. Quote found in SermonCentral - Defining Our Vision - Sermon by Blaine Faircloth Jeremiah 29 11
6. By Ashley Danielle Oubré, cited by Ravi Zacharias in Deliver Us From Evil (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), pp.197-198. (illustration found on Dynamic Illustrations - ond03 - Faith)
