A MESSAGE FOR HARD DAYS

JEREMIAH 29:1

A. "FOR I KNOW THE THOUGHTS THAT I THINK TOWARD YOU, SAITH THE LORD, THOUGHTS OF PEACE AND NOT EVIL, TO GIVE HOPE IN YOUR LATTER END"
  1. This message from God is:
    1. Very similar in nature to John 3:16
    2. It reveals to us God's great attachment to His children
    3. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet, will I not forget thee" - Is. 49:15
  2. It is given:
    1. To allay our fears in time of sorrow
    2. "Fear not, for I am with thee" - Is. 41:13-14 B. DEAR ONES - OUR TEXT OFFERS A MESSAGE FOR HARD DAYS
  3. Many people these days are being called to undergo experiences which, had they been left to themselves, they would not have chosen:
    1. Think of the people in Vietnam - over twenty years of the ravage war
    2. Think of the people that die of starvation because they have no food to subsist on
  4. Then we must consider this service, this afternoon:
    1. A loved one has fallen asleep, her voice has been silenced by death
    2. She leaves behind sorrowing and broken hearts
  5. Such services like this are a constant reminder to all of us:
    1. That hard days are ahead of all of us - there are no exemptions
    2. These days are not of our own choosing but they are inevitable just the same
    3. They come to good and bad, to rich and poor, to young and old; to men of prominence and to the humble - no one is exempt
  6. How do hard times affect our attitude and relationship to our Maker and Redeemer?
    1. Are we tempted, as Job's wife was, to curse God and die? - Job 2:9
    2. Or are we of the mind of Job, when He saith, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away" C. BUT NOTE, DEAR SORROWING ONES, GOD'S MESSAGE TO YOU IN THIS HOUR OF SORROW AND GRIEF
  7. "For I know what thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil"
    1. "I understand your sorrows because I went through them when My Son died on the shameful cross of Calvary"
    2. "I can sympathize with you, because of what you are going through at this hour has passed through my own life"
    3. "in all their affliction He was afflicted" - Is. 63:9
  8. Not only does our God enter our sorrows, and feel with us:
    1. But He assures us that death does not end all
    2. That He has power over death
    3. That He will in due time abolish death forever
    4. That there is hope in thine end
    5. what is that hope? - "Thy dead men shall live again" - Is. 26:19; "The hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation" - John 5:28-29 That hope is that, if all of your are faithful you can expect a family reunion not to grieve or sorrow, but to rejoice in what God has done for all of you.
  9. Yes, our text offers a message of hard days:
    1. It is a message of love
    2. A message of encouragement
    3. A message of real hope
    4. A message that ought to heal our wounded and broken hearts. Let this be your consolation at this hour


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