"REFRAIN THY VOICE FROM WEEPING"

JEREMIAH 31:1

A. IT IS SAID THAT IF ALL THE TEARS WHICH ARE SHED BY SORROWING ONES OVER THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE SINCE DEATH CAME INTO THE WORLD WOULD BE COLLECTED INTO ONE STREAM, THAT SUCH A STREAM WOULD BE BIGGER THAN THE MISSISSIPPI
  1. Our text shows that God takes knowledge of our tears of sorrow:
    1. Even our Lord and Saviour wept at the tomb of His friend - "Jesus wept" - John 11:35
    2. Job says, "mine eye poureth out tears unto my God" - Job 16:20
  2. Here is what He says about tears of sorrow:
    1. "Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears" - Jer. 31:16
    2. "Thou shalt weep no more" - Isa. 30:19
    3. "And they that weep, as though they wept not" - 1 Cor. 7:30
    4. "And God shall wipe all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor pain" - Rev. 21:4
B. BIBLE REASONS FOR REFRAINING FROM TEARS
  1. "For thy work shall be rewarded":
    1. The Lord must have weeping mothers in mind, who sacrifice all they have for their loved ones.
    2. They bestow much labor upon their loved ones.
  2. "And they shall come again from the land of the enemy": 1 Cor. 15:26; Jer. 31:16; What a consolation in the hour of grief! Good and blessed reason for restraint by the sorrowing ones!
  3. "There is hope in thine end":
    1. What a consolation for this heavenly assurance -- hope in the end!
    2. How different is the case of the wicked -- "which have no hope" - 1 Thess. 4:13; "the hope of the hypocrite shall perish" - Job 8:13
  4. "Thy children shall come again into their own border": Mothers, here is a promise that ought to wipe away all tears from your eyes.
    1. Your children upon whom you bestowed much labor and sacrifice will come into your own environment again.
    2. Angels will carry them upon their arms to you! O what a day that will be when God will bring about a family reunion! 2 Thess. 2:1-3; Matt. 24:31
C. BELOVED, MORTAL TONGUE CANNOT UTTER WORDS TO COMFORT YOU IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS; BUT GOD CAN AND DOES
  1. He who tasted death for all men - Heb. 2:9 - understands your sorrows; He knows your grief: Heb. 2:14-16
  2. It is He who assures you that your love bestowed upon the sleeping one will not have been in vain:
  3. It is He Who assures you that your dead shall live again:
  4. It is He Who says, that they shall come again into their own borders. I take that to mean that they will return into their own family again:
  5. May these heavenly words bring balm for broken hearts and hope for the fainting soul:


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