Koeller, Dan: Promise of Peace ~ Jer 29v 11-14

This morning, uh, we're going to look at s- a few verses from Jeremiah chapter twenty nine. if you want to turn there. Jeremiah chapter twenty nine. uh, we'll start at the eleventh verse. But before we, uh, begin, why don't we open with a word of prayer? Our Our he- Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us together. We thank you for the opportunity to remember the Lord Jesus Christ this morning and proclaim his death until he comes. And now we thank you for this opportunity to look into your word and, uh, and see what you have to to say to us, Lord. We just thank you that your word is truth and, uh, that the Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us, uh, all your truths. And, uh, we ask your blessing upon our time this morning, and we pray that each one here would, uh, that you would speak to each one here, uh, with your word. We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. So this morning we're going to look at, uh, a promise that the Lord gave to his people, Israel, in the Old Testament. Uh, we're going to observe the circumstances, uh, that Israel was in when they received this promise, and then we're going to see, uh, that this promise given to Israel is a principle that holds true for us also. Uh, we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior are God's chosen, uh, spiritual people called the church, and we are the body of Christ. And so now in Jeremiah twenty nine, I'm going to start with verse eleven. 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. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you, and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Listen to how the Lord speaks to his people. Isn't it beautiful? He says, I know, I know the thoughts I have toward you. I know the thoughts I have toward you. The Lord is completely certain of what he thinks about Israel, his people. There are no doubts in his mind. He knows. And what are his thoughts? The Lord says in verse eleven that they are thoughts of what? Peace. Thoughts of peace and not of evil. Now, this was important for Israel to hear. Why? Let me ask you, did they receive this promise during a time of prosperity or during a time of ad- adversity? Let's look ahead to the beginning of verse fourteen to find our answer. He says, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your... what? Captivity. Israel received the Lord's promise when they were in captivity. The Lord had promised blessings of land and prosperity to his people, Israel, way back, beginning with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But now God's chosen nation found themselves where? In captivity in Babylon. They were in need of hearing God's promises. They knew they were part of God's chosen nation, Israel, and yet they found themselves in bondage to the enemy in Babylon. They had been taken away from the blessed city, Jerusalem, and they were brought all the way to Babylon. The Lord wanted to encourage his people. They were in need of encouragement. If you look back to verse eight, we see that the prophets which were in their midst in Babylon were deceivers. The Lord had not sent them. Just think God's chosen people in captivity, and the prophets who are supposed to be bringing the truth of the Lord are instead what? Deceivers. So the Lord says, do not listen to them. They are deceivers. I have not sent them. The Lord tells them they're going to be seventy years in captivity, and then he would cause them to return to Jerusalem from captivity. In our verse eleven, the Lord gives a reason why he will restore the people. The prophet Jeremiah, writing the words of the Lord, says, once again, I'll read it, 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. The Lord's thoughts towards his people were peace and not evil. Now, yes, they were in currently in captivity, and they would be in captivity for seventy years, but the Lord was reminding them that their current trials were temporary. Their current trials were temporary. The Lord had thoughts towards them that were peace and not evil. You know, the Lord continued telling his thoughts. He said, to give you a future and a hope. The Lord always gives hope to his people. He always gives hope to his people. Whether they deserve it or not, he gives them strength in the midst of trial by pointing them to the future. You know, the Lord knew that Israel's future was one of blessing. He had promised it. Israel was in a trial, and being in a trial, I'm sure it was difficult, don't you think? It was difficult for them to remember that they were a nation that God would one day bless. God would one day bless and deliver his chosen people. We know from scripture that God did lead his chosen people back to the land like he promised. And even in Israel's future, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign in Jerusalem as their king and as the king of kings and the Lord of lords. In verse twelve and thirteen, we see what accompanies their deliverance from captivity. Let's read those verses again. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you, and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. What accompanied their deliverance? It was repentance. God had allowed Israel to be captured because of their apostasy. They had rejected the Lord's messages sent through the prophets and had continued in their sin. And God had promised Israel from the beginning that obedience would bring blessing and disobedience would bring discipline. Yet in the midst of God's discipline for Israel, he never forgot something. He never forgot his covenant with his people. He reminded them that they had a hope and a future. He also reminded them of the importance of turning back, turning back to the Lord with, with all their hearts. And what would be the result? Verse fourteen says, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. But there were those who believed the deceiving prophets in Babylon. They said, the Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon. But these prophets, were they sent from the Lord? No. What was the only thing those prophets were able to bring on the people? Well, it was God's judgment, and if you want to read about that, it's in verse verse seventeen to nineteen. God's judgment would come on the people. Now, this judgment is a tragedy because they could have had the blessing instead. Now, God gives his people promises to draw them into a closer relationship with himself. That's his desire. Well, we talked about Israel as God's chosen, uh, national people, but what about us? What about us here today? Do these promises hold true for us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? As believers in Christ, we have been placed into the body of Christ. You know, through faith in Christ, we have been declared to be God's children. We are joint heirs with Christ. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We have been given the forgiveness of sins, the scripture says, according to the riches of his grace. You know, this verse in Jeremiah twenty nine verse eleven most certainly demonstrates God's principle of love towards us. If God had such great love for his chosen nation, Israel, do you know that he most certainly cannot have less love for those of us who are in Christ? That's our position. Let's not ever forget, those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, let's not forget our standing and our position. The scripture says many times that we are said to be in Christ. That's who we are. That's our identi- identity, Jesus Christ. We are accepted in the beloved. Our brother shared on that this morning. It's a beautiful thing, accepted in the beloved. We're near and dear to his heart. We aren't accepted because of the wonderful things we have done. No. Uh, if the only things our works merit are God's judgment. But according to his mercy, he saved us. Isn't that good news? He saved us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans four five says, but to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. Did you hear that? God justifies who? The good people? No, it says, I said that the ungodly. God justifies the ungodly. You know, the Lord loves to save sinners. He loves to save sinners. Even the angels in heaven rejoice when a sinner repents. It's like they're having a big party up there. They love it. They love it when we turn to the Lord. The Lord loves to save sinners, and that means there's no excuse for the sinner who thinks that his sin is so bad that God could never forgive him. There's no excuse. Jesus Christ died for some of our sins? No, for all of them. For all of our sins when he was on the cross. Doesn't matter how dark of a sin you and I think we have. God's word said that Christ suffered the judgment that our sins deserve. The only barrier between people and a holy God is the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know that? That's the only barrier, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human, and when he suffered and died on the cross for our sins, he made it possible for every single person to be saved. He made it possible for every person to be saved. Whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have eternal life, the scripture says. Jesus Christ says that the sinner that comes to him, he's never going to cast away. He receives them. This is love. God loves to save sinners, and for those of us who believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, God's love for us is as the love he has for his son. Do you know that? He loves us like he loves his son, because we are in Christ. Jesus Christ is our identity, and this is grace, God's undeserved love. We don't deserve it, deserve it, and we certainly can't earn it. Salvation is a free gift to whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. Now, for the believer, this verse in Jeremiah twenty nine eleven, this verse can give us tremendous hope, can't it? Remember, Israel received this promise while they were still where? In captivity. We may not be captive in Babylon right now. We're all here, nice, cozy, warm building, but I know that each one here has either experienced or is experiencing right now their own type of a captivity. All of us face something in our life. Have you ever felt like you were in captivity? Anyone here? You don't have to raise your hand. I know everyone has, including myself. Do you feel in captivity right now? You know, we can feel like captives, captives through many things. How about a besetting sin? A besetting sin. Temptation. Does the same temptation keep coming your way and you feel like you're a captive? How about bad health? There's a lot of people with health problems, right? Some people feel trapped inside their bodies. I've talked to a lot of people. I used to be a CNA in a hospital, and I remember hearing people saying they feel trapped inside their bodies. Maybe they had a stroke. But there are people here with health problems, and it's a very difficult thing. Do you feel trapped inside your bodies? Do you feel like you are in captivity because of your health? How about bad relationships? Maybe with a spouse, maybe with a child, maybe with a friend, maybe with an in-law. The list could go on. Do your relationships seem to be wearing you down so much that you feel like you are in captivity? How about the circumstances of life? Does everything seem to be going wrong? Everything seems to be going wrong in your life, maybe in your job, maybe in your finances, maybe in your school. Do these circumstances make you feel like you're in captivity? Well, if any of these examples I gave seem to illustrate your life, uh, listen to this verse again in Jeremiah twenty nine eleven. This is what he says, the Lord says, "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." What does the Lord say to us? He says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil. God gives us this promise, even if we are in the midst of adversity, in a trial. You know, his thoughts are peace towards us. They're peace towards us and not evil. The Lord does not treat us as our sins deserve. Do you know, we need to get this into our heads. Do you know, I sometimes struggle with this. I don't know if I've ever shared this with some of you, but I just went through it just recently. This very fact that the Lord does not treat us as our sins deserve. It was Bruni was expecting to have the baby on, I think it was the nineteenth, and that day came, and Esther was a week early, so we were thinking, oh, she's going to come early too. But the day came, and no baby. Aren't you in pain yet? I kept asking. Um, and then, uh, the next day came, the next day came. I kept trusting the Lord and then starting to worry, trusting him, then starting to worry, going back and forth. And then sometimes in the evening time, I started getting these very scary thoughts, and I started thinking, oh, something's, something's wrong. Something's wrong with the baby. And I started worrying, and I had this deep burden on me. I don't, I just can't explain it, but then I started thinking, oh, started thinking back to all my sins. Now, this is a terrible trick of the enemy, and I let myself fall into that trap. Started thinking about all my sins that I've done. I thought, oh, maybe I'm gonna be, the baby's gonna be judged because of what I've done in the past. I started thinking those kind of thoughts. Started thinking those thoughts, and they weren't, they weren't good thoughts. That wasn't of the Lord. And the Lord, I just kept going back and forth, back and forth, and, uh, I wasn't focusing on, on the Lord and his word, and the fact that he doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, and even if we do get, get some discipline from the Lord, we have to remember it's always in what? Is it in hate? Is it in for evil? No, it's for our good. It's in love. He loves us so much that we can't even imagine it. So no matter what happens, whatever happens in life, it's for a reason, and that, uh, the Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign. He's in control. Whether we get the good things that happen to us or the bad things, they're all the Lord, nothing happens to us without the Lord knowing about it. Well, then the d- day came, she started having the labor pains, and I was like, oh, thank you, Lord. And then at towards the end, when there were were some real major problems, Serena could have lost her life because of that cord. It was a real dangerous situation for a few moments. But you know, at those moments, the Lord didn't let me have any fear. He just gave me the biggest peace all over me, and I, I just knew that the Lord was in control no matter what would happen. And, uh, then when I saw little Serena, it was such a beautiful sight. Thank the Lord for her. You know, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have to remember that those of us who are believers, we have peace with God once and for all. You know, as believers in Christ, our acceptance by God cannot get better, and it cannot get worse. You know, we are secure in Jesus Christ, and the scripture says he is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us faultless, faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. We have peace with God, and so the trials and captivities that we experience can't harm us. They are only temporary. Second Corinthians four eighteen says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Nothing we experience in life can change the fact that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. You know, nothing can change that. I want you to turn with a section in the New Testament with me, a section in Romans. I know this is a section that many of us here love, and I'm sure many, many of you here have this memorized. Romans chapter eight, and we're going to start with birth- verse thirty seven. It's a beautiful section of scripture. Romans chapter eight, starting at verse thirty seven. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Isn't that beautiful? Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is eternally secure, and nothing can shake it. Isn't that beautiful? So Jeremiah twenty nine eleven, that verse we've been looking at, says the Lord's thoughts towards us are peace and not ev- evil, to give us a future and a hope. Now, when we are down in despair in the midst of trials of life, what should we remember? That the Lord has promised us a bright future. The King James verse, uh, version calls it an expected end. There's no surprise what's waiting us. We're gonna be with the Lord. No matter what happens in our lives, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, because he is our savior until the end. You know, we know how everything is going to turn out in the end of time. You know, sometimes we read these stories and these fairy tales, and they say they, and they lived happily ever after. And though we know those are all fairy tales, but you know something? We know how it's going to end, don't we? We're all going to live happily ever after. And it's not a fairy tale, this is truth. It's the truth of the word of God. We live forever with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, together with all other believers who believe on him. It's better than a fairy tale ending. It's, it's truth. This thought has oftentimes given me confidence during a trial. This thought seems to make any problem seem to lift right off and give me contentment. This can be our contentment that we have our citizenship in heaven. We're going there someday, we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. So we have peace with God, we have a future with God, and it says we have a ho- we have hope. Hope through Christ. Romans five five says that this hope will not disappoint us. You know, this world oftentimes disappoints us with their meaningless promises, don't they? Do you ever get a promise by someone and then they lie to you or they weren't able to fulfill it? Well, when God gives us hope, he gives us this promise, it's a confident hope. It's I know it's going to happen kind of hope. It's based on his character. You know, God does not lie, does he? He's not like people. He doesn't lie. He keeps his promise so that the hope we have in him will never prove to be a disappointment to us. And a wonderful thing is he's given us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. We have the Holy Spirit as a guarantee, and we can be rest assured that the Lord will nev- will never be fooled by him. We have a confident hope. 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. This verse is true no matter what type of captivity we find ourselves in. You think you have a big problem? Well, the Lord is bigger than our problems. He's bigger. His arm is not too short to help us. Even if we bring our own problems on ourselves through sin, God can still give us hope and a future. Scripture says all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. We need to be believers who are quick to confess our sins to the Lord. The word of God says he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Remember what the Lord promised Israel in verse twelve to fourteen? Let's read those verse, uh, thirteen and fourteen. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. Israel was promised physical deliverance from captivity. What about us? Are we going to be delivered from our captivity in this life? Does God promise us that all our problems are going to be, just go away? Well, God hasn't promised us that no bad things can happen in our life. He hasn't promised that we won't get sick. We might lose our health, we might lose our wealth, we might lose our families, our spouses, we might feel like we're living in captivity, maybe for our whole life, but God has promised to never leave us. He's promised to never forsake us. You know, the peace with God that we have through our Lord Jesus Christ will never change. That's, that gives us hope. We may not feel it. We may not feel the peace all the time. But if we have Je- if we are in Christ, we have the peace. We have the peace. The glorious future we have with Christ is certain, and the hope we have in Christ will never, it will never disappoint us. Let us continually praise the Lord Jesus Christ with our thoughts, words, and actions. He is so worthy, isn't he? Worthy of our, of all glory, honor, and praise. He's on the throne. Even when we're in the midst of problems, he's still on the throne. He's still in charge. He's our sovereign God. He's on our side. He's our redeemer, savior. He's our first love. He's our best friend. He's our almighty protector, and he's gonna be with us. He's gonna be with us until the end. He promises, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Let's close in a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you, first of all, for the Lord Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to have a relationship with you. We thank you, Lord, that you died on the cross for our sins. The judgment that we deserved, you took upon Yourself. You were judged. You suffered for, in our place, for our sins. The wrath that we deserved, you took, you took for us. So we say thank you, Lord. We thank you, and we thank you that your thoughts towards us are peace. And that you've given us a hope and a future. Lord, we pray for everyone here who's going through s- trials and struggles. You know those struggles, Lord. We pray that in the midst of these trials, that each one of us will keep our thoughts focused on the Lord Jesus. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. And we thank you for the bright future we have with, with you, Lord. And we do pray for anyone here who does not have this hope. Lord, we just pray that you would touch their heart today. We pray that the angels would be rejoicing in heaven today, that they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior, so they can join us with this hope that we have, a hope that will never disappoint us. We thank you and praise your name, Lord Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.