Good morning.
If you'd like to, there are plenty of Bibles in the pews around you.
! I think it's page 780 is where we're going to park a little bit today.
So you can be turning there.
You saw on the back of your bulletin there's a little bit of an outline to follow.
Now, Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 may have been a favorite verse of many over the centuries.
But I don't remember people quoting it when I was a kid.
I think that since the escalation of something called the health and wealth movement over the past few decades,
this verse has probably been quoted as a favorite verse and is seen on plaques and in greeting cards
and other Christian merchandise.
In fact, I just received this week a refrigerator magnet of Jeremiah 29 11.
And I put it on my refrigerator, alright?
Generally, this verse is quoted in the New International Version of the Bible.
It goes like this,
Now, on its face, I would say that believers, I want to emphasize that,
believers in the Lord Jesus can say,
Amen.
Certainly, God knows the plans He has for us, right?
I mean, after all, they're His plans, right?
And He works all things according to His will and for His own good pleasure.
His plans are for us good and not evil.
We learn that from many places in the Bible.
In Him, we have hope regarding the future,
at least for our future glorification.
That's certain.
There are good things to remember.
These are good things to remember.
Good reasons to give thanks to God and good reasons to rejoice.
Unfortunately, too many people have fixated their attention on plans to prosper you.
I think assuming material possessions are the focal point of Jeremiah's prophecy.
The expectation of hope in a future is often understood today as short-term
in expectation of or anticipating material blessings here during our earthly lives,
even expecting prosperity in the immediate future.
And I would like for us to look a little bit more closely to the context of this passage.
We'll get there in a couple minutes.
I would like for us to...
And part of the reason is I think that together we need to learn perhaps a little bit more
about how to interpret the Bible
so that we make sure that we interpret it correctly
and that will help us sharpen our focus on the promises that God has made
and promises that He will absolutely keep.
What I don't want to do is to rip off a promise like tearing,
trying to remove a stubborn bandage and leave you in pain.
I'm not trying to do that.
But what I want us to do is to understand this passage in its context
and then see if we can actually accurately and appropriately make some application
and see if we can understand a little bit more what this is saying.
So here's the verse again.
This is from NIV to start with.
We'll get to another translation in a bit.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
Let's pray before we get into this.
Father, thank You for Your Word.
Thank You that Your Word is given to us by You
through prophets, apostles, and others who recorded it.
Thank You that we have it.
You desire that we understand it.
And You call us to make appropriate application to it.
And You call us to have our lives driven by it.
So help us, we pray, as we study this text
and then encourage us by the promises that You have made.
For Your promises that are made certainly are always kept.
And we thank You in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All right.
Context in terms of where this verse appears.
Nebuchadnezzar, that's probably a name you know.
Nebuchadnezzar was during the time of Daniel.
He was involved with the Babylonian people,
the Babylonian Empire.
Nebuchadnezzar was leading the Babylonian army.
He besieged Jerusalem about 605 B.C.
And he was on the threshold of taking the city.
In fact, he succeeded actually in bringing the king of Judah, Jehoiakim, to a place of surrender.
And he planned to take him back to Babylon.
But before the process could be completed,
Nebuchadnezzar got a very serious and important message given to him
that his father, the king Nebuchadnezzar, had just died.
Well, he had to hurry and get back to Babylon in order to secure the throne for himself.
So he didn't complete his siege against the city.
But before he left, he did force Jehoiakim, the king of Judah,
to promise loyalty by paying annual tributes.
It went something like this.
You give me money, maybe I won't destroy you.
How's that for an agreement?
That was pretty much what was going on.
So some of the Israelites were deported at this time.
Daniel, you know the stories of Daniel and his three friends.
We know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They were all transported back to Babylon.
There are many others that were too.
Well, things went reasonably well during that three years
that Jehoiakim was paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar.
But at the end of three years, he decided to no longer do that.
That was against the threat of Nebuchadnezzar coming back.
But it was also against the warnings, the vigorous warnings by the prophet Jeremiah.
So actually this verse that we're considering was written to the exiles
from Jerusalem who were in Babylon.
Not to the people in Jerusalem at the time, but to the exiles.
Those who were already there in Babylon, including Daniel and others.
Jeremiah prophesied that the captivity would eventually end,
but it would be many years before it actually would happen.
The city was captured in 597 B.C.,
methodically destroyed by the time of 586 B.C.
Temple gone, walls gone, city gone.
Well, here's a portion of the text that will help us to get a grip
on what Jeremiah 29.11 is saying.
This is from the English Standard Version,
the version that we typically use here at Christ the King Church
when we preach and teach.
So here it is. You can turn there if you like.
It's the beginning of chapter 29.
These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem
to the surviving elders of the exiles,
and to the priests, and to the prophets,
and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile
from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, verse 4,
Now, what's he talking about? Babylon.
Babylon. All you people in Babylon do this.
Seek the welfare of the city, Babylon, where I have sent you in exile,
and pray to the Lord on its behalf,
for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you,
and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,
for it's a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name.
I did not send them, declares the Lord.
For thus says the Lord,
When seventy years are completed for Babylon,
I will visit you.
I will fulfill to you my promise,
and bring you back to this place.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
Plans for welfare, not for evil,
to give you a future and a hope.
So all that related to them being exiled,
and then seventy years brought back.
The rest of the part of the text I'm going to read begins at verse 12.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me,
and I will hear you.
You will seek me and find me,
and when you seek me with all your heart,
I will be found by you, declares the Lord.
I will restore your fortunes and gather you
from all the nations and all the places where I've driven you,
declares the Lord,
and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
And that's what happened.
After seventy years,
God's promise was fulfilled.
Judah was allowed back into the land of promise.
But most of the people,
I think this is important to remember,
most of the people in exile,
to whom the letter was written by Jeremiah,
a letter probably written in 594 B.C.,
most of those people never made it back to Jerusalem.
You know why?
Because if they were an adult going into exile,
seventy years passed before they could go back.
Most of them died in Babylon.
Though false prophets,
both in Jerusalem and in Babylon,
claimed the captivity would be over very quickly,
God, through Jeremiah, said no.
Even the time of the captivity was made very clear.
In one of the verses I read,
it was prophesied to be seventy years,
and it was exactly true,
just as God had said.
All right.
So, let's go back to that verse
and see if we can learn a little bit more.
Jeremiah 29 11.
I'm going to read about four different translations,
just to give you an idea of what translators
sometimes do with the text.
The verse that you often see on refrigerator magnets
and other places,
the verses that you see are almost always quoted
in the New International Version.
And here's the verse.
For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you
and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope
in a future.
ESV, which we use,
for I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord,
the Lord,
plans for not prosper,
but plans for welfare
and not harm,
but not for evil,
to give you a future
and a hope.
King James,
if you still are using the King James Version,
goes like this.
For I know the thoughts
that I think toward you,
saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace
and not of evil,
to give you an expected end.
The New King James,
which updated a few things,
said,
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.
So the Hebrew word
that's translated prosper
in the one text,
welfare in another,
and peace in the other two,
is actually the word shalom.
That's the Hebrew word.
So we're going to compare that
a little bit
with another passage,
another verse,
that comes from Jeremiah,
comes from God through Jeremiah,
and it's in Jeremiah chapter 38.
You can look at that if you like,
chapter 38, verse 4.
When Jerusalem was under siege,
Jeremiah was telling the people
to surrender to the Babylonians
and to go with them
into captivity without resistance.
That was his message.
That's what God had told him to do.
Remember?
Go there
and live the way
you're supposed to live there.
Raise your families there.
Build houses there.
But in 70 years
will bring the nation back.
That was the promise.
Well,
if the Jews refused
and they stayed in Jerusalem,
guess what would happen to them?
They would perish.
So,
Jeremiah's encouraging them,
surrender to Babylon,
go to Babylon in exile.
Here's the verse.
Then the officials,
these are the officials
of Jerusalem,
in Jerusalem,
said to the king,
the king of Judah,
let this man be put to death.
They're talking about Jeremiah.
Let this man be put to death
for he is weakening
the hands of the soldiers
who are left in this city
and the hands of all the people
by speaking such words to them.
For this man is not,
not seeking the welfare
of this people,
but their harm.
Interesting, isn't it?
Just about backwards
of what God had said.
The promise of peace
was given to the exiles
in Babylon,
not to the people
who were in Jerusalem.
God's plan for the exiles
was for their welfare,
not for their harm,
not for evil against them.
If they surrendered
to the Babylonians,
but if they remained
in Jerusalem
resisting the Babylonians,
harm would come to them.
The officials were warning
that if Jeremiah's counsel
was followed,
the results would be
exactly opposite
of what God had said,
God had promised
and Jeremiah had announced.
So Jeremiah was telling
the exiles in Babylon
to live out their lives
in Babylon
as normal as they could.
The promise to return
would come eventually,
but for most,
they would probably
not see it.
That's the background
of our text.
For I know the plans
I have for you,
declares the Lord,
plans for welfare
and not for evil,
to give you a future
and a hope.
Now, let's look at
application just a little bit.
Is there appropriate
application for believers
from Jeremiah 29, verse 11?
Let's start with just looking
at Daniel and his three friends
for a moment.
They were exiled to Babylon
and they remained there.
They rose to prominent positions
there, actually,
but their lives were not
without trials and dangers.
Remember that they were
charged with betrayal
by jealous coworkers.
They were demanded
to bow to idolatrous images
or they would face death
by being burned alive
in a fiery furnace
or thrown into a den
of hungry lions.
You know the stories.
With God's protection,
these people
lived out their years
generally in peace
as God had promised
regarding their welfare
and their protection
from evil.
So do we have
a parallel today?
Well,
though the fulfillment
of the promise
of hope and a future
was decades away,
God's purposes remained
and he was in complete control.
Certainly that's true today.
After 70 years,
God promised his people
that judgment
would be fulfilled
and they would go back
into the land.
But even exile,
God was with his people.
In fact,
I'm sorry,
Isaiah prophesied
about 100 years
before any of this happened
in a passage you know,
Isaiah chapter 40.
You know the end of it,
I'm sure.
He's talking about Babylon.
He's talking about
what was going to happen.
Ten decades from there.
Behold,
the Lord God comes
with might
and his arm rules
for him.
Behold,
his reward is with him
and his recompense
before him.
He will tread his flock
like a shepherd.
I'm sorry,
tend his flock
like a shepherd.
He will gather
the lambs in his arms.
He will carry them
in his bosom
and gently lead
those that are
with young.
even youths
shall faint
and be weary
and young men
shall fall exhausted
but those who wait
for the Lord
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up
with wings
like eagles.
They shall run
and not be weary.
They shall walk
and not faint.
Most likely a prophecy
for the people
in Babylon.
Now I think
we can make
a good case
right now
that we as believers
are essentially
aliens,
exiles,
right?
I mean,
we are living
in a Babylonish world,
okay?
We're living
in a lost world,
a messed up world,
a terrible world
and so in that sense
we are kind of like
the exiles
of Judah
and we need
to remember
that our citizenship
is in heaven
and Jesus promises
us that we will
have tribulations
here,
right?
But remember
what he said,
in me
you will have
peace.
It's a great promise.
And then he said,
take heart,
I have overcome
the world.
So though we may
live in a Babylonish
world kind of today
and we are exiles
on our way
to heaven,
the problems
are there,
the difficulties
are there,
but we have
his peace
and we have
the assurance
that he has
overcome the world.
Now there's no
promise
guaranteeing
that we will be
healthy and wealthy
throughout this life.
In fact,
any biblical promises
of prosperity
for the believer
is spiritual.
It's not physical.
Some may live
a long time
and have excellent
health.
Others may be
sickly most
of their lives.
Some will gain
much of this
world's possessions
while others
will have very little.
Any riches
we might possess
did not come to us
as rewards
for faithfulness.
In fact,
sometimes
they are more
of a curse
than a blessing.
The Bible
talks about that.
They are often
a distraction
from following
Jesus.
Contentment
is the blessing
regardless of
whether we have
little or much.
Thanks for that,
Zach,
yesterday.
God has
to understand
the plans
God has
for us
and for our
peace
and for our
hope
and for our
future.
What I'd like to do
is take those
concepts
that appear
in Jeremiah 29
and transpose
those,
if you will,
to the New Testament
and give you
promises
that were
specifically
given
to us
as believers
in Jesus
right now.
Okay?
So let's start
with a sample
of New Testament
promises
given to us
by God
about His
plans for us.
I love this
passage.
You know it,
but sometimes
we don't get
the magnitude
of it.
For we know
that those
who love God,
let me read it
again,
and we know
that for those
who love God,
all things,
all things
work together
for good.
Not all things
are good.
All things work
together for good
for those
who are called
according to
His purpose.
Talk about plans
that God has
for us.
That's amazing.
What about this?
This gets even
more specific.
Romans chapter 8
verses 31-32.
If God is for us,
what?
Who can be
against us?
He who did not
spare His own
Son but gave
Him up for us
all, how will
He not also
with Him
graciously give
us all things?
And the all
things are all
the things we
live to live
godly in Christ
Jesus.
That's His
promise to us.
Or how about
this?
Ephesians chapter
1.
In Him we have
redemption
through His blood,
the forgiveness
of our trespasses
according to
the riches
of His grace
which He
lavished on us
in all wisdom
and insight
making known
to us the
mystery of His
will according
to His purpose
which He set
forth in Christ
as a plan
for the fullness
of time
to unite all
things in Him,
things in heaven
and things on earth.
Wow.
They're His plans
for us.
That good?
And remember
what God
promises
He always
answers.
He keeps
His promises.
Alright,
how about
peace?
The Bible
has some
things to say
about peace.
Jesus said
to His
disciples,
Peace I
leave with
you,
my peace
I give
to you,
not as the
world gives
do I give
to you,
let not your
hearts be
troubled,
neither let
them be
afraid.
Whatever our
circumstances,
we have
His peace.
That's a
promise.
peace.
And the
peace of
God,
he says
in Philippians
chapter 3,
Paul writes,
and the
peace of
God which
surpasses
all
understanding
will guard
your hearts
and your
minds in
Christ Jesus.
I'm so
grateful we
have something
guarding that.
Peace
seems like
for many
of us
sort of
one of
those
it drifts
in and
out
kind of
thing.
No,
no,
God
guards
His
peace
in us.
Peace of
God which
surpasses
all
understanding
will guard
your
hearts
and
your
minds.
Let's
look at
Romans 5.
Since we
have been
justified
by faith,
we have
peace
with God
through our
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Through
Him,
we have
also
obtained
access
by faith
into this
grace in
which we
stand and
we rejoice
in hope
of the
glory of
God.
That gives
us a
transition
now to
hope.
Here's
some
samples
of what
the
Bible
has
to
say
to
us.
Promises
of
God
to
believers
about
hope.
Here's
the first
one.
No,
in all
these
things
we are
more
than
conquerors
through
Him
who
loved
us.
These
are
Paul's
words.
They're
amazing.
For
I am
sure
that
neither
death
nor
life
nor
angels
nor
rulers
nor
things
present
nor
things
to
come
nor
powers
nor
height
nor
depth
anything
else
in all
creation
will be
able to
separate
us
from the
love of
God
in
Christ
Jesus
our
Lord.
That
is
hope.
Amazing
hope.
We read
from the
words of
Jesus
in John
14.
Let not
your hearts
be troubled.
Believe in
God,
believe also
in me.
In my
Father's
house
are many
rooms.
If it
were not
so,
would I
have told
you that
I go
to prepare
a place
for you?
And if
I go
and prepare
a place
for you,
I will
come again
and take
you to
myself,
that where
I am,
you may
be also.
Do you
realize that
the promise
that God
has made
for everybody
who belongs
to Jesus
is someday
you will be
with Him?
Face
to face?
That's
hope.
And this
I love
from Peter
chapter 1.
Blessed
be the
God and
Father of
our Lord
Jesus
Christ.
According
to His
great
mercy,
He has
caused
us to
be born
again
to a
living
hope
through
the
resurrection
of Jesus
Christ
from the
dead.
Though
we have
not
seen
Him,
though
you have
not
seen
Him,
you love
Him.
And though
you do
not now
see Him,
you believe
in Him
and rejoice
with joy
that is
inexpressible
and filled
with glory,
obtaining
the outcome
of your
faith,
the salvation
of your
souls.
And then
verse 13
of chapter 1
he says,
set your
hope
fully
on the
grace
that will
be brought
to you
at the
revelation
of Jesus
Christ.
That means
our hope
becomes
reality.
Our
assurance
is made
full
in the
presence
of Jesus.
And I love
this passage.
1 John 3
See what kind
of love the
Father has
given to us?
That we should
be called
children of
God?
And so
we are,
John writes.
The reason
why this
world does
not know
us is that
it did
not know
Him.
Beloved,
we are
God's
children
now and
what we
will be
has not
yet appeared
but we
know that
when He
appears
we shall
be like
Him
because we
shall see
Him as
He is.
And everyone
who has
and everyone
who thus
hopes in
Him
purifies
Himself
even as
He is
pure.
That's
real hope
directed
to a
certain
future.
And what
is that
future for
us?
Here are
some passages
that remind
us of
those
promises.
Romans
chapter 8
again.
For
those
whom
He
foreknew
He also
predestined
to be
conformed
to the
image
of His
Son.
It's
going to
happen.
I look
at myself
and it
isn't even
close to
being in
the image
of Jesus.
But the
promise that
God makes
is if
He foreknew
me,
if He
loved me a
long time
ago,
predestined
me to be
conformed to
the image
of His
Son,
it's going
to happen.
That's
His
promise.
And those
whom He
predestined
He also
called,
and those
whom He
called He
also
justified,
declared as
righteous,
and those
whom He
justified He
also glorified.
It's very
interesting,
Paul uses
all past tense
words there.
Now,
I get the
predestined
and the
conformed
and the
called
and the
justified,
but I
got news
for you,
I'm not
glorified yet.
Starting with
my voice
today,
sorry about
that.
We're not
glorified,
we got
aches and
pains and
difficulties and
problems and
the only thing
certain for us
in the future
is probably a
box,
okay?
I mean,
that's where
we're kind of
heading,
unless Jesus
comes back,
right?
But Paul
says,
it is so
certain to
happen,
I already
wrote it as
if it did.
Not only have
you been
called,
and not only have
you been
justified,
you have
been glorified
in God's
plan and
purpose,
that is
your future
guaranteed.
That's
amazing.
And he
goes on,
Jesus said
to Martha
at the funeral
of Lazarus,
I'm the
resurrection
and the
life.
Whoever
believes in
me,
though he
die,
yet shall
he live.
And everyone
who lives
and believes
in me shall
never die.
The promise
for my
future is,
the day I
close my
eyes on
the planet
earth and
open them
again,
I will be
in heaven.
Death,
though he
die,
yet shall
he live.
That's
God's
promise.
That's
amazing.
And how
about this?
Titus
chapter 3,
but when
the goodness
and loving
kindness of
God,
our Savior
appeared,
he saved
us,
not because
of works
done by
us in
righteousness,
but according
to his
own mercy,
by the
washing of
regeneration
and renewal
of the Holy
Spirit,
whom he
poured out
on us
richly
through Jesus
Christ,
our Savior,
so that being
justified by
his grace,
we might
become heirs
according to
the hope
of eternal
life.
A couple
more.
1 Thessalonians
chapter 4,
for the
Lord himself
will descend
from heaven
with the
cry of
command,
with the
voice of
the
archangel,
with the
sound of
the trumpet
of God,
in the
dead in
Christ,
our bodies
rise first.
Then we
who are
alive and
remain,
who are
left,
will be
caught up
together with
him in
the clouds
to meet
the Lord
in the
air,
in this
part of
the promise.
And so
we will
always be
with the
Lord.
What a
promise.
And then
one of my
favorite verses
in all the
Bible,
Jude 24
and 25,
now to
him who
is able to
keep you
from stumbling
and to
present you
blameless
before the
presence of
his glory
with great
joy,
to the
only God
our Savior
through Jesus
Christ our
Lord,
be glory,
majesty,
dominion,
and authority
before all
time and
now and
forevermore.
Amen.
Now that
believer is
what God
has planned
for you.
That's your
hope in
him.
That's your
future in
Jesus Christ.
Our great
God has
plans for
us and
he's going
to work
them out,
all those
plans to
perfection.
Those plans
are not
for evil.
Those plans
are for
peace,
his peace
which he
promised
to us.
It's for
our
spiritual
welfare
which he
promised
us.
He has
promised us
a future
that will
ultimately
open up
into eternity
with him.
That's our
hope.
That's our
confidence.
That's our
assurance.
What the
Lord said to
the Jews
in exile
through the
prophet Jeremiah
was very
good and
very encouraging.
But what
he has
promised to
us is
beyond
comparison.
Hallelujah.
To our
wonderful
counselor
who has
declared his
plans and
his purpose
for us.
Who as
the prince
of peace
has extended
to us
a peace
that passes
all understanding.
As the
father of
eternity
has our
future in
his hands
and as
the God
of might
he will
not let
go.
To know
and love
this God
is to
have hope
that it
will never
dissipate
or be
lost.
All of
this
and more
is yours
if you
belong to
the Lord
Jesus
Christ.
Have you
trusted him?
If not
ask him to
save you
and watch
what he
does.
He has a
plan that
includes peace
and hope
and a future
for all who
belong to
him.
Hallelujah.
Thank you
Jesus
for what
you promised
us.
I'm hanging
on to those
promises.
Unfortunately
he's got a
hold of them
even tighter
and they
will come
true.
We've got
an amazing
future out
of us.
Let's pray.
Father
we thank
you for
your word
and we thank
you that
your word
is clear.
We thank
you that if
we spend
a little bit
of time
looking at
it we may
discover
truths that
we never
really
realized.
We never
saw them
there before.
We never
were able to
get into the
depth of
what they
mean.
We thank
you that
you are
a God
who gives
promises
throughout
your word.
And to
us you've
given many
promises
and you
keep them.
And we
thank you
for that.
Our confidence
is in you
because you
always do
what you
say.
And so
we rest
in you.
If there
are some
here who
do not
know you
and never
trusted you
as Savior
and Lord,
dear Father
I pray that
you would
call them.
That you
would open
their heart
to believe.
That they
would cry
out to you
that they
want to know
you and
trust you.
And you
would bring
new life
into their
heart.
Save them.
justify them.
Declare them
righteous.
Welcome them
into the
family.
And all
those promises
then are
applied to
them.
Grant that
we pray
in your
name.
Your precious
name.
Amen.