“When All Hope is Gone”

**INTRODUCTION 

Hello and welcome to "Key to the Kingdom." My name is Bret McCasland. I would venture to say all of us have been at a place in our life when it seems all hope was gone. Bad things happen, either to us or to one of our loved ones, and we did not know for sure what to do or where to go for help. Tragedy struck in a way we did not expect. A tragic accident happened and the outcome was not good, or a diagnosis was made which we did not expect and we did not know how to respond. When things like that happen, we can either allow them to take away our hope and our joy, or we can trust God, in the midst of the pain. Today on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will look at a familiar story in the Bible where we find that very thing taking place. I hope it will inspire and encourage us to draw close to the Lord when it seems that all hope is gone. Thank you for joining us for today's Bible study, and I invite you now to open up your heart and your Bible as we study together.

**LESSON

Some 600 years before the Lord sent His son, Jesus Christ, to this earth, His people, the Israelites, rebelled against Him. They did not follow the direction God provided through the kings who tried to lead them in the right way. The prophets who appeared before the Israelites had very little impact upon their lives. The people simply did not listen. The people had a mind of their own and they refused to give their allegiance to the Lord God Almighty. And even though God loved them and cared for them and provided for them year after year, the people turned away from following after Him. Well, God was not pleased with that. He grew tired of their constant disobedience and rebellion. They did not learn from the mistakes of their forefathers hundreds of years earlier, as they were sent off into Egyptian captivity. But God, it seems, had reached a breaking point. He did not know what to do and how all of this was needing to take place, but He was done with them. He was done with their rebellion and disobedience. The Lord was frustrated with His people and He knew that something had to be done. And through His prophet, Jeremiah, the final word was sent. And the final word was the city of Jerusalem will be destroyed, as with the people. Well, the city in which the temple was located, the place that God's people had called home, would be wiped out. It would be destroyed. And that very thing came true. From the years 589 to 587 B.C., Judah's capital city was under attack. Along with his mighty army, Nebuchadnezzar, the second king of Babylon, invaded God's city, Jerusalem. And for some two and a half years, the people belonging to the Lord were beaten, they were abused, they were killed. And the city ultimately fell, in the summer of 587 B.C. The Babylonians destroyed the city. They burned down the city gates. They tore down the walls. They destroyed Solomon's beautiful temple. Everything was wiped out. It was decimated. It was dissolved. Young people, old people, children and animals lost their lives. And the few who survived the onslaught were taken away into the land called Babylon as exiles; and there, they and their descendants stayed for some 70 years. They were in captivity. They were subject to the rule and the control of this evil empire called Babylon. And the people could not believe what had just happened. They were overwhelmed, as they felt God had abandoned them. And it was one of the most complete acts of devastation which is recorded in the Bible. There is a detailed description of the destruction that took place in Jerusalem. It's recorded in the Old Testament book called Lamentations. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote about what he saw as he made his way through that city. And we have a synopsis, or a summary, of what he saw, beginning in Lamentations chapter 1 and verse 1. It reads like this <How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations; she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.> As Jeremiah works his way through the city, he mourns over what he sees. He cannot believe the destruction and the damage and the loss. He weeps over those who have lost their lives. He grieves over the people who were deported into Babylon. Jeremiah knows that everything which has happened has come as a result of the people’s sin and rebellion. Despite of all the warnings, in spite of all of the teachings, in spite of the patience that God had demonstrated in dealing with His people for so many years, the people never responded. They brought about this destruction upon themselves. And as Jeremiah records what he sees, he admits their sins and their rebellion has led to their complete despise, their complete demise. Where there was once joy and excitement, it was now gone. That the people would come from various places into Jerusalem to celebrate the festivals no longer was that taking place. There was no excitement and no joy and no fellowship and no festivals in which to celebrate. We continue on with a further description in chapter 2 and chapter 4. <The Lord has given full vent to His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations. “Look, Lord, and consider:

Whom have you treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? “Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and young women have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity. Now they grope through the streets as if they were blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments. “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them. “Away! Away! Don’t touch us!” When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, “They can stay here no longer.”> These verses continue to describe the destruction that Jeremiah saw in the city of Jerusalem. And as the name of the book Lamentations suggests, the Prophet Jeremiah laments over this great loss. He laments over the pain and the destruction he sees firsthand. He laments over what has just taken place, and it is hard for him to imagine. He grieves and he is challenged by what has just taken place. We continue with a few more verses in chapter 4 and chapter 5. <The Lord himself has scattered them; He no longer watches over them.

The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor. Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field. With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed. Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!> It's hard to imagine how Jeremiah must have felt as he witnessed the devastation, all of the pain, all of the brokenness, all of the grief. And Jeremiah just summarizes all of the bad and negative and painful things that have happened to the people and to the holy city of Jerusalem. I can just imagine, that for him, as he rode through the city, it was like attending thousands of funerals for those people who had lost their lives. It was something that made a lasting impression upon him, and no doubt he never forgot that experience. Oh, there were a few people who did remain. The conquering Babylonians did not want, however, to be responsible for them. In their minds, they were insignificant and they would bring no value to the others who were deported into Babylon. And Jeremiah saw those people, too, as they wondered about throughout the streets without any kind of purpose or direction. And he grieved for them as well. They had no homes. They had no families. They had very little upon which to survive. Things for them could not have been any worse. So much destruction and so much death must have been overwhelming for Jeremiah. And all of that sorrow and all that sadness greeted him as he made his way through the city. Many of us are familiar with that biblical story. Perhaps we have even thought about what it would be like if something tragic like that happened in a big city where we live or perhaps nearby where we live. Certainly it would be a devastating thing to see. Recently some precious people I know quite well, who attend the church I attend, lost their home in a devastating fire. They had nothing left. There were no remains. They had no food, no clothes, no place to spend the night. But just think about that and multiply it by hundreds and thousands. You get somewhat of an idea of what took place in those years in Jerusalem. Here's a question I want us to ask ourselves. Have you ever felt like that Prophet Jeremiah? You looked around and the place you are living and you see nothing that is any good. You are experiencing all kinds of tragedies in your life. Everything you have worked for and tried to do and to accomplish and to accumulate over the years has been taken down. It has been destroyed and burned up. Maybe you are replaying over and over again in your mind some of those losses you experienced in days or years gone by. Over and over again, perhaps you are thinking about what went wrong. What things could you have done differently; and then, where do you go from here? Is there any hope for the remainder of your life? You might even be like Jeremiah, walking through the remains of your life and remembering how it once was. You reflect upon all the good times you were able to share with your friends and loved ones, your neighbors, your fellow church members. But now something has happened. They are gone. Maybe some have passed away or moved away and you don't have those connections or those relationships anymore. And all of those things you were able to experience, all of those good times you were able to share with the people, is not happening right now. It's all gone. The people who meant so much to you are not there. The fun times, the events, the experiences that brought so much joy to your life has now dissipated. And as Jeremiah wrote, your dancing has turned to mourning. And in your mind, there is nothing of any value that is left. You wonder what's going to happen now. You consider how you might try to rebuild your life, if that is even possible, and there is no clear direction for where you go. And you might even ask the question, is there any hope? You know, maybe you've been there before. Maybe one of your loved ones, a close family member, has experienced that; and you know what it is like. And you ask questions: Where do I go from here? How long will I experience this kind of captivity in my life? In the midst of all of the grief and all of the sadness and lamenting that Jeremiah sees, he offers some hope, in this very same book, called Lamentations. And this is what he wrote in chapter 3, which I think we need to hear today, if we are experiencing some devastation in our own life. He wrote this, beginning in that 3rd chapter, verse 21. <Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.> Those words seem out of place in the midst of the same book that we read the previous passages, a moment ago. And so we ask the questions, where is God in the midst of all of my grief and all of my sorrow? Does the Lord see what is happening in the destruction in my life? Greater yet, does He even care about the pain going on in my life? How can there be anything good in the midst of all of the bad? And, is there any hope for me to move ahead? You know, there are certain times when we might feel as if we are caught up in the destruction of our own Jerusalem, whatever that might look like. We feel as if everything and everyone who is of any value or any importance to us, or meaningful to us in our life, are gone. We too wonder, where do we go from here? Indeed, there are times when our lives might look like Jerusalem, as it was destroyed, and we can relate to what is found here in the Book of Lamentations. But yet, as we just noticed here in the 3rd chapter, Jeremiah tells us it is important to remember certain things about God; to remember that we are not alone in the midst of the devastation in our lives. He mentions four things. The first of one is focus on God's faithfulness. Why? Because it is great. How many times have you experienced God's faithfulness in your life? There was another time in history when God sent the Israelites into Egyptian captivity, and after a period of time God led them out by the hand of Moses. And God would do that again, after these people would spend some 70 years in captivity. But God was faithful and He led them out. God was faithful, even in the midst of the destruction and the pain and the captivity. Yes, God demonstrated His faithfulness by not ultimately giving up on His people. Even though they were in captivity, even though they were going through some devastating times, God was still with them. And that applies to you today. If you're going through some devastating times in your life, know that God is faithful. His faithfulness never runs out. He is always faithful and He will provide. The second thing Jeremiah points out is to focus on God's compassions. Why? Because they never fail. How many times have you experienced the compassions of the Lord? The greatest compassion He ever showed to people was when He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to this world to show His love and compassion to people who wander around with no direction and no hope for their life. It was shown in the way Jesus ministered to people. It represented how the Father in Heaven loves people. Jesus fed those who were hungry, healed those who were sick. He raised people from the dead. He ministered to the people who were overlooked and neglected; and that represented what God does for us! Today, through Jesus Christ, we continue to experience those very same compassions from God. The next thing we notice in the passage is that we are to focus on God's goodness. How many times have you experienced God's goodness in your life, perhaps in ways you did not even realize at the moment? But God is always full of goodness and love. Perhaps we're familiar with that statement: God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. And if we pause long enough to look around us, we will see so many expressions of God's goodness. Sometimes we don't even see it. We're in too big of a hurry. But if we pause and we think for a moment, we can just imagine the good things that God puts into our life, the goodness of the Lord. And then one final thing Jeremiah mentions in the passage is that we are to wait patiently for God to show up. How many times have you had to wait upon God? How many times have you have to wait for Him to rescue you to give you the salvation you need from all of the bad and devastating things in your life? But He's come through time and time again! And that's not the easiest thing to do, is it, to wait upon God? But yet we've had to wait. We've experienced what that means and what that looks like in our life. And we can never forget how God shows up at just the right time and in just the right way. You know, all of us have seen times when God brings something good out of something bad that has taken place in our life, and we are here to praise God for that. We are here to retell that story of God coming through for us in the very end, when it seemed we had absolutely no hope. We waited on the Lord to show up and to provide some answers for the problems we faced; and we know that He always does. No matter how bad things get in your life, no matter how bad things get in the lives of your loved ones, no matter how bad things seem to be in the world in which we are living today, there is one thing I hope that we always remember. That very simply is this: God will never leave you and He will never forsake you. I encourage you to put your hope in the Lord, to trust in the salvation He extends to you, to know that He is faithful, to enjoy His compassion and His goodness every day, and to know that God loves you so very much.

**VIDEO CLIP

I'm out here on the edge of town, near a field that has been swept clean. You can see it behind me. There is not much out here in this field, but all of the trash, all of the debris, all of the junk, if you will, has been put into this dumpster. And it's going to be hauled off and thrown away at some particular time. You know, sometimes we might think that, well, that describes my life. It just needs to be thrown away. Everything in my life is a mess. It is nothing but shambles. A disaster and problems have come, relationship problems, money situations, the loss of loved ones, and, oh, I wish I could just start over, clean it off, start over and take a fresh look on life. Well, when that happens, realize that God knows what's going on. He sees what is happening in your life and in mine. And maybe the best thing that we can do is just stand still before the Lord, to be at His mercy. And that's a very good place to be, especially if we are children of God; because God loves us. He's not disappointed in us. He doesn't give up on us. He sings over us, and we are special to the Lord. And maybe we just stand still before God. We wait upon the Lord. And that's very hard to do, especially in the midst of all the junk and the life problems. But even if they seem heavy to bear, just wait on God. He is at work, whether we see it readily or not. He's always working behind the scenes to figure out a solution for us. I hope today that you will just stand still before the Lord and allow God to work in your life. 

**CONCLUSION

Thank you for tuning in to today's broadcast. It is good to know that when it seems all hope is gone, the Lord always provides. He knows what we need and at just the right time. If you would like to view or to listen to this message again, it can be found on our website, which is keytothekingdom.com. Many other messages are there and they can be downloaded in three different formats. As always, these messages do not require any cost or any kind of commitment. They are free and are available upon request. On the website you can also find other teaching materials, summaries of the books of the Bible and basic information about seeking a relationship with the Lord might be of benefit as you seek to draw closer to the Lord. If you have not already done so, I hope you will download the phone app; also at no cost. It will give you immediate access to our website, and to daily devotional thoughts as well. I hope these media options will be beneficial in your spiritual growth. Once again, thank you for joining us for today's Bible study. I invite you to join us again next time, as we continue to study the Bible on "Key to the Kingdom."