David Platt Messages
David Platt Messages is a podcast that highlights sermons from teacher, author, and pastor David Platt.
David Platt Messages
The Plan of God in the Suffering We Experience
In this message, David Platt unpacks Jeremiah 29:11–13 in light of God's greater plan of redemption.
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You're listening to David Platt Messages a weekly podcast of sermons and messages of pastor, author and teacher David Platt. Today's episode is a rerun of one of our most listened to messages of all time.
Speaker 2:I love reading through the Bible with you. This Bible reading plan we started back in February going through the story of Scripture through November. A couple of chapters a day. If you haven't been following along, we invite you to start following along now. Just jump in with us. Or, if you've trailed off at some point, pick back up. This week. All the information's on the front page of our website.
Speaker 2:Every day we have the opportunity to hear the same word from God and then, each Sunday, to come together and think about what God is saying to us, not just individually, but together as a church. That leads to a chapter in our Bible reading from yesterday, jeremiah 29, that includes one of the most well-known, often quoted, most misunderstood, taken out of context promises in all the Bible. So I've never preached on this passage before, and when we came to this week, I thought we need to think about what this means, because what this means is incredible, particularly when we wonder how suffering we experience in this world relates to the plan of God for our lives. This passage is so relevant to every single one of our lives and at the end of our time together, I want us to have some concentrated time to pray for people in this gathering here and other campuses who are walking through challenging days right now, like I. Wanna encourage people like that, particularly with God's word today, and for those of you who aren't walking through some sort of suffering right now. I want to give you truths to lodge away in your mind and your heart for anything that might be coming around the corner. So let's read these verses. In fact, let's read them out loud together. I'll put them up here on the screen and then let's think about what they mean.
Speaker 2:So, jeremiah, chapter 29, verses 11 through 13. Let's read it together out loud, 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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Now I mentioned these words are well-known, often quoted. People have them in frames around their houses, on their desks, in places where they can be reminded of these words, particularly verse 11, and this is good. The problem, though, is that many of us don't know when God said this, who he was speaking to and what it meant at that time. And if we don't know what it meant when God said these words, then we can easily make them mean things today that they were never intended by God to mean. All kinds of people can find themselves suffering when you find out you have cancer, when your spouse decides to leave, when you're a child or a teenager and one of your parents is suddenly absent from your life and you wonder I thought God's plans for me were good. Or even in the middle of tough times, people will quote this verse and say I have faith that my suffering is about to end because God promised it. So is that what this passage means? And this is why it's always important that we read and understand the Bible in context, why it's particularly helpful to read the Bible like we're reading it together right now, because we understand when God says this in the story of Scripture.
Speaker 2:So just to catch everybody up to speed in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible, as a result of sin and division among God's people, they were split into two kingdoms. You had a northern kingdom called Israel and a southern kingdom called Judah, and both of these kingdoms were sinking into deep idolatry and immorality, worshiping all kinds of different gods, indulging in all kinds of different sin. So God sends prophets to both Israel and Judah saying the judgment of God is coming upon your sin. Turn back to him. Over a hundred times in this book, god, through Jeremiah, causes people to repent and return to God, but they don't listen, kind of like us. Sometimes God's word calls us to live a certain way and over and over again we still choose our own way. We don't listen. So what happens we read about this over the last week is Assyria attacks Samaria, which was the capital of Israel in northern kingdom.
Speaker 2:And well, listen to what 2nd Kings 6 says. This is from our Bible reading. This last week, in the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Hala, on the Hebor, the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. So the people who lived in Israel, the northern kingdom, were taken away as exiles from their homes, as their capital and their kingdom was destroyed. That then sets the stage for the story to shift to Jeremiah, who lived in Judah, the southern kingdom, for 40 years. Jeremiah declares God's word, god's warnings, to the people of Judah saying the same thing that happened to Israel is going to happen to you, but this time it wouldn't be Assyria, it was going to be Babylon. So Jeremiah warns them the Babylonians are coming. And just as Israel ignored God's warnings to the prophets, so did Judah. And in 587 BC, this is what we left off with in our reading in 2 Kings.
Speaker 2:This week, babylon overtakes Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, and takes God's people from there into exile, this time in Babylon. And that is the setting behind Jeremiah 29. God's people are now scattered in Babylon experiencing all kinds of suffering. Just imagine you and your family being taken from your home tomorrow by a foreign government into a foreign country where you have nothing and you know no one. And don't miss this. Here's what's happening at Babylon at this point. There were false prophets who were trying to comfort God's people by saying don't worry, this suffering is not gonna last long, babylon's gonna fall soon. God is going to bring us right back home. And Jeremiah writes this letter in Jeremiah 29 to the exiles in Babylon. And God says through Jeremiah don't believe those prophets.
Speaker 2:Look at Jeremiah 29, verses 8 and 9, right before what we read, 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 Do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name. I did not send them, declares the lord. In fact, you back up to verse 4 and listen to what god says there. Thus says the lord of hosts, the god of israel, to all the exile whom I have sent into exile from jerusalem to babylon build houses and live in them, plant, plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find welfare. In other words, get comfortable. You're going to be in exile for a while, and this was not necessarily encouraging news.
Speaker 2:Imagine suffering like this and instead of God saying I'm going to end this soon, god says you're going to be in this a while. In fact, you jump down to verse 10, see how long God tells them they'll be there For. Thus says the Lord when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill you to you my promise and bring you back to this place. So imagine that news 70 years from now. God says I will bring you back home. Is that encouraging to you? I will bring you back home. Is that encouraging to you? For most people, they would be dead by then. Just put yourself in the shoes of these exiles for a moment. What thoughts and emotions go through your mind and your heart when you hear that your suffering is going to last for 70 years? For 70 years, basically the rest of your life.
Speaker 2:And that is the context, the setup for Jeremiah 29, verse 11. Now see why context is so important. We think these verses are a promise that we won't go through suffering, when in reality, these verses are a promise given to people who are walking through suffering. Or we think these verses are a promise that suffering won't last long, that it'll end soon, when in reality, these verses are saying that suffering isn't ending anytime soon, are saying that suffering isn't ending anytime soon. So is Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13 good news or not? Should we have these verses plastered on our walls and put on our desks? Absolutely, we should. Let me show you why.
Speaker 2:Think about three promises to God's people, then. So we fully understand the context here. So one, god is promising his people and hopefully you received some notes that you can follow along about three promises to god's people, then. So we fully understand the context here. So one, god is promising his people, and hopefully you receive some notes that you can follow along. So we dive in here. So god is promising his people, which, as a side note, is another important point. These promises aren't just given to individuals. They were given to god's people together. The you in these verses is plural. This wasn't just about individuals. It's about God's people together. God was saying to them one I will bring you through your suffering. I will bring you through your suffering. God's people are captives in Babylon and God promised them there is a time limit on the suffering and I'm going to bring you through it and bring is the right word here because God promises that he is going to do this for them.
Speaker 2:You jump down to verse 14 and notice how God is the one doing the action here. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I've driven you, declares the Lord, I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. In other words, god's promise wasn't. It's in your hands now. Hopefully you can make it out. God actually says the opposite. God says you're still in my hands and I am going to bring you out. I will restore your fortunes. I will gather you, I will bring you back. God says I will take responsibility for bringing you through this.
Speaker 2:That leads to the second promise, where God says I will hear your prayers to me, I will hear your prayers to me. This is verse 12. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. Now the then at the beginning of that verse is somewhat misleading, because the picture is not that at the end of the exile, 70 years from now, they would call upon God. The picture is they would call upon God now, pray to God now. God would hear them now. And this is beautiful when you read it in the context of the rest of Jeremiah, because over and, over and over again, jeremiah talks about how God's people had totally turned from God. They had completely forgotten God, jeremiah 2.32, which we read this week. God said my people have forgotten me days without number. But here in Jeremiah 29.12, god says to his people I have not forgotten you, I love you and my plans for you involve intimacy with you, which is an amazing thing for the holy God of the universe to say to sinners who warrant his wrath. God says I will hear your prayers to me. And third, god says I will reward your pursuit of me. I will reward your pursuit of me. Verse 13,. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Speaker 2:That takes us back to the memory verses in our Bible reading plan this week, so I'm going to put them on the screen so we can say them out loud together. Don't look at it if you've memorized them. So here we go Jeremiah 9, 23 through 24. Let's say it together. Thus says the Lord let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. Let me translate it does not matter how smart you are, it does not matter how powerful you are, it does not matter how much money you have. The only thing that matters right now, in your seat and forever, the only thing that matters is if you know God. Do you know God, right where you're sitting right now? I ask you do you understand and know? I personally know God. This is the one thing that matters most in your life. And God tells his people in Jeremiah 29, 13,. This can be a reality for them. They can know God, they can find God. The language is like discovering hidden treasure, the most valuable treasure in all the world God himself. God tells his people through Jeremiah I will reward your pursuit of me. So now, now that we understand what God was saying to them, then we can ask the question what is God saying to us now, you and me as his people reading his word this week? Three implications for God's people today that flow from Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13.
Speaker 2:One in the middle of suffering. We can know God has good plans for us. In the middle of suffering, in the middle of situations where we wonder where God is or what God is doing. God says I have good plans for you, plans for your welfare. Some translations it says plans to prosper you, but the word that's translated prosper in those translations is the same word that's used for welfare back up in verse 7. It's the Hebrew word shalom, which means all-encompassing peace. This is God saying amidst your turmoil, I have plans for your peace. Amidst your heartache and hurt and pain, I know that I am plotting for your good now. The key for us here is the same thing that was the key for God's people in Jeremiah's day.
Speaker 2:Don't believe in false hope. Don't believe people who tell you that God will keep you from all suffering or that God will bring you out of suffering really quickly. That's false hope. It abounded in Jeremiah's day and it is abounding today, in the mouths of prophets then and in the mouths of preachers today all across our country. Please hear me loud and clear. Many of the fastest growing churches in our country today are built on this false hope.
Speaker 2:I was having a conversation recently about one church that draws tens of thousands of people and they say explicitly I quote it is God's will for every believer to become whole, healthy and successful in every area of life. They claim that on the cross, jesus bought for us not just spiritual provision but physical provision and financial provision. So this is not just out there teaching. This is mainstream, common teaching that is drawing supposedly Christian crowds, and not just here. All around the world, many of the fastest supposedly Christian churches and movements and supposedly Christian books are built on teaching that says God wills for you to be healthy, wealthy and prosperous in this world.
Speaker 2:God wills to keep you from all suffering. If only you will trust in him, have faith in him and if, by chance, for some reason, you find yourself in suffering, maybe even because of a lack of faith, if you will only return to God in faith, your suffering will end in a short time. Believe this Claim, this Trust that prosperity is coming, tell yourself this Power of positive thinking. Even have faith In Jeremiah 29 11. God says I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you. God wills to prosper you financially, physically, otherwise. And if you're suffering right now, you need to believe that prosperity is coming soon because that's what Jeremiah 29 11 teaches right, when in reality Jeremiah 29 11 teaches the exact opposite. God's people were in exile according to God's will and, according to God's Word, their suffering in exile was not coming to an end anytime soon. Now you might think I like the other message better, which is exactly what the people in Jeremiah's day were thinking. That's why they were believing these false prophets. And God is saying to us right now the exact same thing he was saying to them then.
Speaker 2:Don't believe it. Don't put your hope in crowd-pleasing words. Why? Because they're not from God. Jeremiah, the prophet who is speaking the word of God, says here is true hope. Follow this. Your hope is not that God wills to keep you from all suffering. That's not at all what Jeremiah 29 11 teaches. Jeremiah 29 11 teaches that God wills to keep you from all suffering. That's not at all what Jeremiah 29, 11 teaches. Jeremiah 29, 11 teaches that God wills to bring you through all suffering.
Speaker 2:We've seen this Context of Jeremiah 29 makes crystal clear that suffering is a reality for God's people in this fallen world, and God's people will not escape it. But God says to his people in the middle of suffering I promise to enable you to endure it. And God does not promise in his word that suffering will end in a short time. That is a false hope that has led all kinds of people astray Preachers or Christians saying if you just believe, have faith, you will be healed soon.
Speaker 2:If you just have faith, believe you will have financial health soon. If you just believe, your marriage will be reconciled soon. Name it, claim it, believe it, receive it. And then, when it doesn't happen, when the healing doesn't come, when the finances aren't there, when the finances aren't there, when the divorce becomes final, people are left wondering did I not have enough faith? Or worse, is God actually there? Or if he is there, can he actually be trusted when God never in his word promised that your suffering would end in a short time? You might ask well, did God promise anything along these lines? And the answer, though not as popular, is clear here in Jeremiah 29 11.
Speaker 2:True hope. God promises your suffering will end in the long term. Exile will not be the end for you. God tells his people. Your suffering will not have the last word. I have good plans for you, god says, and my good plan is guaranteed to prevail in the end. You realize what this means, what it meant for God's people in Jeremiah 29 and what it means for us as God's people today. God's plan calls for patient trust. 70 years is a long time to wait. Most of us would like God to work out our problems by the end of the week, not the end of the century, which is why these false prophets were so appealing then and it's why prosperity teaching is so popular today. But it's not true. It's a lie, but it's not true. It's a lie. What's true is that God is calling his people through his word, through this word, to patient trust.
Speaker 2:Is it possible that suffering could end soon in this or that situation? And healing, reconciliation, whatever might happen? Absolutely, by the grace and power of God it is, and we can and should pray for that. But is it guaranteed? Absolutely? It is not. You can't bank your life on that. God hasn't said that.
Speaker 2:No matter how good it sounds and I'm not gonna say it as your pastor no matter how many crowds it brings or doesn't bring, what God says is that when suffering comes, sometimes suffering stays for a while. When a child has a special need that isn't going away anytime soon, no matter how much you name and claim, when you go to that next doctor's appointment, and the cancer is worse, not better. When that relational hurt is not healing, when that grief over loss is not going away. Grief over loss is not going away when you see no light at the end of that dark tunnel. God says in the middle of a real world where these are realities, god says trust in me, even when you can't see it. I have good plans for you. Light is coming In this fallen, hurting world. Weeping may tarry for the night, but God guarantees joy is coming in the morning. And God not only guarantees that suffering will eventually come to an end, god promises to get you to that end.
Speaker 2:God's plan calls for patient trust and God's plan comes with persevering grace. Remember the language in Jeremiah 29 here I will restore you, I will gather you, I will bring you back from this place. God doesn't say you're on your own in your suffering. Hopefully you can make it through this. No, god says you're in my hands and I take responsibility for bringing you through your suffering, which means I'm gonna give you all the grace, all the strength, all the wisdom, all the help you need.
Speaker 2:Without going into details, I think about a challenge my family is walking through right now and this week we found ourselves literally in tears, physically crying to God In the words of Psalm 121,. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who's the maker of heaven and earth. We are just praying and pleading God. We need your help and we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that god will be faithful to answer. God's plan for our lives comes with the guarantee of god's grace in our lives. And on a side note, here, as we think about God's grace, just think about this with me.
Speaker 2:Jeremiah 29 is a powerful picture of God's good plans for his people when they are suffering. Follow this as a result of their sin. When God's people were what they were experiencing in, jeremiah wasn't Job-like suffering Like when Job suffered in the Bible lost his possessions, his children, his health. His wife is telling him to curse god and the bible goes out of the way to make sure we know. Job did nothing specific to deserve this. The story in jeremiah's day is the opposite. The men and women in jeremiah's day had sinned against god, all kinds of idolatry and immorality. That's why they were suffering, but even still, even though they had been completely unfaithful to God, god was still faithful to them.
Speaker 2:So when we think about our lives, there are times when we suffer as a result of our sin. When we sin, it leads to hurt, it leads to pain, it leads to consequences, it leads to challenges in our lives, in others' lives. Yet, even in the middle of that, god says to those who trust in him, to his people despite your sin, I still have good plans for you and your sin will not have the last word. I will bring you through this by my grace. Isn't that good news? And all the more so, then, when we suffer in ways that have nothing to do with specific sin in our lives, when we walk through suffering that's not directly tied to sin in our lives.
Speaker 2:When someone sins against us, or when we get cancer, when a child is born with this special need, or so many other circumstances, we can know God will help us persevere by his grace. All this part of the truth we know, based on Jeremiah 29, 11. In the middle of suffering, we can know God has good plans for us. Second, we're gonna pick up the pace here. In the middle of suffering, we can know God hears all our cries. You will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. God says in Jeremiah 29, 12, verse 13. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. And if that was true in Jeremiah 29, 12, and 13, it's all the more true today. Do you know why?
Speaker 2:Because, context again, here, in the old covenant, the old testament, here and we've talked about this before there was indirect access to God for particular people, meaning, if you'll remember, the temple had been constructed in Jerusalem as a picture of the glory of God dwelling among his people. The center of the temple was the Holy of Holies, symbolizing the presence of God. But only particular people. The high priest could go into the Holy of Holies, and even he only at certain times to offer sacrifices for the people's sin. Then he had to get out. Meanwhile the people would stand back, they could not go in the presence of God. But that was going to change.
Speaker 2:Turn with me real quick, two chapters over to the right, to Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 31. This is in our Bible reading tomorrow. It's one of the most important passages in all of the Old Testament. Listen to what God promises through Jeremiah. Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 31.
Speaker 2:Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them, I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God. They shall be my people. No longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. Oh, there's so much here we don't have time to dive into the big picture. Point is, god is saying a new covenant is coming, a new way of relationship to me, through which I'm going to make it possible for all people to know me directly, through a sacrifice, once and for all, for all their sins. This is a promise of what Jesus would do when he would come as our great high priest and he would offer his life as a sacrifice for all of our sin. So for non-Christian friends especially who are with us today, visiting with us we are so glad that you are here. Please listen particularly close at this point.
Speaker 2:The Bible teaches clearly that we have all sinned against God in all kinds of ways in our lives and we are all separated from God by our sin. And if we die in this state of separation from God, we will spend eternity separated from God. But God loves us and God has made a way for all of us to be forgiven of all our sin. God sent Jesus, God in the flesh, to live a life of perfect obedience with no sin in him and then to die, not for his sin, because he had no sin, but to die for our sin, for your sin, for my sin. Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for all of your sin against God, so that anyone anywhere, including anyone in this gathering here, other campuses right now, who turns from their sin and puts their trust in Jesus will be saved from all your sin and you will be reconciled to relationship with God forever. It's the greatest news in all the world you can have access to God.
Speaker 2:I was down with these students this last week and looking out over the horizon, over the ocean, and you see it go on as far as your eye can see and you're spending time in prayer and you're like I know the God who created this, the God who spoke. He said one day he said ocean and boom, ocean, that water stopping at the shoreline. You know why it stops there because God says stop there. If God didn't say stop there, he said stop a mile in. Then where we were, we'd be a many miles out. I God, the one who created, spoke the universe into existence. I know this god. You, right where you're sitting, can know this god. You have access to god. It's the great news of the new testament, of the new covenant.
Speaker 2:Direct access to god is available for all people through jesus. I urge you today, if you have not turned from your sin and put your trust in Jesus, do that today. And then, for all who have know this, know this now, put it together. When you walk through suffering, in the middle of the challenges you face, I have good news for you. You, in the middle of those challenges, have direct access to the God of the universe. God himself is saying to you right now through his word I personally. This is God speaking. I personally hear every single one of your cries. I see all of your tears. I feel all of your struggles. God is saying this to you and God says I promised to help you in every single way you need. God has good plans for us and he does not carry them out in distance from us. God carries out his good plans for us through intimacy with us In suffering. God is drawing us closer and closer to himself, which means third and final truth. In the middle of suffering, god is drawing us closer and closer to himself, which means third and final truth. In the middle of suffering, we can experience supernatural joy.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna put the beginning of Romans 5 on the screen up here. We don't have time to turn to it, but I want us to connect these dots between the old covenant and the new covenant, particularly when it comes to our suffering. Watch this Romans chapter five, verse one. It says, therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. This is the gospel, what we just talked about how, through Jesus, we have access to God. So what's the result of that? Keep going in Romans 5. To God. So what's the result of that? Keep going in Romans 5.
Speaker 2:And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings. This is a weird way to talk. We rejoice in our sufferings. Why? Because we know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame. There's all kinds of hope you can have in this world that will put you to shame. You hope in your riches you'll be put to shame. You hope in your sports team, you will be put to shame. You hope in your reputation, you'll be put to shame. You hope in all kinds of things in this world you'll be put to shame. This kind of hope does not put us to shame. Why? Because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom he has given to us. Did you hear this? For all who are in Christ, who have access to God, we can actually rejoice in the middle of suffering. Why? Because we know exactly what Jeremiah 29 is saying that God has good plans for us, even in suffering plans for endurance and character and hope, all of which are really good things. And our hope is in God's love for us. How much does he love us? Keep going, romans 5, verse six. While we were still weak, at the right time, christ died for the ungodly, for one will scarcely die for a righteous person, no, perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, christ died for us. Put it all together church for God's people, for all who trust in him, and specifically all who put their trust in Jesus.
Speaker 2:Our joy is not found in our ever-changing circumstances, and isn't that good news? If our joy is dependent on what happens or doesn't happen tomorrow, on how that doctor's visit goes on, how that conversation with your boss goes, if your joy is dependent on decisions that other people make, we will have no foundation for joy in this life. We will live our lives on sinking sand because our circumstances are ever-changing, but God has not called us to live that way. Our joy is not found in our ever-changing circumstances. Our joy is found in God's never-changing promises. Oh, don't miss this, please don't miss this. When your foundation is God's never-changing promises, when your hope is built on the actual guarantees of God, not the nice-sounding lies of this world. There is surprising joy to be found even in the midst of suffering in this world.
Speaker 2:I was preparing this week, just meditating on this truth, I immediately thought about Casey Black, a man in the first church I pastored. The epitome of health on the outside muscular, fit, worked out, ate well, wife and young daughter. One day his stomach started hurting and it didn't stop for a couple weeks. So he went to the doctor and they ran some tests and they discovered cancer in his stomach. So they planned a day to operate really soon, opened up his stomach and there the doctor saw that cancer had spread throughout his entire body, so much that the doctor didn't do anything. He closed Casey's stomach back up. When Casey woke up, the doctor told him his wife and his little girl it's too much, there's nothing we can do. And within about two weeks Casey's life was gone.
Speaker 2:I remember when I got the call that Casey was in the hospital and likely wouldn't make it through the night. So I went to the hospital with a member of his group. As I rode to the hospital I kept thinking to myself what am I going to say? What do you say? I just feel like I'm so helpless as a pastor. I'm so sorry this is happening to you, casey. I wish this wasn't the case.
Speaker 2:The people who came to Casey's hospital room that day were quite surprised by what they saw. See, when you walked into Casey's hospital room that day, like I did that night, you saw a man sitting on his deathbed with a genuine, authentic smile on his face. And as soon as you walked in, he'd do what he did to me. He'd point up to heaven and he'd say I'm going to be with Jesus today. And all of a sudden, I'm sorry, just didn't seem appropriate anymore. Neither did I wish this wasn't the case. You actually walked out of that hospital room that day a bit jealous, thinking I want to go with him.
Speaker 2:You see, for Casey Black and for all who put their hope in Jesus, you know, you've put your hope in the one who conquered the ultimate suffering, death and self, which means there is nothing, absolutely nothing, not even death itself, that can ever steal your joy. And this, this is the key. Oh, don't miss the picture. The whole picture in Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13, hinges on one person. All of these promises, not only in Jeremiah 29, but all throughout the Old Testament, they hinge on one person. They all point to one person. In all of our Bible reading over these last few weeks, we've seen all kinds of pictures. Do you know who? They all point to Jesus. Oh, this is like 10 more sermons right here in your notes, but I'm just gonna run through them. Don't miss the picture.
Speaker 2:Jesus is the resurrected prophet from Jonah. Just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish before proclaiming good news to Nineveh, in a much different and greater way, jesus spent three days in a grave before bringing the greatest news of all to the world Death itself has been defeated. Jesus is the faithful husband from Hosea, who doesn't give up on his people, even when they commit adultery against him. Jesus is the burden bearer from Amos, who carries the consequences of our sin. For us, jesus is the restorer of the lost from Joel. He redeems the years that the locusts have eaten from your life. Jesus is the prince of peace and sacrifice for sinners. In Isaiah he was pierced for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed. Jesus is the everlasting ruler from Micah promised to come from Bethlehem to be the shepherds our souls need, and Jesus is the covenant keeper from Jeremiah.
Speaker 2:Jesus is the one who makes the hope of the new covenant a reality for you and me, which means so please don't miss this. This may be most important of all. We cannot claim Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13 as promises for our lives in this gathering today if we are not trusting in Jesus. These are not just general promises to God for anyone. Think about it. For people right now, all around the world, and even in this gathering, who are rejecting God, who have not trusted in Jesus to save them from their sins, their, your future at this moment is not filled with hope. They you this is you are not guaranteed that sin and suffering will end. For if they die, if you die in your sin, separated from God, not having trusted in Jesus to bring you to God, then your sin and everlasting suffering will have the last word.
Speaker 2:Hope in suffering hinges on one person, and his name is Jesus. You cannot cling to Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13 if you will not cling to Jesus. But for all who cling to Jesus, these promises are yours. In Jesus, you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that even in the middle of suffering, god has good plans for you. In Jesus, you can know that even in the middle of suffering, you have access to God, and all of his wisdom, all of his strength, his grace, his love, his everything is at your disposal. And in Jesus, you can know that even in the middle of suffering, you have surprising joy, because your joy supersedes the ever-changing circumstances of this world. Your joy is grounded in the never-changing promises of God that are yours in Jesus. Second Corinthians. All of God's promises to us are yes, in Christ. Don't miss the point. God keeps all of his promises in Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13 to all who are in Jesus, in Jesus.
Speaker 2:So here's, here's what I want to do, and lighted this truth from God in a room, other campuses, where I know people are walking through suffering and hurt and heartache and challenges in all kinds of different ways. I want us, as a body, to gather around and just pray for you. So here's what I'm going to invite us to do in just a moment I'm going to invite people in this room and in other campuses to stand where you are, if you would just say in your standing. I'm walking through some difficulties right now and I would love for some people just to pray for me and you don't have to go into details, certainly not in front of everybody else, or even if you don't want to right around the people around you, just what all that involves If you would just, by your standing, say I'm walking through some difficulties, and you might think, well, I don't know if mine is as bad as others, maybe I won't stand. Like this is not about comparison, this is just if you would say I need some extra grace in my life right now. I want us to have an opportunity Like this is a safe place, like this is what the body of Christ is designed to do. And so what's going to happen after you stand?
Speaker 2:People are standing in this room different campuses and once people have stood, then I will ask others of us to then stand and gather around. Just put a hand on your shoulder and we're just going to pray for you. Make sense, sound good, okay? So, in this room, as well as at other campuses, if you would say, yeah, I'm walking through some suffering, some challenges right now, and I would appreciate, I would like for some people to pray for me. Life, work, family, whatever it is. Let me invite you just to stand where you are, all around this room. Please feel freedom. Feel free to do this individually, couples, families, other campuses doing the same. Just say I just need some extra grace in my life right now. Anybody else, all right. There's brothers and sisters standing all around this room right now. Let's join, stand with them. Other campuses do the same.
Speaker 2:If there's not anybody around you, you can stay where you are, but if there's anywhere anybody close to you, then just gather around, put your hand on their shoulders and let's begin right now. Let's just begin to pray out loud. We've done this before. All the same time, even if you don't have a hand on somebody's shoulder, we're going to pray out loud, all at the same time, for God's grace, for God's strength, god's wisdom. You say, well, I don't even know what this person's going through. God does. Pray his word for them, pray for his wisdom, his strength, his grace, his help for them. Just pray what you would want somebody to pray for you if you were walking through something hard right now. So let's just begin right now.
Speaker 2:Our voices, here and at other campuses, lift it up before God, all at the same time, everybody praying and then, after a couple of minutes, I'll pray for us all together. So let's start praying together right now, interceding, crying out to God for each other. Oh God, we lift up our brothers and sisters to you right now. Oh God, we pray that they would feel your presence with them as we are praying over them. They would know that you are near to them, that they are not alone, that there is a body around them who cares for them, and that you are with them, that we're a reflection of you, that, even with our hands on shoulders right now surrounding them, it's a picture of your love for them. God, we pray that they would know that they are in your hands.
Speaker 2:We pray Psalm 37, 24 over them. You would uphold them with your righteous right hand. Psalm 31, 15. Their times are in your hands, oh God. All our trust is in you. So we look to you, we lift up our eyes to you. Our help comes from you, their help comes from you. You're the maker of heaven and earth. So please, oh God, we pray, please give them all the help they need.
Speaker 2:God, we pray for your strength in their weakness. We pray for your peace, your shalom, your peace in the middle of turmoil, god, we pray for your joy in the middle of suffering. Pray that you would produce endurance and character and hope. In this Lord, we pray for a hope. Lord, we pray for a hope. God, we pray for a hope on days when it seems like things are hopeless. God, we pray for faith on days when faith is hard to come by. We pray, oh God, that you would use even this journey through trial to draw these men and women into greater intimacy with you, greater delight in you, greater trust in you, greater experience, deeper experience of your love and your comfort. God, we pray for your comfort. We pray for your wisdom. We pray for your direction. We pray for your enablement that you would bring them through. You would do just what you promised to do in Jeremiah 29, that you would bring them through, no matter if this lasts for another day or for the rest of their lives. God, we pray that you would bring them through. And, jesus, we bow before you and give you glory, for you have conquered sin and you have defeated suffering. You have defeated death itself. We praise you.
Speaker 2:We know that, in the long term, suffering will not have the last word. In the long term, cancer will not have the last word. In the long term, hurt and heartache will not have the last word and the long-term cancer will not have the last word and the long-term hurt and heartache will not have the last word. We long for the day when we will see your face and you will wipe every tear from our eyes. Oh, hasten the coming of that day. We pray. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly and please help us. Please help these brothers and sisters specifically to persevere until that day. Please help us. Please help these brothers and sisters specifically to persevere until that day. Please help us all. Not one of us knows what's coming this week. No matter what comes, help us all to find our joy and your never-changing promises and your completely certain hope. We love you, god, we praise you, jesus, and we are so glad our lives are in your hands. We pray for our brothers and sisters right now in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen.
Speaker 1:We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radicalnet.
