Image ( Matthew 18 v 7 )

The former leader of a well known evangelical church was a paedophile,and all the leaders did, was try to keep it quite,there was no real concern for his victims. The paedophile was allowed to retire with a pension,the victims got no justice. Now the word of God says,' Love covers all sins' (Proverbs 10 v 12 ),the example of that is seen in Joseph ,the husband of Mary.When Joseph was told that Mary was pregnant,he assumed that she had sinned, and that would have brought public disgrace on her, Joseph  we are told was a just man,so he wanted it all to dealt with quietly  ( Matthew 1 v 19) But we cannot show that attitude to paedophiles,they are dangerous, they will not let up,they need to be exposed,and brought to justice.They care little for their victims, Oscar Wilde confessed he felt nothing for the rent boys he abused.It is a dreadful shame and disgrace that there have been so many covers ups by church  bodies who were and are, solely concerned with protecting their image,instead of protecting helpless children.

But. ( Isaiah 40 )

The last chapter of  Lamentations describes the suffering the people were experiencing ,as you can imagine it was dire.The chapter begins,'Remember , O Lord,what has befallen us', C. Wright writes,''When God remembers, it is not because God has forgotten. Rather it means that God will now take action on the matter he chooses to remember'.All privileges had good,everything had changed, as I said ,it was dire,yet in the midst of the doom and gloom, Jeremiah prays,it starts with the words,'But you, O Lord.'.C . Wright, calls the but, a massive  'Pauline But', we see it in Ephesians 2, were Paul describes,the state of the Christians, before they met Christ, this description can also be described as dire.they had been,'dead in trespasses and sins,followers of worldly pursuits,following the dark side, ruled by their sinful nature,children of wrath,like everyone else'. It is then, that the but comes in,'But God who is rich in mercy,out of His great love which he loved us,even  when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ '. Jeremiah in his prayer, in the words of C. Wright,''Reaches its climax in an astounding leap of faith across the chasm of defeat,destruction and death. The prayer reaches out  from the ruins of God's dwelling place on earth and touches the eternal  throne of God in heaven''.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               When things are dire remember the                                                                                                                                But.

None so blind. ( Revelations 3 v 13 )

It was a very dark hour when Judah was overthrown ,a darkness of tremendous loss, of tremendous suffering,no hope,no peace,only a case of enduring what had to be borne.But as one person has said , into every life a little light doth shine,for Jeremiah reminds the people that Gods judgement on them was complete. The next thing they are told,as C. Wright puts it,''The exile has begun,But that it would not last for ever  .(  Lam 4 v 21- 22 ),before the fall of Jerusalem  ,Jeremiah had written to the captives who had been taken to Babylon earlier,w,assuring them with words of comfort,that after 70 years, they would return home. Indeed the prophet Isaiah had foretold that the Babylonians would come and defeat Judah ,and take captives back to Babylon,and that they would return from captivity, during the reign of king Cyrus. C P the following scriptures .  Isaiah 20 v 16 - 18/  45 v 13.We need not be surprised at their apparent ignorance,after all when the long foretold Messiah came,they failed ,not only to recognise Him, but they crucified Him.These people had become utterly blind,and deaf spiritually,they come across as people totally out of contact with God and His word.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           How are we spiritually ?

Leaders ( 1 Timothy 3 v 1 - 7 )

                                                          Lamentations 4 v 13                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                It was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her                                                                      priests,who shed the blood of  the righteous in the midst of                                                                      her.                                                                                                                          These may appear strange words,to accuse those spiritual leaders of the nation of  killing the righteous,surely that would be the  last thing you would expect from them. We must remember the spiritual deterioration  of the nation that brought about the judgement of God,in Jeremiah 6 v 13,  we read,'For from the least to the greatest of them,everyone is greedy for unjust gain,and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely'. 8 v 10,stresses the same thing, v 11,tells us how they proclaimed that which was false,and v 12 , accuses them of acting shamefully and committing abominations.In Jeremiah 18 v 18 Jeremiah was under threat from the priests,let us never forget that it was the religious leaders who hounded our Saviour to death.The inquisition was carried out by priests,likewise many martyrs were burned to death by priests. Godless religious leaders are  guilty of child abuse,of fleecing  the poor, and a multitude of other things,Let me remind you of the potential evil that lies deep in the human heart,whither it be a priest,prophet,pastor, yes and even  in our own hearts.                                                                                                             

In a pit. ( Psalm 50 v 15 )

God is mainly silent in the book of Lamentations, it is mainly about speaking to God, but in 3 v 57, we have the one time that He does speak, three simple words, ''Do not fear''.This was in answer to a prayer  by Jeremiah, when he was in a pit,we read about it in Jeremiah 38, he had proclaimed defeat and was arrested,they wanted him to be put to death,but they threw him into a cistern, and he sank into the mud. It is C. Wright describes it, ''Jeremiah sank down into the watery slime,which would have made it impossible to lie down without danger of death by drowning.The suffocating terror of such a nightmare he screams out in verse 57,''I am finished''..' .The Man was recounting a moment when he faced certain death.' God heard the cry of  his servant, he records these lovely words,''You came near when I called on you, you said,'Do not fear' Let us all take encouragement from what we have read, Jeremiah may have been in a pit ,but God saw him,God heard him,and God delivered him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1 Peter 3 v 12.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,                                                                                            and His ears are open to their prayers.                                               

The Lord is good. ( Isaiah 55 v 6 - 9 )

In Lamentations 3 v 25 we read ,''The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him''.Let us remember when these words were written, the contexts is important. After Gods awful judgement  fell upon Judah because of their sin ,Jeremiah had acknowledged the rightness of God in His judgement ( 1 v 18 ) . Although they were his people  God can never overlook sin ,it must be dealt with, and that is what He did,but that was not the end of the matter.  Before this judgement fell God had spoken through Jeremiah and told them ,''I have loved you, my people with an everlasting love'', ( 31 v 3 ) and they had a future ,C P. 29 V 10 - 14 ).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    'The Lord is good.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            For the Lord will not reject for ever                                                                                                          Although he causes grief, he will have                                                                                                      compassion, according to the abundance                                                                                                  of his steadfast love, for he does not                                                                                                          willingly afflict or grieve anyone.                                                                                                                         (Lam 3 v 31 - 33 )

We need a Saviour. ( Matthew 1 v 21 )

Let us consider further readings on Lamentations,and ask a question that goes much further than the nation of Israel,consider it in light of the the world. Here is a question, in all the world,who ever lived ,who lives now ,and who will ever live,deserves to go to hell ?.Now there are vast amounts of people who would say I don' t deserve to go to hell.,surely hell is to extreme and and only for very, very wicked people. Surely it is not for people who commit minor offences,after all they do not hang people for breaking the speed limit,or for spitting,surely not.Does not  even the Bible teach that the punishment should fit the crime.We read in Victorian times people were hung for stealing a loaf of bread, that was very extreme and surely God did not approve. These arguments seem reasonable,rational,sensible, but they lack something that's very important,the seriousness of sin.The points we have raised are purely at a human level, but when we speak about sin,then we are using Gods definition for wrongs committed against Him. Sin reminds us that we are answerable to a higher power, who will  judge according to His standard, all sin brings with it a price tag, Gods righteous judgement.Does that mean that a minor infringement could send us to hell ?,the answer is yes. If that is so ,and it is,how can anyone escape going to hell,its humanly impossible. So what can one do? I was talking to my barber ,who is a Muslim, I mentioned to him that they believe in a Jesus who is a prophet,just like Muhammad,but then I said to him, we need more than a prophet we need a Saviour,and Jesus is that Saviour,the one who saves us from our sins, and there consequences..