The book of Lamentations, Lamentations chapter five. Now we're gonna begin there in verse one this morning, Lamentations chapter five. If you find the book of Jeremiah, you can go over to the right and there it'll be, Lamentations, right after the book of Jeremiah, right before the book of Second Opinions. So Lamentations chapter five, and we'll begin there. In verse one, when you find your place, stand if you would, we'll read the word of God together. Lamentations chapter five, and let's read a few verses here. I tell you what, let's just read all the way down to verse 22. It'll give us a good understanding of the scriptures here. And this morning, as I was praying over the message and just thinking about all that, of course, that it says, I want us to see this morning the other side of what we would call, maybe perhaps, let me put it this way, sometimes in life we don't really consider all the consequences and really think about it until it's all done. And then after everything is done, we kind of look back and then we kind of then begin to count up the losses. And so this morning, what I want us to do is to help us, I believe, as we think about our sins in life, as we think about the choices that we make, we can stand on the other side, and we can probably do this all of us here this morning in certain areas of our life, and we can look back and think about actually things that, the losses that we've had when we consider the things that, the choices that we've made or the sins that we've committed. And so my desire this morning is to get us to a place where we will look at, as you've heard maybe someone say, learn from the mistakes of someone else. And so here in the book of Lamentations, that's exactly what happens. As we look and see in these verses, we see that God's people are looking back and they're counting up the losses that they've had, and what I want us to do is when we think about that, maybe that'll help us to not follow in the same path that they're going. So let's take a look at the scriptures here today. Lamentations chapter five, begin there in verse one. The Bible says, remember, O Lord, what has come upon us. And behold our reproach, our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We are orphans and fatherless, and our mothers are as widows. We have drunken our water for money, our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution, we labor and have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have borne their iniquities. Servants have ruled over us. There is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. We got our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. They ravished the women in Zion and the maids in the cities of Judah. Princes are hanged by their hands. The faces of elders were not honored. They took the young men to grind and the children fell. under the wood. The elders have ceased from the gate, and the young men from their music. The joy of our heart is ceased. Our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head. Woe unto us that we have sinned! For this our heart is faint, and for these things our eyes are dim. Because the mountains of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. Thou, O Lord, remainest forever Thy throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost Thou forget us forever and forsake us a long time? Turn Thou unto unto Thee, O Lord. and we shall be turned, renew our days as of old. Thou hast utterly rejected us. Thou art very wroth against us. Let's pray. Father, we come to you this morning. We thank you, Lord, for your goodness. We thank you, God, for your blessings today. And Lord, we come to you this morning to ask for your help. Lord, as we open up your word, and God, as we have now read the scriptures, we pray, Lord, that you would help us to behold wonderful things, Lord, out of your work, out of your word, and out of your law. Lord, I pray that you would give us the understanding that we need this morning, that you would speak to our hearts and open up our minds, Lord, to your voice today. Lord, just help us to hear from heaven. Lord, help me to be emptied of myself, and God, just be filled with your spirit. Lord, we pray for your help this morning. Lord, if there's anybody today that's here that's not saved, that through the preaching of your word and the songs that we've sung and all the things that we have done this morning, that we've done the best that we could to appoint people to you. God, we love you and thank you for it all. And this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. In our text today, one of the things that we see is we see that God's people are undergoing some heavy chasing of the Lord. And the reason why is due, in essence, really, to the nation's long, unrepented sin. God had sent prophets their way, but yet they still refused to get their hearts right. And because of this, we see that God has brought a heavy hand of chastisement upon them And we see that death and really, and destruction is everywhere. Not only do we see it here in chapter five, but in all the verses prior to this, we see that there is so much that's going on. And we see that in life, listen, it never pays to live in sin, amen? Never pays to live in sin. The cries of misery and pain and sorrow are the song of all these people here this morning. And listen, sometimes if we're not careful, it'll be the same way in our life too. We got to understand that listen, we have a God that loves us so much so that even when we get out of the way, even when we go in our own direction, God's desire is to bring us back to him. God's desire isn't to destroy our lives here today for His people, but to bring us to Him. And sometimes that may come through a stage of correction in our life, a hand of chastening that may come upon us. And the Bible says He chastens those whom He loves. And so here in the Scriptures we see These people are going through some difficult times, some hard times. And I'm not saying this morning that because we face difficulties that that means that God's, that means that we're living like the devil and we're out in the world and God's just judging us. I'm not saying that this morning. But what I am saying is that God's chasing hand does come upon us when we live a life of unrepentant sin. And it is so important that we make sure that we get our lives right with God. And so we see here in our text, people, the nation that is undergoing some tremendous chasing because of some unrepentant sin. And so as we go through these things this morning, I want to pull some things out that'll help us to see on the other side of the fence. You know, listen, before the sin takes place, and you know, the Bible says the pleasures of sin last for a season. And so sometimes before we really start counting up the cost of what we lost, we're looking this way and we're thinking all that we're going to gain, not really realizing what we're going to lose by making these decisions. And so what I want to do this morning is look on the other side from the people that made the terrible decisions not to follow God and live an ungodly life. Listen, now what we're going to do is we're going to stand on the other side And we're gonna look at the things that they said as they counted up the losses. And these losses begin to mount up. What are some things that we can see today that we can avoid by making sure we don't make the same decisions that they made? Because what does sin ultimately and unrepentant sin and disobedience and all of that bring to our life? Well, let's take a look at it here this morning. I definitely believe the devil would love to help us to continually stay in a place of loss in our life and hearts that would defy God. But as we look here in our text, let's pull some things out that I believe will help us as we begin to count the losses of some things that other people had when they defied God and rebelled against the Lord. Take a look at verse two. Notice the Bible says, they said, as they began to count up the losses, they said there in chapter five, verse two, our inheritance is turned to strangers our houses to aliens. And so the very first truth I want us to see is their disposition. In other words, there was something that they were going to have. There was an inheritance that they were looking forward to receiving. Things that were going to be passed down to them. But now they realize Now they're in this place where they're saying, you know what? What we were gonna receive, what we were gonna get, man, there are people that are living what we were going to live. They were enjoying what we were going to enjoy. And so we see their dispossession. Now listen, the devil would love nothing more than for you here this morning, than for you to give up all that God would have for you. Than for you just to allow, than for us just to allow the rebellion and disobedience and a defying heart against God and to get into sin and to live out in the world to... to bring us to a place where we are not able to enjoy the things that God will love for us to enjoy. And so we see here in the text, we see their disposition. We see their disposition in the midst sometimes of our own sin and defiance against God. What we lose is far away more than we thought that we ever would. And so here in the text, one of the things that we see is we see these people who are seeing their inheritance in essence fading away, though what they could have had, in essence, being blowed away in the wind, that is falling away like the chaff in the wind. And so we see here today that if we're not careful, the direction that we were going, the direction that we're going and the position that we were in, it can bring us to a place of disposition in life, and we must be careful in that direction that we go. They're dispositioned there in verse two. Now, let's take a look at the third one. Notice the Bible says there in verse 3, he says, we are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. And so what we see there in verse 3 is not only do we see their disposition, but we also see their destitution. What we see is we see that they begin to lose their family. Listen, whenever we get away from God and we start living like the devil, one of the things that happen is the devil gets in our life and the devil gets into our families and the next thing you know, we begin to lose these different things. Listen, the devil would love nothing more than for you to lose everything that you love. The devil would love nothing more than for you to lose everything that you adore, everything that you appreciate. we appreciate in life, and so we can see here in this text, he says, we are orphans and fathers, our mothers are as widows. We can see their destitution in life. We can see the place that they're in. Oh, I wonder how many would like to go back today and change the decisions that they had made before the sins that they have committed, but now they're on the other side, and they're counting up the losses, and they're saying, you know, I wish I'd have never followed the devil. I wish I'd have never gave in that peer pressure, I wish I'd have never gone in this direction, but now they're on this side, and there's not a whole lot they can do about it. So what I'm trying to get us to do this morning is for us to see and understand that we learn from other people's mistakes, and that when we see sin come our way, and when we see the devil on the approach, that we make sure that we don't follow in the same crowd, that we make sure that we don't go in the same direction, because the last thing that we want to do is begin to lose our family. And so the Bible says and shows us here, because what we understand, the devil come to kill, steal, and destroy. And so here in the text, we can see there in verse 3, he says, we are orphans and fatherless. Our mothers are as widows. The devil and sin are destroying families all across the world today. You don't have to look very far. You just, I mean, you can just walk right out the door. You can just see it everywhere you go. Listen, the devil's busy. The devil's active and doing everything he can destroy families. And we can see that because of the decisions that they made, not only do we see their disposition or their dispossession, but we also see their destitution. Number three, we also see their desperation. Take a look there in verse four. The Bible says, he says, we have drunken our water from honey. Our wood is sold unto us. What's so interesting about this is that we see that the things alike that belong to them, the things alike that seem like that they should be free, the things that the water and the wood that already belong to them, things that were free in their life, but what we see here is that now the things that used to be free, things that used to sustain them and help them, Now it now calls them, their life is dry, their life is cold, their life is uncomfortable. It's not like it used to be. And I tell you what, every time the devil steps in, that's the way he wants it to be. The devil doesn't want your life to be comfortable. He doesn't want your life to be joyous. No, listen, the devil in this world and sin in general, their desire is for your life to be a place of ruin. And the Bible shows us here that on this side, he says we've drunken our water for money. and our wood is sold unto us. They were consumed in desperation, and dryness, and bareness, and the things that at one time that were easy to come by are now costly, and because of the basic comforts of life, are now seen to be fleeting from them. And there in verse four, he says, our water for money, we have to spend, we're actually spending. It belongs to us, but yet we now have to buy it. We see that they're losing everything they got. Not only have they lost their family, but they're losing everything else. And it shows us here how and when the Lord was chastening these folks and the enemies that had come upon them, how the enemy was in essence taking everything that they had. Because the enemy can care less about all the things that you love. Next verse, we see not only their desperation, but we also see their domination. Take a look at verse 5. The Bible says our necks are under persecution. They were being dominated in their life. They're being persecuted to the degree and to the place to where they said that are next. It's almost like you have this mental picture and this image of a person that has their foot. on somebody else's neck. They're laying down on the ground, perhaps, and their foot is on their neck. They are persecuted on their necks. And so they feel like, in essence, we are being held down. We are being dominated. We are no longer in control. And so we can see that there in verse five, he says, our necks are under persecution. We labor and we have no rest. Their lives were in turmoil. They were labored, but nothing was getting better. The rest that they sought was fleeing them in their life. They couldn't find it, but though they desired it, the toil never seems to come to an end. The enemy was dominating their life on every front. Their persecution was coming, and it chased them from one place to another, and they were tired, and they were weary, and there was no peace, and they felt as if the enemy had his foot on their neck. Sometimes in life it may feel like that but listen I'm thankful that I have a God in heaven that despite what the devil tries to do and despite the things that Despite the things that the devil tries to use to persecute us with and all the times the devil tries to put his foot on our neck and and tries to usurp his authority over God in our lives. Listen, I'm thankful that I have a God in heaven that can do all things, a God that strengthens, a God that empowers, a God that gives us hope, a God that helps us to get through the valleys, and I'm thankful this morning that even though sometimes when the devil tries to dominate our life and that we have a God that can help, but understanding that on the other side of sin is all the consequences that we never thought about. Because on this side it all looked good. On this side it all looked great. We never expected our lives to be dominated. We never expected things to have the charge over us. We never expected it to work out this way. We all thought it was going to be great. We thought it was going to be good. But then we get on the other side of sin. We see the waves of sin is death. and it's gonna take a whole lot more out of us than we ever thought it ever would. What I'm trying to get us to see this morning is to see that this side, this place is where we don't wanna be. Think about the losses before you ever get there. What's it gonna cost me to live in this life of sin? What is it gonna cost me? Listen, these people, it cost them all they had. It cost them their inheritance. It cost them their family. It cost them their possessions. Listen, it cost them their way of life. They felt like they were persecuted every day, chased around, run about. They were tired and they were weary and they had no rest. And that's how the devil wants to keep us in life. Running one place to another, chasing us around everywhere. The Bible shows us not only do we see the domination, but we see their degradation. Notice what happened there in verse 6. He says, We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread. Man, they really degraded their self and the fact that they began to turn to other people. and began to turn to things that they never thought that they ever would. He said, we're looking to the Egyptians and the Assyrians to give us bread. We're looking to them to give us some satisfaction in life. And these were the last people in the world that they probably ever thought that they would ever turn to for anything, but now they find themselves in such a low place that they're doing everything they can, going anywhere they can to find any amount of satisfaction. to do anything they can to find any amount of anything that will help them. He says in verse 6, he says, we've given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians. In other words, we've tried to align with them. We've reached out to them to be satisfied with bread. And these people, the Egyptians are a picture of the world. The Assyrians as well, a picture of the devil and wickedness. And he says, you know what? In our place of desperation, What we found ourselves doing is reaching out to the world and we found ourselves reaching out and doing things that we never thought we'd ever do. And I'm telling you, on the other side of the sin, we're looking on this side and we're saying, oh, well the sin looks good, the sin looks fine, it looks like it's gonna be great, it looks like it's gonna be a good time. But on the other side, once it's all done and once it's all over, now we're tallying up all the losses that came with it. We don't see all that stuff on that side, but on this side, now we're tallying up all the losses and all the things that happened. And I'm just saying this morning, listen, as God's people, we need to look at these things from a different perspective. Look at this side. Look at this side. What is it that I'm, what is it that I may lose? What is it that's, what is this going to cost me? And so you can see here in our text, we see the degradation. They never thought. that they would come to this place in life. But aren't you glad this morning that we have a God in heaven that when we come to these places in life, we have a God in heaven that's willing to help, that we have a God in heaven that's willing to reach down to where we are and to help us in the situations that we're in. Listen, even regardless of the decisions that we've made, regardless of the things we've done, we have a God in heaven that says, listen, I'll reach down to you where you are, and I'll reach down into the depths. I'll reach down into the pits. I'll reach down into these deep, dark places where you are. I'll reach down there, and I'll pull you up out of that miry clay, and I'll set your feet upon a rock, and I'll establish your steps and put a song in your mouth. Listen, I'm thankful for that God, but we got to understand, too, that listen, our decisions and the sins that we do are gonna have consequences. And so on this side, we're gonna tally them up. What is it? What is it? What is it? What's it gonna be? And so, not only do we see their degradation, but number six, we see their debt. Take a look at verse seven. The Bible says, our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have borne their iniquities. In verse seven, we see that they're looking into the past. They're seeing their fathers before them that were perhaps guilty of the same sins that they were. They learned what they learned from those that were before them. They learned their worship. They learned all this stuff by those that were ahead of them, their fathers, their people. They're no longer around. They've passed away, you know? But one of the things they left behind was their unholy traditions. One of the things they left behind was their unholy lifestyle. And that right there was learned by those that were underneath them. And so now they recognize. Now they see. They're saying, you know what? Our fathers, listen, they're passed on, but now here we are. Now we are dealing with what they've left behind and what they leave behind. Well, they left behind some terrible ideals, they left behind some terrible habits, and they left behind some terrible traditions that now their children are living and practicing. Now they're realizing, listen, it's important that we teach our kids to live a godly, holy life. Because they live most of the time how we live. I know they got their own personalities and listen to all that stuff, but most of the time they're going to be an out shoot of us. And so we can teach them, it's important that we teach them to live for God and live a holy life. The seventh truth is we see in verse 8, we see their dethronement. Notice what happens. He says, he says, servants have ruled over us. There is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. What's he saying? He says, you know, there used to be things that we had that we were in charge over. There used to be things that we were in the rule over, he says, but now these things that we thought we had to rule over are now ruling over us. I tell you how it happens in life, too. We look at sin, we say, oh, I've got control. Oh, this thing will never get out of hand. Oh, it's all gonna be okay. Listen, I've got this thing in the bag. You don't have to worry about nothing. But then the next thing you know, you get involved in it. And then next thing you know, the more involved you are, and the more in the sin you get, and the deeper you go, you see that that sin is taxing more of your life, and that it's taking away more from you than you ever thought it would. and that which you thought you had control over is now controlling your life. That which you thought was your servant has now become your master. And if you're not careful, listen, if none of us are careful here today, because all of us are susceptible, there are things that are out here in this world, listen, sin is a powerful thing. I'm glad my God in heaven is far greater and is far powerful, but I'm telling you here today, Sin is strong in our life. And we've got to understand that there are some things that we can get into that if we're not careful, it'll master us. We'll think that we have it under control. We'll think that we can master it. We'll think that it's going to be our servant. But then the next thing you know, without us ever even knowing, we become enslaved by it. It'll grab a hold of us. Now here they are on the other side of the sin. They're tallying up. the losses and they're saying, listen, this is what happened to us. This is what we went through. Doesn't the Bible tell us that the things that happened in the but the things that happened long ago were there for their for for our learning. And so what we want to do is we want to take their tally of the things that they lost and what sin does and what ungodliness does. So, you know, I don't want to lose this. I don't want this to happen. So we can see their debt. We can see their dethronement there in verse seven. Let's take a look, verse nine, we see another one, we see their distress, look, notice he says, he says, we got our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. We see there in verse nine, listen, they had no peace, they had to fight for everything they had. He says there in verse nine, we got our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. He says, listen, we faced challenges on every side, everywhere we turned, there was a fight. He says, we got it at the peril of our lives. The only reason why we're alive is, man, we are fighting tooth and nail for everything that we got. He said, it seems like everywhere we go, we have a battle to face, and they were facing challenges at every turn. They faced the sword everywhere they went, and it seemed like they were just trying to survive. There in verse nine, he says, we got our bread at the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Let's take a look at the next one. Because I tell you what, when we think about our distresses, the devil loves nothing more than for us to live stressed out. You ever been stressed out? You ever feel like you're stressed out to the max? Feel like you can't handle no more, can't take no more? Listen, the devil loves you to be in that position. Because in that position, what happens is, is he can become a master of puppets in our lives. Dictate our moves. We can see the distress. Verse 10, what else do we see? Notice. He says our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. And so we can see the drought that they faced in their life. Because listen, when you live in sin, I tell you what, it seems promising in the very beginning. It seems like it's gonna be fruitful. It seems like it's gonna be great. But what we don't realize is when we get on the other side, what we don't realize is how much that sin has taken out of our life. And we get on the other side and we found out, you know what, it wasn't as good as I thought it was. And now my life is wiltering away and now I feel and dry and now I feel fruitless. But when I was on this side, when I was looking at it on this side, it looked so good and it looked so fruitful and it looked so promising. But now here I am on this side and I can see that it's not giving me what it promised that it would give me. It's not living up to the expectations that I thought it would. And sometimes that can be a hard pill to swallow. It's a hard pill to swallow. And we can see they're keeping up the tally. Listen, this is what happened when we disobeyed God. This is what happened when we got out of the way. So we can see. We can see their drought that they had in their life. He says, our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. I mean, I'm telling you, the idea we see here is that these people, they were starving to death. The lack of what they needed had changed and disfigured them. They were in woe and death was upon them. Just like an oven turns things black with fire, they had in essence been scorched in the flames of the famine. And so they have in essence been disfigured and changed in their life. They're saying, you know what? This thing that we're going through, it is not making me look like I want to look. See, on this side, we're looking at the sin on this side. We're looking at our own way on this side. We're looking at our own direction. And man, it sure does paint a pretty picture. It sure does look awful nice. It sure does look awful good. Just like alcohol does in the very beginning. Man, we see the advertisements of all the beer commercials and the liquor commercials and everybody's having a good time and enjoying themselves. And all that good stuff, what you don't see is what happens on the other side. You don't see all the destruction that it brings to homes and the destruction that it brings to families. You don't see all the hurt and the heartache that comes out on the other end. But not just with alcohol, but with anything in life. I'm just simply saying that sin has this way of painting this beautiful picture that this is what it's going to promise and this is what it's going to give you. but then you go through it, you partake of it, and you get on this side, and you realize that, listen, it didn't give me nothing. What I have right now, the way I look right now, what I'm dealing with right now is nowhere near what was on the ad or the front page. So, we can see their drought. Verse 11, we can see their defilement. Notice he says they ravished, the Bible says they ravished the women in Zion and the maids in the cities of Judah. Here again we see that the families of the nations were being defiled by their enemies as we quoted already. The devil desires to do what? To kill, steal, and destroy. Listen, us, our families, all that we care and hold dear to ourselves, the enemy seeks to humiliate and ruin our lives. And that's exactly what he was doing here. He says, they ravaged the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Juwah. There was no care whatsoever for anybody. There was no care for innocence. There was no care for none of that. Listen, the devil desires to take all of that away. It looked all great on this side, but on the other side, it wasn't as good. And he says, this is what has happened because of decisions that we made. Verse 12. Not only do we see the defilement of their people, because listen, that's exactly what the devil desires to do, is to ravish and defile your life. In verse 11, we see their disgrace. I mean, verse 12, we see their disgrace. Notice he says in verse 12, princes are hanging by their hand. Their faces of elders were not honored. We can see that their leaders, they were disgraced. They were hanging up by their hands. They were on display for everybody to see. The devil in sin wants to do everything he can to tie your hands together and puts you on a humiliating display in front of everybody. because the devil can care less about how you feel, and the sin can care less about how you feel. Listen, it all looks good. You plastered over Facebook, and it looks good on TikTok, and other people seem like they're having fun until you get to the very end, and you jump on the other side of the story, and you see there's no longer the smiles, there's no longer the laughing, and there's no longer this great lifestyle, but they jump on the other side of sin, and you see all the things that it has now brought to their life. And listen, even us, if we engage and enjoy in it, Listen, the pleasures of sin last for a season. The Bible shows us right here, these people, they were taking a tally of all the things that they had lost because they disobeyed God. And we would be worthy, well, this morning, to take a look at the things that they lost and say, you know what? I don't want to lose anything like they lost. I don't want to lose myself. I don't want to lose my family. I don't want to be humiliated and ruined in my life. Listen, because, but that's what sin does. So, you can see, Their disgrace. The devil in essence had them tied up. No way of escape. Take a look at verse 13. The Bible says, they took the young men to grind and the children fell under the wood. Not only was, as we quoted already and really kind of said, not only the devil is after the family, we can see here specifically that he says, verse 13, they took the young men to grind and the children fell under the wood. The desire was not just to disgrace, but also we see the drudgery that they faced in life. The enemy's interest in the young people and the children. The devil's desire to take them and put them to work in his fields. For them to do what he wanted them to do. And for them to plow what he wanted them to plow. For them to bear the fruit that he wanted them to bear the fruit of. The Bible says here in our text, In verse 13, that the young, they took the young men to grind and the children, they fell under the wood. They were making them do what they wanted them to do. They wanted them to be laborsome in their own tasks. They wanted, listen, they were making life difficult for these young people. And there in verse 13, he says, they took the young men to grind. Man, it was laborsome, it was difficult, it was hard. The children, they fell under the wood. There they are, they're working out in the fields and working, and the Bible shows us here that what happened is the enemy came in, they took our kids, and they made things difficult and hard for them in life. And that's exactly what the world desires to do. It's exactly what the devil desires to do and exactly what sin desires to do is to take our life, to take our homes, take everything we love and hold dear, and to make it as hard and difficult as possible. So we can see their drudgery. Let's take a look at The next verse, the Bible says, the elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music. There was no more guidance. There was no more leadership. There was no one to give advice. There was no one else to turn to. There was no one that knew what to do. There was no help. The sound of joyous music was no longer there. Perhaps they felt like we've undergone so much. We don't have a song. The devil had done taken their song. The Bible says in verse 14, the young men from their music, they were no longer playing. The devil will do everything he can to take your song this morning. But on this side, it seems like it's all good. On this side of the sin, the picture is painted beautiful and everything is great. But on the other side, on the other side over here, when sin is done with us, the joyful song that we had on the other side is far different now. The song that you write right here is far different than the song that was written over there. The song that you sang over there was far different than the song we're singing on the inside. And that's what I'm trying to get us to see this morning. As the devil's not playing, sin isn't playing. And we've got to make sure as God's people that we are moving in the right direction and making the right choices and decisions because sin is doing everything it can to steal our song. The Bible says in verse 15, the joy of our heart is ceased. You see that? He says, our dance is turned into mourning. They had nothing to joy for. He says, we look around, he says, we have no more joy. There is no more excitement. There's no reason to dance any longer. The devil had done moved in and sin had done moved in and taken everything that they got. And as they look around, they're thinking to themselves, how in the world did we get in this position? Everything was so good and everything was so great. But then we got into sin and got over here on the other side and found out that the joy that we could have had, the joy that we had in the beginning, man, all that happiness and all that laughter, on this side it ain't like that. Let us be careful this morning. Notice the next verse. The Bible says there in verse 16, The Bible says the crown has fallen from our head. Woe unto us that we have sinned. Verse 15, we see their downfall. There was a point in life where they were blessed and they were wearing a crown of favor. There was a point in their life when it seemed like they were going, when it seemed like man, God was with them and God was... But then when they began to turn their back on God, that crown of favor began to fall, and the Bible says in verse 16, the crown is falling from our head. The position that we had and the favor and the blessing that we had from God, it began to fall away, and the reason why is because we began to forsake the Lord, and we were selfish in ourselves, and we were prideful in our sin, and we had this idea that, listen, I've got this under control, this never happened to me, The further away we went, we've seen that we ended up becoming the servant instead of the master, and now the crown has fallen from our head. They're in this downfall in life, and they said, woe unto us that we have sinned. At least they came to a place here in the end that as they began to count all their losses, that they began to say, you know what, we've sinned against an almighty God. Listen, that is part of the purpose. for the chastening hand of God is to bring us to a place where we'll say we've sinned against God. And now they finally see it, and now they finally realize it. What I'm trying to do this morning is to keep us from getting to such a place, is to keep us from getting to a place where the crown falls from our head, that we are no longer the servants to the sin that is in our life. Notice he says, the crown has fallen from our head, woe unto us, for we have sinned, so we can see the repentance that they have in their heart and life. They begin to see the damage of the choices that they have made and the way that their life has gone. They begin to see how the crown has now fallen and that they're fallen with it. In verse 16, notice the Bible, in verse 17, the Bible says, for this is our, for this, or because of this, or the reason why we feel this way is because of verse 16, for this our heart is faint. For these things our eyes are dimmed. So we can see in verse, there in verse 17, we can see their darkness. We see that their heart is faint. It seems like they feel like they don't have much left within them. Our heart is faint. It's not beating as hard as it used to. It's not alive as much as it used to be. I tell you what, after we get on this side of sin, living like the devil really takes a lot out of us. On this side, we're so energetic. On this side, it's so much fun. On this side, it's so unjoysome. But by the time we go through it, and what sin does to our life, we get on this side, and listen, our heart ain't beating as fast as it was, and we're not enjoying it like we used to, and now life and sin and the devil and our choices have taken a lot out of us and has zapped the strength. Out of us and our heart then becomes more faint. We're no longer as lively as we used to be. And the devil is stealing that joy. Not only do we see that their heart, but notice we see there in verse 17, he says, not only does their heart faint, he says, but our eyes are dim. Their eyes and minds begin to wear out and listen to the light. When our life in us gets faint and our heart starts beating very slowly, we then begin to lose our vision of hope. So when our hearts get faint, our eyes get dim. The vision of hope begins to deteriorate and go away. Lastly, we see in verse 18, the Bible says, of the mountain of Zion which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. So the 16th truth this morning we see is their desolation in verse 17. We see the destruction of their home, their nation. His desire, the devil's desire to leave our home desolate and empty and destroyed. The Bible shows us here in this text the foxes came. The foxes walk upon it. Foxes come and they steal and they take that which is weak. And in their weakness and destruction, the little foxes came and spoiled what little they had left. But not only that, they began to make this place their habitation. It was a place that now they began to walk and the little foxes spoiled the vine. And when we allow the little foxes to roam and run around free in our life, They begin to take all these things. You say, well, it's just a little here, and it's just a little here, and it's just a little there. But all these little things add up to a lot. Next thing you know, you don't have this little bit, you don't have this little bit, and you begin to look around and think, man, how did I lose everything? It's because the little foxes came in and began to spoil the vine. We can see their desolation. The foxes were now roaming in this city. They were now taking the things that they had. Foxes don't normally live in this type of environment. We're now calling this place home. And so we've got to ask ourselves here this morning, what is it that I have in my life that is now calling this home when it shouldn't be? Do I have some sins in my life? Do I have some things that are roaming around that are just taking bites out of me and my life, that are making my life unfruitful? Because that's what the foxes do. They come in, they spoil the vine, they steal and they rob, and they do it up under the cover of darkness normally. And they come in, they don't normally live in the city, but now here we see they're roaming around and they're just taking whatever they want. And if we're not careful. We'll start living a life of sin, and what happens is we don't realize what's happening at first, but these foxes, we'll let this one comes in, and then this one comes in, and the next thing you know, all these little things begin to rob us of all that we have until there's nothing left, and now the foxes are just running like they want to in our lives. Ultimately destroy the city. So we ask ourselves here this morning, As we examine the lives of these people here in the book of Lamentations, then we see the other side of the story. And we count up the cost that they had in their life. Do I still want to keep going in the direction that I want to go? Or am I going to say, you know what, I'm going to learn from these people, and I'm going to learn from my own past experiences that I'm going to stop right here and not go any further. I'm going to give my life to Christ. I'm going to follow God. I'm going to turn around in a different direction. Because what is it that Moses and Joshua, both of them said, choose you this day whom you serve. As for me and my house will serve the Lord. So we have to choose today. Am I going to keep following this path in this direction and rebellion against God? Or am I going to get in line and follow Christ? Let's pray. Father, we come to You this morning, we thank You, Lord, for Your goodness. Lord, You are far better to us than we deserve. Lord, here this morning, God, we ask that You'd help us today to seek Your face. We ask today, God, that You'd help us this morning to see where we're at and to see who we are. And God, today we're so thankful that You offer us hope. We're so thankful that You offer us another way. Lord, this morning, I pray that there's anybody in here that's not saved. God, that they'd seek your face this morning. God, that they'd plead the blood of Jesus on their life and ask for forgiveness and salvation. As the piano plays, whenever they get ready, Ms. Amanda's gonna sing here in just a minute. But if you're here today and you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, what a great moment you have right now. to accept Jesus. What a great opportunity that you have today to get things right and get things settled. Listen, ain't none of us perfect here this morning. That's the reason why we're here. Listen, all of us got some problems. We've all got some issues. We've all got some giants and we've all got some things we're battling and facing. But what I'm trying to get us to see today is that we make sure that we make the right choices in the midst of it all because the last thing that we want to do is be on the other side counting up all the losses. If you're here today, you've never accepted Christ as your Savior. I encourage you this morning to see Jesus for who He is, a loving, a loving Savior that's willing to help you today. A loving God that's willing to forgive you of all your sin. And to help you this morning to start over. If you're here today and you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, nobody's looking but me and God, but just slip your hand up so I can see you. Anybody anywhere a preacher, I've never accepted Christ, but I sure would like to. Could be that you're here this morning saying, you know what? I just want to make sure I do right. I just want to make sure I make the right decisions. I don't want to be on the other side filling up all these tallies of things that I've lost in life because I didn't live right and didn't do right. And I just want to come this morning and just ask God to help me to live like I'm supposed to live. We can stand to our feet. We're going to open up the altar here this morning. You come, whatever it is that you got, bring it to the Lord. It's about salvation. You need to get saved. You make sure you come and see me. I'll be up front. Listen, we all got battles and we all got struggles. We just don't want to be tallying up all these losses when they don't have to be necessary. Who holds the keys to victory? Who is the source of life and strength? Who gives the heart a song to sing? None but Jesus, none but Jesus Who brings us joy amidst our pain Who gives us grace from day to day Who has the name all names, none but Jesus, none but Jesus. I will sing I go of the one who saves and satisfies my soul. To the lost and longing, he's the only hope. I'm a witness, none but Jesus, whose word is true. and shall endure, whose faithfulness is strong and sure, whose holiness and love are pure, None but Jesus, none but Jesus, I will sing and I go of the one who saves and satisfies my soul. To the lost and longing, he's the only hope. I'm a witness, none but Jesus, whose word is true. and shall endure, whose faithfulness is strong and sure, whose holiness and love are pure, none but Jesus, none but Jesus. Who can wash away our sin? None but Jesus, none but Jesus Who can make us whole? again. None but Jesus, none but Jesus, I'm a witness. None but Jesus, I will sing and I go of the one who saves and satisfies my soul. To the lost and longing, he's the only hope. I'm a witness, none but Jesus Who frees the slave that's bound within Who broke the curse of hell and sin Who brings what's dead to life again ♪ None but Jesus ♪ None but Jesus Amen, none but Jesus. Man, praise the Lord, all right. Well, let's be dismissed today.