What is our message in these dark days?

"Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon," Jeremiah 37:17.

I must tell you a story about this text. It was the text the Lord laid on my heart for the welcome home rally held in the hills of Dundonald when Dr P, Rev JW and myself, a ministerial student, came out of prison in 1966. The rally was held on Lord's Day, 23rd October, some four days after our release. There were approximately 25,000 people in attendance.

I had jotted down a few thoughts, an outline, in the margin of my Bible. When I was called upon to speak, I announced my text and started to speak. When I glanced down at my notes, the wind had turned over some pages of my Bible. Strange as it may seem, I could not remember the chapter my text was in! I asked the Lord to help me and I strongly felt that I was to forget looking for the text and my brief notes and trust the Lord for words. This I did!

Afterwards, Dr Bob Jones Jr said to me: "I pity you son! Most men begin their ministry with small numbers and hopefully build up. You have started with a multitude, the like of which you most likely will never again address!" I think that he was correct.

I want to turn to that text which I sought to preach upon some 48 years ago and which I have never preached upon since though I have often meditated upon it.