Jeremiah 1:5-10
Notes
Transcript
Jeremiah; 1:5-10
The other day my son and daughter were talking about the future and what they should be when they grew up. My son had a fairly solid idea of what he wanted to be and we discussed it, but my daughter was struggling. She really didn’t know what she wanted to do, and then I asked her, “Have you prayed about it?” What my daughter didn’t realize, is that God has a plan for her, she just needs to be willing to follow his commands.
This is what we see tonight in the scripture, a young man, who God calls for a great purpose. A role that many people would prefer not to do, but a messenger that had a message to share with a nation. Let’s look tonight at Jeremiah’s call into the ministry and see how we might relate to his life as well.
[Read Scripture]
Vs 5 – God created Jeremiah for a purpose
Vs 5 – God created Jeremiah for a purpose
· The question that mankind asks itself, is why am I here, what is my purpose. I believe that it is important to know the answers to these questions, but man’s flaw when it comes to these questions is that they are directing the question the wrong way.
· You see, to really know our purpose in life, we can’t ask mankind for the answer, the answer can’t be horizontal, the answer lies upward, it lies with God.
· God tells Jeremiah that he was born with a purpose, he was ordained to be a prophet unto the nations. He was going to be a individual who would share the message of God.
· I believe every person that is born has a purpose placed on them, a purpose that is put there by God. There is no such thing as a life that has no purpose.
· Each year a multitude of babies around the world are put to death, because of the evilness of man’s heart. And when humanity allows this to happen, we are halting the purpose in that child’s life.
· Jeremiah had a purpose before he was even born, and just like Jeremiah, you to have a purpose that God has placed specially on your life. Now the question is this, are you doing what God has called you to do?
· Jesus told everyone of us as believers what our purpose was by saying to go out and preach the Gospel and baptize others, but each of us also has a very special purpose, that God wants us to fulfill.
· Don’t ever think that your life doesn’t matter, your life is very special to the Lord and He wants you to fulfill your role here on Earth.
Vs 6 – Jeremiah felt inadequate
Vs 6 – Jeremiah felt inadequate
· Now most of us, when we hear that God has a purpose for us, we get excited, until we are presented with what the purpose is and then we have different or mixed feelings about it.
· God was calling Jeremiah into the ministry to be a prophet, that would have to speak before a multitude of people.
· Let me ask you, have you ever been approached by someone in the church, asking you to do a certain job? Maybe that job was to organize VBS or serve on a committee. What did you say or how did you feel?
· When we’re presented with something that seems very important, we come up with excuses. We find every reason why we shouldn’t do the job. Even Jeremiah felt like that.
· What was Jeremiah’s excuse? It was the fact that he was young and he wasn’t a good public speaker.
· I remember the real first time that I had to get up in front of the class at school and give a presentation. I was panicking with anxiety, thinking that I was going to do or say something that may me look foolish.
· We’re still like that, aren’t we? More concerned with how people perceive us, rather than the message or job that needs to shared or done.
· Here was a young man, who was trying to use the excuse that he was too young and that he wasn’t a good speaker as a reason that he was not qualified to do the job.
· Isn’t it funny, when we go out and look for a job that pays money, we spruce up our resume to try to convince people we are qualified for this job, but when it comes to God seeking us for a job we suddenly are not qualified?
· Listen, the calling on your life doesn’t need to be met with excuses of why you can’t do something, but just with the reply “yes, Lord”.
Vs 7 – God wanted total control
Vs 7 – God wanted total control
· Jeremiah’s excuses of why he was not qualified for this job was met quickly with an answer from God. God is not interested in hearing your excuses, remember God knows you better than yourself. He was the one who created you.
· Let me illustrate it this way, God made you to be hammer, you are shaped like a hammer, you have a handle like a hammer, I mean you’re a hammer. But you look back at God and say, I’m not a hammer, I’m not capable of hammering nails or constructing buildings. I’m better off to be a paper weight. Now that would sound foolish to us, right? But how many of us are just like that with God, he has designed us with a purpose and we say to God that I’m not capable to serve that purpose. Well a hammer by itself will never hammer a nail in, until it is in the hand of the carpenter. And neither will you fulfill your purpose in life until you are in the hand of the Master.
· God wants total control of your life, not to let you sit on a shelf and whither away. You ever done that? By something then sit it on a shelf and neglect to use it? Well, listen, God doesn’t want to waste you by leaving you on the shelf. He wants to put you to work.
· Jeremiah had gave the excuses that he was young and couldn’t speak, but what did God say? Don’t say that you are a child, I will put the words in your mouth.
· Listen, it is God who fulfills the purpose of your life. He will qualify you for the job.
Vs 8 – God gave the promise of blessing
Vs 8 – God gave the promise of blessing
· You know Jeremiah couldn’t argue with God about what He wanted him to do. But that didn’t mean that Jeremiah was scared. Here was an intimidating job that was going to put Jeremiah in some precarious places and be a threat to his own life.
· Prophets and servants of the Lord were not always well treated. We even see in the Bible that many of the prophet’s lives were threaten on constant basis. Elijah was being threaten by Jezebel to be put to death, Paul was thrown into prison, Peter was executed. And even during the days of Jeremiah, being a man of God meant, you were going to make some people upset.
· When God puts a calling on your life to do a particular job, its not going to make the world, and in some cases other Christians happy. And we may say where is the reward in doing this. But let me say, God will look out for the one who is being faithful to what the Lord has called him to do.
· Jeremiah was given two promises here in this verse. Promise #1. I am with thee.
· Listen, God didn’t call us to a position to forsake us. He never left our side. God doesn’t break his promises. And he is aware of our situations.
· Isn’t it comforting in knowing that Christ is always with us? He told us this in Matthew 28:20 “…lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen”
· Promise #2. Jeremiah was also promised with; God will deliver thee.
· Jeremiah was going to face a challenging ministry. He would be cast into a dried up well, he would be put in prison, he would have people who would mock him. But the entire time, God was there to deliver him.
· Even with death, God will deliver his child. We just have to realize that deliverance isn’t physical deliverance, but spiritual deliverance.
· What did Paul say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:21
Vs 9 – God gave Jeremiah spiritual anointing
Vs 9 – God gave Jeremiah spiritual anointing
· Now Jeremiah was a young man with a special calling on his life. Now who was it that did the calling? It was God.
· There have been a lot of people who have been called but it wasn’t by God. Listen, the role of a minister and the message that he brings, ought to be the same way that we see right here in the word of God. That the Lord’s hand is on his life, and that the Lord’s message comes from his mouth.
· Sometimes you might here a person give the excuse; I can’t do that I don’t know what to say. I want to say to that person right now, what did God tell Jeremiah? He would put the words in his mouth.
· It is interesting, that at times when I have thought I have preached one of the worst messages, where a person will come to me and say how that message touched them. It was a message they needed to hear.
· You know why those messages touched? Because it was God who was doing the anointing.
· God put his spirit on Jeremiah, and the Spirit working through Jeremiah was the anointing.
· Listen, you may not understand it, but when God calls you for a purpose, whatever that is, he is going to anoint you to be able to do that job.
Vs 10 – God gave Jeremiah a difficult ministry
Vs 10 – God gave Jeremiah a difficult ministry
· Well God has put a purpose on your life, and now it is determining what it might be. We might hope for something easy and exciting. Maybe God will call us to be the next youth director, or perhaps organize the next church bazaar. But instead God called us to go down to the poor side of town and talk with people about Christ.
· Not all ministries are easy ministries, it can be a difficult ministry!
· Jeremiah was to go and deliver some hard messages to a people that had rejected God. Now when you go and start preaching messages that people don’t want to hear. You’re going to face difficulties.
· Listen, Jeremiah was born into the world to be a messenger of God’s Word. And let’s be honest, working for the Lord is not always easy.
· I don’t want a hard ministry, is our response, right? Lord give me something easy. And you know, if we keep saying that, the Lord will give us an easy ministry, but it won’t be as rewarding. You’ll never experience the blessings that you would have if you had been faithful to your calling.
· Jeremiah’s ministry on the surface looks like a failure. But in the eyes of God, Jeremiah did exactly what he was meant to do, and guess what, here is a whole book about his ministry. Doesn’t look much like a failure to me.
· Your calling by God on your life, is a calling we need to take seriously and not neglect.
Jeremiah’s life illustrates many of our lives, and we must remember, that the key part to this message is this, “when the Lord calls be willing to answer”. Don’t miss the call for the Lord has a special purpose for your life as well.