A Place of Service
Part 2
Jeremiah 23:28-29
28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
I have entitled this today “A Place of Service”.
This morning we are all called with a purpose according to God’s will and that purpose is that we are all to serve Him.
Someone who truly serves will put God before anyone or anything else.
God has a plan for everyone’s life, but He wants people to be able to grasp an understanding of His plan.
In the Word, there were many people who served the Lord.
When we serve the Lord, we have an understanding that we have to serve one another.
Too many people are only concerned about serving themselves and about what they are going through.
There are people out there who are going to Hell, and people are so focused on their own lives that they do not see the need of others.
2 Kings 2:1-4
1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.
Elisha was a Prophet who was in training. In order to receive his master’s mantel, he had to see when his master was taken from him.
Most of us know the story. Elisha would not let his master out of his sight, where he went, Elisha was going to follow.
That’s the way we are supposed to be as Christians, where Jesus leads us, since He is our Master, then we are to follow.
Just like Elisha he was not going to lose sight of Elijah. We, as Christians, can’t lose sight of Jesus in our walks.
If we take our eyes off of Him then we will not receive what He has for us.
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
When we are a servant of the most High God, we will be willing to pray one for another.
A lot of people out there do not even know that God has a will for their lives.
We need to labor fervently for them in our prayers.
2Ti 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, {patient: or, forbearing}
Last week, we talked about how we have to be gentle with what God gives us.
We have to let our Master teach us how to gently handle what He has given us.
A servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle to all men.
We need to be able to teach what the Word of God says, and we need to be patient.
Now let’s go back to Jeremiah 23:28-29:
28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. {that hath a dream: Heb. with whom is, etc}
29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Earlier in this chapter, there were people who were prophesying lies in God’s name saying that they had dreamed a dream.
Jeremiah 23:25-27
25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
I am going to say this best the best that I can and try to make you understand.
There are false prophets who will try to deceive you anyway that they can.
They will try to come to what you think you understand and will try to confuse you.
We talk a lot about dreams, but if someone says that they have dreamed a dream and this dream is leading them away from Christ and the ways of God, it is a false word.
That would label them a false prophet.
We need servants who know how to hear the true Word of the Lord and who will be willing to give what God says to give.
We live in a Prophetic generation. We live in a day where God is pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh.
We live in a day of dreams and visions that are coming from the Lord, but we need people who understand what He is saying.
At work, I have been talking to different people about dreams that they have had.
Some are Christians and others are not.
The other day, a young lady walked in who is a believer in the Lord and she started to share a dream that she had had.
My job, as a servant of Jesus, is to help people understand the dreams that they are having.
Another young lady of about 19 or 20 was standing there listening as we went over the dream.
I could tell that she was interested in what I had to say about the dream.
Later that afternoon, this young lady came up to me and said she had a question that might sound stupid.
She went on and shared a dream with me.
She said she dreamed that her mother had died and had gone to Hell; she came back from Hell to tell her goodbye. She said her eyes were glossy looking.
She asked me if this dream had any meaning.
I was nervous about how to answer her.
I asked her if her mother is dead. She said no but she is dying.
I went on to tell her that this was a warning dream, and that if her mother had never accepted Jesus as her Savior, this dream would be a reality.
I told her that when someone goes to Hell it really is goodbye forever.
I asked her if her mom went to church and she said no.
I asked her if she went to church and she said no.
She went on to say that they had maybe gone twice in their lives and had no real knowledge of who God was.
I went on and shared this Scripture with her:
Job 33:14-18
14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
This is exactly what God was doing. He does not want this woman to go to the pit, which is Hell.
He was giving this young woman instruction, even though she didn’t understand what He was saying.
God will place His servants where they need to be in order to give instruction to what He is saying.
Church, talk about your dreams to the world,you don’t know who is listening that God has given warning to for you to help.
Jeremiah 23:
28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
I did not know that my talking to people about their dreams would lead to this.
I told the young lady that there was an urgency to talk to her mother about the Lord.
A while back the Lord gave me a dream:
3-17-08 Dream
I dreamed that our church had become a restaurant. A family that used to go to our church walked in and I served them. The one was upset because we had become a restaurant.
Interpretation
It’s easy; this sermon this morning is about service. As a servant to Christ, my job is to serve those who are in need.
Who are we serving this morning?
Are we counting the cost this morning in order to be a servant?
Are we going to be willing to give our all and go wherever the Lord tells us to go and serve?
In order to serve properly, our foundation needs to be strong in the Lord.
If you have a crack in your foundation, it is time to let God fix your problem.
Are you, this morning, at a place of service?
Are you listening and doing what the Lord has revealed to you?
You are like a restaurant, people will come to you for service. Are you ready to serve them?
Closing
Jeremiah 23:29
29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
In this passage the Word of the Lord is likened to a fire and a hammer,
a fire to burn and a hammer to break.
We need to let God’s fire burn in us and let His Word hammer at the hearts of the people in this world.
