“THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME…” (Outline)
July 24, 2011 -
Pentecost 6 -
JEREMIAH 1:4-10
INTRO: Did you ever wonder how you fit into God’s great plan of things in this world and for your life. How am I to know what God’s will is for me? How do I know when I am doing what God wants me to do? Honestly, I do not have a personal answer for those questions in your individual lives. In the word of God our loving Father does remind us what his will is for us as believers. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will" (ROMANS 12:2). We may wonder how we are doing in respect to living according to God’s will. God’s word today teaches us to recognize “what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will".
“THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME…” I. Such is God’s calling. II. This is our strength.
I. THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME IS GOD’S CALLING
A. Verse 4. There are no more powerful words in Scripture than these: “The word of the Lord came…”
1. Such words were the words of God calling Jeremiah from darkness into light, into service.
2. Such words are the words of God calling to every generation to live in the light of the Lord.
B. Verse 5a. Before Jeremiah was conceived the Lord God Almighty intimately knew him.
1. Verse 5b. Even before Jeremiah’s birth the Lord God Almighty called him, set him apart.
2. Verse 5c. Jeremiah would be God’s spokesman. Jeremiah would proclaim God to the nations.
C. Verse 6. Note Jeremiah’s utter humility. Jeremiah did not feel worthy or qualified for such service.
1. Verse 7. The Lord reassures Jeremiah with his word. He has little choice, “You must go”.
2. God called Jeremiah. Jeremiah went. Jeremiah proclaimed God’s word to the nations.
D. Jeremiah did not grab any of God’s glory for himself. In fact, it was completely and totally all of God’s doing that Jeremiah was called to be God’s prophet (before conception and birth). This is God’s free grace that he shows to mankind. We are saved by grace. God choose us before we sought him. We stand in wonder and awe at God’s great love for each one of us. None of us deserve to be saved. Not one of us can earn salvation. How can we ever repay God’s great love for us? "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (MICAH 6:8). Humble, thankful lives will reflect God’s great mercy.
E. All glory always belongs to God alone. We begin our lives at our conception as sinners. From that moment of our conception we have an inherited, sinful nature. At our birth we begin our earthly journeys as enemies of God. We are not neutral in our sinful nature. Our sinful nature opposes God and his “good, pleasing and perfect will” with every wicked breath of our sinful lives. In God’s great love for us he makes us into believers. In God’s great mercy for us he calls each of us out of darkness. "For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 CORINHIANS 4:6). The very God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it uses that same great power to create faith in our hearts.
F. No longer does the believer have to live a life as an enemy of God. The opposite is now true. We are loved by God. Once enemies we are now God’s children. This is God’s grace. “The word of the Lord came to me”. It is the word of the Lord God Almighty that reminds us time and again just how much God loves us. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 PETER 2:9). Remember those titles. Rejoice that our heavenly Father calls us “into his wonderful light”.
“THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME….” Such is our calling from God.
II. “THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME….” THIS IS OUR STRENGTH
A. God calls Jeremiah. God appoints Jeremiah as his prophet to all nations, beyond Israel.
1. Humble Jeremiah does not feel ready, qualified, or experienced enough for such a calling.
2. Verse 8. I will be with you. I will rescue you. “Declares the Lord”!
B. Verse 9. The Lord God Almighty seals his promise to Jeremiah with his miraculous power.
1. God is Spirit. He does not have a hand. God creates a hand for himself to touch Jeremiah.
2. Jeremiah recognizes as the hand of God. God touches Jeremiah’s lips. Jeremiah lives.
3. God puts his words into the mouth of Jeremiah. Of course, God’s words will spill out.
C. Verse 10. The Lord God Almighty again reminds Jeremiah he will be a prophet over all nations.
1. Jeremiah would have God’s power. This is more power than kings or any other rulers.
2. God’s law would tear down, destroy and overthrow. God’s gospel would be planted to build.
D. The Lord God Almighty uses this earthly example in Jeremiah to help us better understand the deep, spiritual truths of Scripture. Each spring we uproot, destroy, and overthrow the soil in our fields or gar-dens in order to plant. God’s law tears down our sinful nature. God’s law uproots and overthrows the evil that is in our hearts. God’s gospel is planted to grow. God’s word has changed our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. God’s word is now planted in our hearts of flesh to spring up and bear abundant fruit.
"The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (GALATIANS 6:8). All around us are those who sow to their sinful nature. They reap destruction. All too many in this world who seem to have so much all too often die way too young reaping destruction. God has given us his Spirit. We sow to reap eternity.
E. Every day or week it seems as if there is another message of doom and gloom that tries to trouble the very hearts and lives of nations. We can easily become caught up in the “sky is falling” attitude that is overly emphasized in our society. We can begin to wonder: “What next? How will I make it?” We turn to the word of God. This is our strength. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand"(ISAIAH 41:10). It is the Lord God Almighty who reaches out his right “hand” to save us time and time again.
F. There are all too many in this world that are more than willing to add to or subtract from the word of God in all of its truth and purity. Some feel that the word of God needs something more added to be relevant for us today. Others feel God’s word says way too much for today’s free-thinking society. For believers the word of God is our strength – now and always. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (HEBREWS 4:12). God’s word knows us, still love us.
CONC: What is God’s will for your life? As individuals each one of us have to look at our own lives and compare it with what God’s word says. Rest assured that the word of God that comes to each of us calls us out of darkness into God’s wonderful light. Rest assured that no matter what the world would try to have us worry about God’s word is our daily and eternal strength. "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us" (1 JOHN 3:23). When you are troubled, distracted, or worried remember these words of God in Jeremiah. “THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME….” God’s word is our calling from darkness into Light. God’s word is our strength for this life and for eternity. What joy is ours for others! Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
PENTECOST 6 rdgs: JEREMIAH 28:5-9; ROMANS 6:1-11; MATTHEW 10:34-42; (PSALM 89)
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