Jeremiah received his call from God to prophesy against Israel’s idolatry, at a young age. The King James uses the word “Child” in verse 6 of chapter 1, and other versions say “youth”; it is estimated he was about 20 years old.
Although he actually received his calling as a young man, notice that God begins by telling Jeremiah that he was literally born for this task. (1:4,5)
After informing Jeremiah that he was born and destined for just this time and this task, the Lord then goes on to give him all the assurance that anyone should ever need.
“Now, gird up you loins, and arise, and speak
to them all which I command you. Do not be
dismayed before them, lest I dismay you
before them.
Now behold, I have made you today as a
fortified city, and as a pillar of iron and as
walls of bronze against the whole land, to the
kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests
and to the people of the land. And they will
fight against you, but they will not overcome you,
for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord”
So Jeremiah begins his work. He is prophesying against the kings of Judah and their princes and her priests, and all the people, for their idolatry and their spiritual adultery.
It appears as though his preaching has been primarily in and around his home town of Anathoth; because when we get to chapter eleven we find that the men of Anathoth have already told Jeremiah not to prophesy in the name of the Lord, and have even threatened to kill him if he does.
Sadly, it is revealed in Chapter 12 vs 6, that even his own father and brothers are plotting against him, and the Lord warns Jeremiah not to believe their ‘nice’ things that they say.
Jesus later said that a prophet is not without honor except in his home town, and in his own household.
He was referring to Himself, of course, because He was in Nazareth at the time, and the folks who knew Him as Joseph and Mary’s boy would not receive Him.
But I wonder if He had Jeremiah on His mind when He said it.
Here is a lesson for you, believer in Christ.
You have a duty as a loved one to tell your unsaved friends and family about Jesus; and to continue to pray for them. But don’t be discouraged when they reject you. Jesus and the prophets before Him were rejected by those closest to them; but their converts came from elsewhere.
Tell the gospel in obedience to Him; don’t let any man tell you to be quiet...even if they threaten you.
The Lord’s promise in Jeremiah 1:17-19 (which I read a couple of minutes ago) applies to you also!
Well, by chapter 12 Jeremiah is getting a little discouraged. He has come down with a case of the “Why”s and the “How long”s.
“WHY has the way of the wicked prospered?”
“WHY are all those who deal in treachery at ease?”
“HOW LONG is the land to mourn, and the vegetation of the countryside to wither?”
So God gives Jeremiah a gentle rebuke.
“If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses?”
Now I want to point out to you, that God does not chide His people for their weaknesses.
He does not criticize us for not knowing all things.
Whenever we see God, in the Old Testament, chastise His people, ...and Jesus in the New Testament rebuking His followers, it is always for lack of faith, and slowness to believe.
We could sympathize with Jeremiah, and say that he had every right to challenge God and question God’s love and faithfulness to the nation of Israel and Jeremiah himself, if God had not already assured Jeremiah that:
“...they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you”.
So here, in essence, is God’s response to Jeremiah in verse 5.
You have been speaking my word, which I have given you, to warn the nation of the destruction to come if they do not turn to Me in repentance and obedience and faith. Your preaching has been to your family and the common people of Anathoth, and the lesser princes and priests of my people.
You have been running with the footmen, Jeremiah!
But I have bigger plans for you. Anathoth has been a training ground. A place of preparation for you; and if you have become wearied and ready to give up while running against footmen, how will you then run against the horses in Jerusalem, when I send you there?
How will you contend with the religious rulers and the evil princes and the idolatrous population of the capital city; if you grow tired and give up while still in the small village of your birth?
We’ll go on and get just a glimpse of how Jeremiah’s story turned out later. But for now I want to make application of this portion of scripture to us, gathered here today.
II Timothy 3:16,17 says that “ALL SCRIPTURE is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
And since Jeremiah 12:5 is a verse of scripture, we know it falls under the definition of “ALL SCRIPTURE” referred to in II Timothy 3.
So today I’ll ask you to listen very closely, Christian, and hear what the Spirit says to you concerning 1. YOUR CALL TO SERVICE, 2. GOD’S PROMISES CONCERNING HIS SUPPORT OF YOU, and 3. WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW IN YOUR TRAINING PROCESS.
First of all then, our call to service.
I wish I was wrong about this, but I really don’t think that I am wrong, when I say that our American society has largely lost the sense of what it means to serve.
The only folks we really hear talking about service anymore, on a daily basis is society, are the ones wanting to sell something.
Advertisers tell us that the company they represent exists to serve.
“Let us serve you!” “Service is our middle name!” “Have it your way!” “You deserve to be served!”
If they were being entirely honest, they would have to have as their mottoes, lines such as, “We deserve to have your money!” “Profit is our first and last names!” “Let us do what we must to make you feel good, even if it involves deception and ego boosting and appealing to your basest, most selfish desires!”
True service to someone, or to others, out of a servant’s heart and for the sake of putting another before ourselves, has largely fallen by the wayside, in a selfish, hedonistic society.
But as Christians, our call to the service of God remains, in spite of what the world system screams loudly at us from every quarter.
We haven’t been let off serving God; it has only become harder to convince people that the call to service applies to them.
Let’s look at just a few scripture verses:
Matthew 5:10-16 10:24-33 (Read Matt 25 later)
Lk 9:23-26 Jn 12:24-26 Eph 6:18-20 Col 3:12-17
Hebrews 10:23-25 (read Heb 13:1-17 later)
Of course, as Baptists, (and since I preached on it only a couple of weeks ago) we should all be very familiar with Matthew 28:18-20, the verses referred to as the Great Commission.
I cannot simply say that there are many scripture verses calling us to service.
Believer in Christ, the very essence of the scriptures...the very foundation of their message to the believer, is that he/she is saved by God’s grace through faith in the shed blood of His Messiah, and that therefore as saved ones we are to strive to live in a way that is pleasing to Him; seeking to be like Jesus, serving Him and one another in love, and furthering the Kingdom through word and deed until He comes!
So, what about GOD’S PROMISES CONCERNING HIS SUPPORT OF YOU IN YOUR SERVICE TO HIM?
Well, the promises are as plentiful as the verses that call us.
About His Word, God says, “It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
Paul assures us that the gospel message is the very power of God to save all who believe, and it is that message that we have been commissioned to spread.
With that commission to spread the gospel, comes the assurance that we are being sent by the One to whom has been given all authority in heaven and in earth, and with the promise that He is with us ALWAYS.
We hear Paul saying, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” and “Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
In John 11 we have Jesus’ own assurance that anyone who believes in Him will never die.
Again, the list goes on and on, and I cannot possibly list for you in the time we have here (even if I knew them all, which I don’t) all the promises God gives us in His Word, that He will honor those who honor Him, and protect those that are His...
...to deny those who deny Him, and declare before the Father, those who declare Him before the world.
I think these few verses I have shared are enough, and I think that everyone here understands that we as Christians, ARE called, and we are sheltered under the wing of the Almighty. I think that everyone here, at least in their own mind, is able to comprehend and believes that we are indeed called to His service in this world, and that there is nothing the world can do to us outside of God’s control.
Am I right? Do we all understand these things? If not say so, because we’ll stop right now and answer questions...
...let’s go on to my third point: WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW IN YOUR TRAINING PROCESS.
Jeremiah, remember, had been serving. Read the first eleven chapters of Jeremiah, and you will see. He receives his call in the first chapter, and in the twelfth chapter he’s whining because he’s getting tired and afraid. But in chapters 2-11, he is serving faithfully, and saying the things that God gives him to say; things of condemnation and warning, and encouragement and promise of blessing for the repentant.
It is as he grows tired of speaking and seeing no converts, then hearing of the plots against him and becoming afraid, that he turns to God and asks, “why?” and “How long?”
But this we can say for Jeremiah, even if we stop here and go no further; AT LEAST HE WAS RUNNING WITH THE FOOTMEN!
Where are YOU in the training process?
Do you even run with the footmen?
People, I want to talk about faithfulness in service today, and I’m going to step on toes.
But I want to point out to you first, that if I did not say these things, then I myself would be guilty of unfaithfulness.
If I would say that God has called me to preach and teach His Word, then I have to be true to that calling, and preach the WHOLE counsel of God. Not just the easy parts; not just the ‘feel good’ parts; not just the parts that apply to the lost and the wicked; but all of it.
So if you hear me say something today that seems to strike at the heart of where you are in the Lord, and it bothers you, listen to it knowing that I must be faithful to my calling, or I have no right to exhort you to be faithful to yours.
So let me ask you:
Do you even know what it is to run with the footmen?
In Jeremiah’s case the footmen were the people of the small village and surrounding area of Anathoth who didn’t like hearing His words, and rose up against him to stop him.
What and who are the footmen who would try to halt or hinder your service to the Lord?
You have to list those things for yourself, I suppose, as you examine your own life and thoughts, being honest with yourself.
THERE ARE AS MANY EXCUSES AS THERE ARE PEOPLE; AND MORE.
But the question I am duty-bound to ask is, do you even attempt to run with the footmen?
Running with the footmen, for us, Believer, is doing what God calls us to do, and saying what He gives us to say.
“Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together”
“Love one another”
“Build up one another”
“Go and make disciples of all people,...teaching them...”
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly”
“Pray without ceasing”
“Pray for the saints”
“If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God”
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”
“Love thy neighbor”
“Believe in God, believe also in Me”
“Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus”
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord”
THESE ARE NOT SUGGESTIONS, FOLKS; THESE ARE COMMANDS, INSPIRED BY THE SPRIT OF GOD AND WRITTEN FOR OUR INSTRUCTION!
Do you run with the footmen?
If these things tire you; indeed, if you fail even to run for lack of faithfulness; lack of love for the Lord, then how...oh, how, will He EVER train you for running with the horses?
How will he prepare you for powerful and significant service for Him in the future; how will He make you the kind of Christian whose very life furthers the kingdom of God in the world around you, if you won’t even finish training?
Jeremiah ran. And yes, Jeremiah grew tired. Jeremiah at times grew despondent and needed encouragement.
But he remained faithful, and he received the encouragement he needed when he needed it, and the Lord kept His promise to be with him and not let him be defeated.
We hear Jeremiah at times saying things like:
“I have become a laughing stock all day long.
Everyone mocks me.
For each time I speak, I cry aloud;
I proclaim violence and destruction,
Because for me the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long.”
Faithfulness isn’t easy, folks. It does call for determination, and it often calls for sacrifice, and it calls for conviction and intestinal fortitude (guts).
But it has God’s own reward, and we have the strength of His Holy Spirit with us, IF we are even running.
In the midst of his troubles, Jeremiah was able to cry:
“But the Lord is with me like a dread champion; therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.”
And believer in Christ, my duty before you today is not all drudgery. I have a duty to shed light on weaknesses and faithlessness. I have a duty in the preaching of God’s Word to not leave out rebuke and correction;
...but my duty includes the joy of telling you that if you will determine as a blood-washed, born again child of the King, that you are going to run with the footmen...
...if you will say, ‘Lord, I am yours; bought with a price; my life is no longer my own, and I want to serve you’...
...if you will determine that the footmen; the things of this life that would call you away from His service and drag you down and stop you from behaving as a new creation in Christ are not going to wear you down and tire you and convince you to give up the running...
...then you my friend, will be a vessel He can use! He will give you victories in your private life, and He will bring forth fruit from your life that will encourage you to go on and to grow spiritually and to serve faithfully; and the day will come when He will have you running against the horses and winning!
Jeremiah finally went up against the kings and princes and priests of Israel and Judah, and no matter what they did they could not silence his message, nor could they stop the things he said from coming true.
We don’t read of them except in this context. Most of their names are lost to history. But we all know who Jeremiah is. Almost 3000 years later, and on into eternity, men will know that name, because he was faithful to his calling and God taught him to run with the horses!
“THEREFORE, SINCE WE HAVE SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES SURROUNDING US, LET US ALSO LAY ASIDE EVERY ENCUMBRANCE, AND THE SIN WHICH SO EASILY ENTANGLES US, AND LET US RUN WITH ENDURANCE THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US, FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF FAITH, WHO FOR THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM ENDURED THE CROSS, DESPISING THE SHAME, AND HAS SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD.
FOR CONSIDER HIM WHO HAS ENDURED SUCH HOSTILITY BY SINNERS AGAINST HIMSELF, SO THAT YOU MAY NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE HEART.”
and
“HE WHO OVERCOMES, I WILL GRANT TO HIM TO SIT DOWN WITH ME ON MY THRONE, AS I ALSO OVERCAME AND SAT DOWN WITH MY FATHER ON HIS THRONE.
HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES.”
AMEN
