"Running With The Horses"

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;