The Prophet Jeremiah 1 Of 2

Every preacher has to be WHO HE IS if he is going to be effective for the Lord. If he tries to be like someone else, he is going to be ineffective.

God is a God of variety:

• Cloud formations are different

• Trees are different

• Flowers are different

• Birds are different

• The fish in the sea are different

• We are all different

And the fact is; preachers are different also!

Isaiah ministered seven hundred years before the birth of the Messiah.

• God used Isaiah to tell us how this Savior of sinners would come from the presence of God, be born of a virgin, live a holy life, and do miracles that no one else could do.

• Isaiah also prophesied that the Messiah would shed His blood, like a sacrificed lamb, to pay for the sins of the world. Once His sacrifice was completed, He would conquer death and rise from the grave, providing eternal life to all that believe in Him.

Today we want to look at another great prophet, by the name Jeremiah and we will see that he is different than Isaiah. Let’s look at-

I. THE MAN

Jeremiah was a Jew. He was born in a small town just four to five miles from Jerusalem.

A lot of great people have come out of small towns. I wonder if they had small town jokes during Bible times.

Illus: Someone said that you live in a small town when:

• The local phone book has only one yellow page

• Third Street is on the edge of town

• You leave your jacket on the back of the chair in the cafe, and when you go back the next day, it's still there, on the same chair

• You don't signal turns because everyone knows where you're going, anyway

• No social events can be scheduled when the school gym floor is being varnished

• You call a wrong number and they supply you with the correct one

• Everyone knows all the news before it's published; they just read the hometown paper to see whether the publisher got it right

• The city limits signs are both on the same post

• The City jail is called amoeba, because it only has one cell

• The McDonalds only has one Golden Arch

• The ZIP code is a fraction

• There's no place to go that you shouldn't

• A "Night on the Town" takes only 11 minutes

• The mayor had to annex property to eat a foot-long hot dog

There are a lot of benefits to being born in a small town. Jeremiah came from a very small town.

As we read the Book of Jeremiah, we can learn many things about this man that we can not learn from the other prophets.

A. HIS CALLING

Jeremiah's father served as a priest in the temple in Jerusalem. He was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth. You might say he was a “Preacher’s Kid”.

Look at Jeremiah 1:4-10, we read, “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

These scriptures are amazing. Notice, the Lord said in verse 5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

If people read this verse and believed what it said, WE WOULD NO LONGER HAVE ANY ABORTIONS!

This verse of scripture tells us that God has a purpose for every child, before they are born. Just think how we as a nation:

• Have killed some of our best citizens

• Have killed some of our best doctors

• Have killed some of our best politicians

• Have killed some of our best preachers and missionaries

• Have killed some of our best Sunday school teachers