Jeremiah 2020

Okay. We're going to have our reading now. Phil Cooper is going to be preaching to us shortly in a 2 part mini series in Jeremiah. And we're going to be reading from Jeremiah chapter 1 and the first 9 verses. The words of Jeremiah, son of Hillkiah, 1 of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, son of Amon, King of Judah. And through the reign of Jehovah Kim, son of Josiah, King of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, King of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile. The Word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Alas, sovereign lord, I said. I do not know how to speak. I am too young. But the Lord said to me, do not say I am too young. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, I have put my words in your mouth. Thanks Chris, and good evening everybody. I would normally say, good evening everyone is lovely to see you, but I'm just looking at camera and I can't see you. So I wasn't sure whether to start with good evening everybody, and it's lovely not to see you, but then I thought that was quite rude.

So we'll go with good evening everybody. My name's Philip Cooper. I'm I'm 1 of the elders. Here at Cornerstone. And as Chris said, we're looking at a 2 part series tonight and next Sunday evening in Jeremiah chapter 1.

Tonight, we're just really as an introduction. We're gonna get to know Jeremiah a bit, and he's you know, the fact that he was called by God And then next week, we get straight into some verses at the end of the chapter, which really give us 2 visions that Jeremiah has straight away. So let's pray now as we start. Father God, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it speaks to us today.

Help us as we turn to it now and as we learn about the setting in which Jeremiah begins to speak as we learn about him, bring it to life for us, that it won't just be like an old textbook on history. But your word, by your spirit speaking into our hearts and our minds that we will be changed by it. In Jesus' name, amen. So do you remember when you were at school, This goes quite a long way back for some of us. But do you remember when you were at school and you were doing something naughty or you're messing around and it was break time or lunch time, and you were just hoping that this wasn't gonna be the time where the teacher came around the corner or, you know, the teacher would come out.

Hopefully, they'd be stuck in the staff room somewhere and they wouldn't be, you know, bothering you. And so often, they came at the wrong time. You think, why don't they just stay in the staff room and have lunch? But, you know, they somehow knew and would be there. Or or perhaps, you know, as an adult, how do you feel if you come back to your, you know, you're rushing back to your car?

You know you're a couple of minutes over. When the ticket expired on your parking and you're just saying let's hope the traffic board and hasn't come and yet so often they have. You know, you're 2 minutes over and you've got the ticket. Well, what about when your heart sinks? You know, you're driving along, you're trying to get somewhere and okay, you might be going a bit too fast and suddenly you've got the blue flashing lights behind you.

And and again, you know, your heart sings as you look in the rear view mirror and see that. Actually, that reminds me of a story. So I'm trying to think now. This would be when Amy was 16 17 probably. Our daughter that is.

11 30, she rang probably at home. Why we were up? I don't know. But anyway, she rang us at 11 13, she was in London, been in London and friends. And she rang and said, I can't get a train out to New Molden.

I can only get as far as Wimbledon. Can you pick me up dad at, I don't know, midnight or just gone midnight? So sure enough, I'd said yes. And about, I guess, probably quarter to midnight. I thought, oh, crap, I better get going.

Out the house into the car off, I went I only got down as far as the b and q, you know, and the new modern roundabout. And I looked and suddenly there's blue flashing lights, so I pulled over to letting go past. And he didn't go past. So, I got out of the car and sure enough, he was out with his penalty book. He was ready he was gonna do me.

I I knew I was probably going too fast but I couldn't remember what speed limit. And he said, Do you live in Bedford Road? And I and I said, oh, yes, I do. And he said, yes, I know. We were coming along Sethford Road and we saw the front door open and you came out, got in the car took off, and we've only just caught you up.

So, I obviously apologized and said, yeah. And he he said, Why, you know, 5 to midnight, what are you doing? And so all I said was, well my daughter And he just put the penalty book away and he just shook his head and he said, he had daughters off you go. And let me off. But you see, in all those cases, whether it's the teacher, whether it's the traffic ward, whether it's the policeman, we can despise them, can't we?

Or we could be scathing about them. You know, the person that they appear on the horizon just don't when you don't want them and you think, well, can't they just go and catch some criminals? Instead of bothering with me. They're the people that seem to set out to ruin our plans and our fun and we blame our misfortune on them. But the reality is that it's the authority that we sit under whether it's school or the government that is bringing justice on us.

And the person that, if you go back to those stories, or that story. The person that I dislike or the person I'm annoyed with is merely the agent of the law that I've chosen to break. So he or she, if it's a police 1 or teacher, he or she didn't create this situation they simply enforce a law that exists. See, in a sense, they're in the unenviable position of telling me what the law is that I've broken it and that judgment is coming. Might be in court, might be a ticket, you know, whatever.

And in this book, Jeremiah, Profit of God, might very well have identified himself as being someone just like that. God calls him to tell the people of Judah about the imminent judgment that's coming because they are disobedient to God's law. But he knows the people are gonna hate him for it. He's blamed for simply bringing the message and that is a tough place to be. It is a tough job to do.

Most of the commentators think that Jeremiah in this chapter where he starts out is about 18 possibly 19 20, but he's been between 18 and 20 years old. And he's called to be a profit and his ministry lasts for some 40 odd years as he lives through different kings of Judah. Look at verse 2. The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, son of Amen king of Judah. And through the reign of Jehovah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah.

When the people of Jerusalem went into exile. So the book starts basically with a brief history lesson, and so we're gonna do that this evening. So that we get a feel for the times that Jeremiah speaks or spoken to. King Saul, first king of Israel followed by King David, David by his son Solomon, in the end, under Solomon, the country is divided. Some of you will know all this.

The northern tribes formed Israel in the North Judah became the southern kingdom and included within it Jerusalem. However, divided like that, the kingdoms were weaker. They were vulnerable. And the northern kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 BC, and then the Assyrians were overrun by the Babylonians in 612 BC. Now whilst all that's going on, Judah profited or at least used the chaos to grow in power.

In 641 b c, God bless Judah with Josiah, a young godly king. Who initially turned the hearts of the people back to God. And Jeremiah starts his ministry during that reign. But sadly, Jacire doesn't complete the transformation, the hearts of the people quickly go back to their old ways. And we seal this as as you as you go on through Jeremiah in chapter 3.

Now, subsequently, Jeremiah from that sort of good young king, if you like, has to deal with a fairly heavy handed Jahaya Kim, and then the real ugliness of Zedekaya and his reign. And in a way, that's the first lesson for us to think about this evening. You see, we're not promised easy lives as Christians, are we? And so what you see here is that straight away, we mustn't connect the ease of a task or perhaps an initial success of a task with God's blessing being on it. Jeremiah started out as a prophet under a good king.

And I guess there may have been early encouragements But most of his ministry took place under 2 different kings who were shockingly bad. So we started out if you like in service of God when winds were favorable. Spent most of his life being battered by a Gail force. So let's not misread our situation when things seem to be going well. Or indeed when they're going badly.

You know, think about Jesus. You know, in a worldly sense, no 1 would say that his ministry was a success, would they? Hated by most people? Never scaled up his teaching ability, if you like, into an international presence. Only lasted 3 years, executed like a criminal.

But we know you can't judge like that. So into this historical situation, God calls the young Jeremiah, and we get a bit of background on him in verse 1 of chapter 1, The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilchia, 1 of the priests of Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. See, Jeremiah is the son of a priest. This was a role normally. It was definitely from 1 tribe, but it normally ran through a family.

So Jeremiah would have been expected to be a priest. And in those days, that was a good, secure future. It's a bit like working for the NHS today in a pandemic. You're not likely to be laid off. Neither was Jeremiah as a priest.

It was a predictable job. It had a good income. And so God's call here in chapter 1 for Jeremiah to be a prophet would have been a surprise, and frankly, he wouldn't have been happy with it. Just think for a moment about the difference between priest and prophet, priest and prophet. You know, a priest duties, well, they were largely set.

They're verging unpredictable. A prophet duties. Well, who knew what God was gonna ask you to say? A priest, he works primarily with the past, to remind people to carry out sacrifices for what the people had already done. The prophet, well, he always dealt with the present, with the future, calling them back to God, when they were going in the wrong direction.

And that's not an easy thing to do. A priest deals with externals, external things, sacrifices, cleansing, ceremonial washing. A profit deals with the hearts of people. With the hearts of a nation. That is a much tougher assignment.

And and it's funny that 1 in particular always reminds me of when people direct Jesus being priest, profit, king. Because Jesus dealt with both, didn't he? He cleanses like the priest, and he deals with our hearts like the prophet. A priest was supported financially. Sacrifices and offerings.

You know, he effectively is on the temple payroll. Profit had no guaranteed income at all. The priests gained their role by birth coming from a particular tribe, just like Jeremiah did, usually being the son of a priest, but a prophet, well, he could come from any tribe, which means he wasn't universally accepted. He had to earn his hearing. It wasn't inevitable that the people would listen to the prophet.

So Jeremiah would have been set for a pretty good a pretty easy life as a priest. But instead, he's called to be a prophet through to the eleventh year of Zedekiah When Jerusalem is taken, the people of Judah flee into exile in Egypt, including Jeremiah himself, who dies there. I mean, that is not a great career compared with being a priest. See, Jeremiah's calling was much more like what what the old style missionary calling would be. I I remember I mean, Chris pray for Les and Jean earlier.

And I remember when Les came to fight club better than when it was a couple of years ago probably. And it was talking about the fact that when they were called to be missionaries to the Zambia, they didn't they weren't they didn't know they'd ever come back. You know, it was a life, it was a calling to that. It wasn't a couple of years working abroad to put on your CV. And neither was it for Jeremiah.

He wasn't doing a couple of years as a prophet before he settled down into the priesthood. Verse 1 introduces us to a Jeremiah to a much tougher life than he'd have expected. And as he's called by God to do this work, we're going to focus on that element for the rest of this evening. So first point is the call, the call. When god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, oh, no.

That's the Galatians' bit. It's coming later. Okay. Sorry. The call verse 4, the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Before you were born, I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. So God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet. But there's so much more in that, isn't there? God says that he knew even before he formed him in the womb. He was gonna call him.

So God stands outside of time, if you like. It's an amazing thing when we realize that he knows everything about us. From before we're even conceived. Certainly, as he forms us inside our mother's womb, God knew us. God knows you.

God knows everything about you. If we think about all those babies that have been born recently, in Cornerstone. But the latest 1, I think I'm right. I've got to keep track of this. Phoebe, isn't it?

Phoebe Langman. God knew everything about her before she was born as she's formed in the womb. He knows what name Paul and Fin were going to choose even if they didn't. Now, you I could stop at this point and go towards election in this sermon, predestination, if you like. It's all over the Bible.

I'm very tempted to do that. So those of you that know me. And here it is again. He knows you before you're born. We could also stop and talk about abortion and the horror of it based on this, because he knows you before you're born.

But I'm gonna resist on both counts because in terms of this story of Jeremiah, in terms of of him being called, What this verse tells us is that he was formed by God for a purpose. He was called for a purpose. And that has huge implications for anyone called to a specific role by God for any of us who think we may have been called to a specific task. So I don't know about you, but usually when when we get big decisions when when somebody suggests you you take on a role or do something. We think about it, don't we?

We balance out you know, the pros and cons. We think about the options that we have and whether it's the right thing to do. So if for example, Jeremiah, came and sat down with me or I'll pick on someone. Let's say me and him and said, okay, I've got this offer to be a prophet. What do you think?

We'd, I think, advise him to stick with the priesthood. And we'd rationalize it pretty easy, pretty easily. We would say, look, it's what you've been trained for. You're only in 18, 19. What do you know?

Stick with what you know, what your dad does. Secondly, we'd say, look, you've been you're honoring your mother and father. That's what you're expected to do. Go into the priesthood. Go to the priesthood.

We'd say the thing about being a priest Jeremiah is it still serve in God. Don't get so carried away with the wilder prophecy stuff. You know, just serve God as a priest. And then the 1 I would definitely mention is Jeremiah, you get a stable income as a priest, so you can then give some money back to the church. That is a great thing.

But we'd be wrong in giving him that advice because first 5 blows out all those arguments straight away. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you Before you were born, I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. By the way, just to mention on that, the reason it says nations are not Judah is because he does later on, if you read the whole of Jeremiah talk about, you know, he brings judgment in effect in his words on the Babylonians and the Egyptians and all the people that get involved. Although I was reading something in the week, which was quite convincing actually that, you know, it's a bit like saying your profit to London. That would be, because we're so cosmopolitan, that would be to the nations.

And in these days, so was Judah, because the Jews had intermarried. They were mixed in with baal worshipers. And so in in in 2 ways, really, he is a prophet to the nations not just to Judah. But do you notice how God nullifies any argument that Jeremiah might be putting forward about, you know, staying in the priesthood. With 4 things in verse 5.

I formed you. I knew you. I set you apart. I appointed you. God does did all those things and it wasn't just that he chose Jeremiah to speak Jeremiah was the embodiment of the message because God had formed him for this task.

See Paul writes something very similar about himself. Let's go to the Galatians verse. Galatians chapter 1 verse 15, Paul says very similar thing. But when God who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I may preach him among the gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. The interesting idea that Paul doesn't consult men.

He avoids the, you know, wise Jews of the day who might give him very rational arguments about why converting to follow Jesus was a terrible idea. See, like Paul, here, Jeremiah is just expected to obey. That should have been his response. And if any of us are giving good spiritual advice to people, 1 of the things we should think about saying more regularly than we do is you know what? You need to obey God.

How often I was thinking about this in the week. How often do I when somebody comes for advice? How often am I brave enough to say, actually you know, you need to obey God on this. But is that what Jeremiah does? It takes us to our second point, the response.

We've had the call. Now we've got the response. You see, his first question should have been, what do you want me to say lord? Where do you want me to go? Who do you want me to go and speak to?

Instead, verse 6, he says, alas sovereign lord, I said, I do not know how to speak. I'm too young. Now in some ways, this is a hilarious verse because he starts by addressing god as sovereign lord. Which means all powerful, awesome, in control, a god who should be submitted to, and then he goes straight into arguing with him. Basically, saying look, I can't speak.

How can I be a profit? Now there's echoes here of Moses. When he too is called by God, I think these verses are going to come up as well. Exodus 4 First 10, Moses said to the lord, pardon your servant, lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the pass nor since you have spoken to your servant, I am slow of speech and tongue.

The Lord said to him, who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I the lord? Now go.

I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. But Moses said, pardon your servant Lord, please send someone else. See Moses and Jeremiah, they're both doing the same thing. They're suggesting to God that they're not really good at speaking. So again, apply these things.

Think about this. How often do you rationalize something when you don't really wanna do it? You know, somebody's asking you perhaps to serve in a certain way and and your response is, well, I'm not really gifted in that area. You know, I don't have any experience. I think I need to sit under an older person for a bit longer and see what see what it involves.

And in fact, we can even become critical Well, you know, the church has never provided me with any mentoring or training in this area. They can't just expect me to start doing it now. Moses and Jeremiah are both trying to dodge this task, but Jeremiah adds an extra concern from Moses. He says, yeah, and I'm too young for this job. Now it's not wrong for a young person to be humble.

To wonder if they're up to the task. Matthew Henry, a very famous commentator. His in his commentary says, it becomes a youth to consider that he's young. It becomes a youth to consider that he's young. And that is right, isn't it?

But obedience was what God expected here. Arguments are what Jeremiah gave back to. So let's apply this to ourselves, to our own sense of calling because you see it's too easy to dismiss. Or everything we've looked at so far as only relevant to the Jeremiah's of this world, you know, to the people called into full time ministry. Or the people who are gonna be missionaries in the Zambia.

But that isn't right. Firstly, we're all called by God to salvation. That is the element that Paul refers to in the Galatians passage when he said, God called me by his grace. God calls us all by His grace to be saved. And once we've come to Jesus Christ, Once we've been born again, once we've been justified by faith, then there is a call to holiness.

To be set apart, to be like Jesus, but it includes living out our calling. And that means we're called to certain things in our lives. So we're all called for example to be good citizens of our country while we wait for heaven. We're all called to open our mouths and share the gospel with others. Does it matter if you're young?

Does it matter if you're old? Doesn't matter if you're good with words or not? We're all called to speak for God, and you can't pay someone else. Are you the staff team to do it for you? That is not being obedient to your calling.

If you're a husband, You are called to lay down your life for your wife. To love her, but also you're called to lead your family. And that means husbands, stop taking your view of what it means to be a father or a husband from what you see on TV. Or what you think culture requires of you? Instead, lead like a godly man.

Why, you're called to respond to this leadership and manage your home well. Ladies, you need to stop listening to what culture says femininity is and listen to what God says it is. Mothers you need to be prophets to your children so they understand God's values. Those of us who are single, you're called to a life of purity and devotion to God and the gospel. Think about what that looks like for your life.

Work it out. What it means for you. But as well as those general callings that we all have as followers of Jesus, God may call you to a specific task like he did Jeremiah. He may have given you a specific gift because when he formed you in the womb, he had in mind a role for you. And if that's the case, pray you'll obey.

Not argue with him as Jeremiah does here. See, if you think you have a specific calling into ministry or into being a missionary or an evangelist or or it may be something else, you know, it could be into working in media for him. Or admin or music? Then let me say 2 things. Firstly, check with people you trust Through in the church, talk to the elders, talk to wise Christians about what you think you're being called into.

Not least because you may need encouragement and support. But as we saw earlier, be wary of worldly rationalization. Don't approach people hoping they're gonna talk you out of it. Secondly, and this is very important if you're confused or if you're not sure whether God is calling you into that role. Then may I suggest you press pause and think about it a bit more.

Ask yourself, why is it not clear? Because you see, God is not a God of confusion. He's a God of clarity, so you will know if he's called you. Look at verse, 4 again. The word of the lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Before you were born, I set you apart, I appointed you as profit to the nations. Now, is there anything unclear about that? Did Jeremiah need to take lots of soundings to see? Whether really he was being called by god? God even puts in the past tense.

I appointed you as a prophet. Similarly, Jesus, what about when he calls the disciples? Come follow me. He says to Simon and Andrew, and I will make you fishers of men. Is that unclear?

The road to Damascus with Saul? Is it unclear? If you are called to something specific, whatever that might be, God will be clear. And if that's the case, then obey. Don't question it.

See, everything Jeremiah was gonna be and we'll see a lot next week was based on obedience and so it is with us. 1 1 writer that I was reading when I was preparing this, said this little phrase and I thought it was really, really good. Abedience is a god sized risk for a god sized call. Disabedience is a man sized risk for a man sized result. That's a brilliant summary, isn't it?

Being a priest was well within Jeremiah's ability. It was a man sized controllable risk, and it would have produced a man sized predictable outcome. But the reality is it would have been disobedience. But obedience here meant he had to step outside of his comfort zone. Abedience is a god sized risk for a god sized call.

That means if you receive a specific call from God to serve in some way, it may well seem beyond you. It may feel like you're too young or too old or don't have the gifts, don't have the experience. It may seem like too big a task, but remember that it's God that's calling you. See, it wasn't that God needed somebody in a hurry and only Jeremiah was available and he was free, and he was a bit young, and he couldn't speak very well, but there was no 1 else. The whole of this evening as we look to this passage is about this fact that God planned it from the very beginning to be Jeremiah.

So every personality trait, his whole character, his gifting, was exactly what God wanted. It was how he'd planned it, In god's eyes, it wasn't a weakness that he was young. It wasn't a weakness that he was lacking as an our orator. It was the plan and so it is with us. So loads of lessons here for us on there.

For example, let's make sure we don't dismiss people on the basis of something like age or because they're not gifted orators. You see, age by itself doesn't make you wise. It might make you worldly wise, but it doesn't automatically make you wise in the eyes of the lord. No other does it make you a godly person just because you're old? If Israel had listened, Judor.

Judah had listened to Jeremiah and responded with, well, what does he know? He's only 19? Or Why should we listen to him? He can barely put a sentence together. The grammar's terrible.

They'd have been dismissing a messenger from God, wouldn't they? We are wonderfully made by god to do what he has in mind for us to do. So similarly, we mustn't look at our weaknesses as if they might prevent us from being useful. The truth is when it comes to serving the law, there's a sense in which none of us are adequate. Paul, when he's talking about speaking out the gospel and he says in 2 Corinthians 2 verse 16, which I think is gonna come up.

To the 1 we are an aroma that brings death to the other an aroma that brings life and who is equal to such a task? See, none of us are up to it, are we? In our own strength, we're not equal to this task. But then he addresses the issue a couple of chapters later, 2 Corinthians 3 verse 5, not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. That is the point.

We might lack lots of things, but Jesus Christ who died on the cross For our sins that we might have a future in heaven with God. He sends the spirit to help us to strengthen us, to teach us, to staff our weaknesses, if you like. See, it's 1 thing isn't it for for us to know our own weaknesses just like Jeremiah did when he says, I can't speak. I'm young. So 1 thing for us to know our own weaknesses, but it's quite another for us to say that our weaknesses prevent god from getting anything done through us.

That's not humility, that's pride. What you perceive perhaps as your weaknesses, the things you find that difficult, the things you are daunted by, None of it's an accident. None of it is in the way of god's plan for you because he created you. And he saved you for a purpose. The only thing that can possibly get in God's way in terms of his plan for you is your disobedience.

Let's just think about that as we close. A god sized risk for a God sized call. Are we up for that? Let's pray. Father god, we thank you for this wonderful introduction really to Jeremiah, these first few verses, as you speak to us and show us that he was called out of what would have been quite a comfortable life really into an uncertain.

In fact, it was almost certain that he would be maligned and accused and hated for what he was gonna say. And he had doubts and he had weaknesses and he was concerned about his age and his ability to speak. And all of that is wrong because you had formed him in the womb for this task. You knew what his weaknesses were. And they weren't weaknesses to you.

Lord, help us as we Going to a new week to think about these things to let your words speak to us that we might think about any giftings we have, any any perhaps calls that we've had over the years that we've stuck to the back of our minds, we don't want to do them, or we don't think we're adequate and we know we're not adequate. As Paul said, you know, it's not our competence that is going to see people converted as we speak to them about Jesus. It is you that does that. Would help us accept how you've made us in a sense and then try and fulfill those areas that we can serve in. If we don't know what our calling is, if we're confused, if we're puzzled by it.

Lord help us to have clarity. Give us an idea of what it is you want us to do for you. And, lord, as we looked at all those general callings as well, help us to live in the knowledge that we've been saved for a purpose. That we're to speak out the gospel to everyone we meet, that we have roles as husbands, fathers, wives. In our own lives.

We have roles at work. We have roles with our neighbors. Help us to understand those general callings that we don't leave it to other people. And if we see an opportunity to speak for you, then we do. Well, we thank you so much for this evening, for the call that you gave Jeremiah, and we look forward to next week and the visions we'll see then.

In Jesus' name, amen.