God Has a Plan

Introduction

Jeremiah 1 “The following is a record of what Jeremiah son of Hilkiah prophesied. He was one of the priests who lived at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. The Lord’s message came to him in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah. The Lord also spoke to him when Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile. The Lord said to me, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” I answered, “Oh, Lord God, Really I do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young.” The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you,” says the Lord. Then…”

Give them a reason to listen, seize attention, win trust. Use stories, illustrations, bold or surprising statements, jokes, emotion, provocative quotes, or interesting questions.

Poll: When someone says “I have good news and bad news, which do you want first” Which one do you want?

in 2013 they did a study and they found that 78% of people would rather hear the Bad news first.

And they also found that 70% of bad news GIVERS would rather Give the Good news first. So it was the exact opposite.

And what it really boils down to is that we’re just not good at giving or receiving bad news.

If we’re receiving bad news, we want to hear the bad news first, get it out of the way, and then hopefully we’ll have something to look forward to at the end.

But if we’re giving bad news, we’d much rather save the bad news to the end. So we give the good news, they get all happy, and then we can hopefully slip the bad news in at the end and hopefully they’ll just be so excited about the good news that they’re not mad at the Bad news.

Transition

As we dive into the Book of Jeremiah, we’re reading the book of jeremiah through the eyes of the Prophet.

And in Chapter 1, God gives Jeremiah some bad news and some good news.

And It’s not exactly what you would expect.

Roadmap

Today we’re going to explore the Good news/Bad News that God gives jeremiah, process through it, and apply it to our own life.

Point

Explanation

Explain what you mean

Jeremiah 1:5 NET 2nd ed.

“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5 is probably one of the most beautiful verses in Scripture.

The Idea that God is so big, and so powerful, and so All knowing that he sets jeremiah apart before he was even born, it’s incredible.

It’s one of those verses that we recite to ourselves, we put it up on signs in our house, we put it on hallmark cards.

But as we’re going through this book, one of our aims is to go back and read it through the eyes of hte prophet. Go back and read it through Jeremiah’s eyes.

And I need you to hear me here, verse five is NOT the good news.

And that might be a shock to us, but if we put ourselves in Jeremiah’s shoes, he absolutely did not take this as good news.

He’s not getting this message from God crocheted on a pillow and hanging it up on his wall.

J

In fact, Jeremiah argues with God

Jeremiah 1:6 NET 2nd ed.

I answered, “Oh, Lord God, Really I do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young.”

If you’ve been around the Bible a time or two, you might recognize that this is a familiar motif

God calls a person to do something, and the person argues back with God.

God called Moses to free the Israelites, and he was like, no God, not me, I can’t speak well, If I go to the Israelite people they’re not going to believe me. Send someone else.

Gideon in the book of Judges, he’s like, no no, I can’t do it, I’m the smallest person in my clan, there’s no way I can do what you’re asking me to do.

And he even goes so far as to test God, he’s like if I really should do this, give me a sign, I’m going to lay out this fleece blanket, and if the blanket is wet but the ground is dry, then I’ll do it.

(By the way, that story, gideon and laying out the fleece, we’re not supposed to read that and think that Gideon was the good guy there. The whole point of that story was that Gideon was doing something he wasn’t supposed to do, The whole laying out the fleece thing is supposed to be a Bad thing to the reader.

But I digress.

We have all these examples of people God called to do something, and they’re like, nope I don’t want to do it.

Jonah and ninevites, he took the example to the extreme.

And I think we have to ask ourselves the question, why would they do that?

Why is this not good news for Jeremiah, why isn’t he jumping for joy? why isn’t he excited about this proclamation, “I set you apart before I knit you in your mother’s womb”

The simple reason, here, is that this message God was sending to Jeremiah was not a very hopeful one. At least not in the short term.

I know we like to read hope into it, and for sure there is hope coming in the long term...but in the short term, the message to Jeremiah was “I’m commissioning you to do something that is not very fun at all.

God is calling Jeremiah to proclaim judgement and destruction on the nation of Judah. This is not something Jeremiah is very excited about.

I want to pose the question to you: If God told you that he had a plan for your life. Since before he knit you together in your mother’s womb, he had set you apart for a special purpose

And that purpose was going to involve a lifetime of persecution, suffering, hardship. Saying things to very powerful people that they are not going to like.

Warning them that the worst event imaginable is about to happen if they don’t turn their lives around.

And to top it all off, there’s every indication that your purpose is going to be in vain. That the people are not going to listen, that they’re not going to pay attention to your warning, and they’re going to face judgement just the same as if you never warned them, would you be excited about it?

Illustration

Before you answer that question

I work with youth group kids, teenagers.

I’ve worked with elementary kids in the past

I work with Soldiers, 18, 19 year old kids sometimes.

And usually what happens when I ask a question like this, escpeically with kids and younger people.

They almost always give what I call the “teacher’s pet” answer.

I don’t mean that in a negative way, What I mean is, they’re conditioned from being in school and everything else, to tell me the answer they think that I want them to say.

Like when we study the story of shadrach meshach and abednego, being told, either bow down to the idol or be burned in the fire, and I’ll ask, if you were in that situation, what would you do?

Obviously, we all know what the correct answer is.

We all know what the answer we’re supposed to say is

And they’ll always say, oh yeah, I’d go into the fire, no question’s asked.

The correct answer is, When god calls us to do something, we should do it, and we should be excited about, and we should trust him,

We all know that. I trust that you’re all smart mature christians, and you know what the corect answer, the teacher’s pet answer, the answer that’s going to get you an A on the test is. I’m not asking that.

I’m asking you the heart question.

Self reflection.

Be truly honest with yourself. If you were there, how would you respond?

I’m willing to bet a lot of us would want to avoid going into that fire.

I’m willing to bet a lot of us would turn and run if that’s the message that God sent us

Hey, I have a plan for your life, and you’re going to hate every minute of it.

Statement

There’s a reason we are told by Jesus to Count the Cost of discipleship

Luke 14:28–29 NET 2nd ed.

For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down first and compute the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, all who see it will begin to make fun of him.

Luke 14:31–32 NET 2nd ed.

Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down first and determine whether he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? If he cannot succeed, he will send a representative while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace.

Application

When’s the last time you had a heart check, and asked yourself, am I truly prepared to do the job God set me apart to do?

When is the last time you sat down with yourself and asked yourself, Ok, self

What is that God has called me to do? what does the bible say? how is the holy spirit leading me to build up God’s kingdom, and proclaim Christ to the nations?

Am I doing that?

When’s the last time you asked yourself, Have I truly counted the cost of being a disciple of Christ?

I know you guys have probably heard me say this before, but I’ll say it again.

The events of the last 5 or so years have shown me that the Big C global church. Not talking about ACC, here, talking about the Big C church, in general, has not counted the cost of being disciples of Christ.

When a Virus happens, and churches across the world just shut their doors because the government sent them a letter. That’s worrisome.

When churches change their messaging and change the gospel to keep up with what’s culturally popular, in the name of not being offensive, not getting canceled, It’s not good.

Transition

The fact of the matter is, the work that God calls us to do isn’t always going to be enjoyable in the moment.

It definitely wasn’t for Jeremiah.

Point

Statement

Jeremiah 1:10 gives us the crux of it.

Jeremiah 1:10 NET 2nd ed.

Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”

Let me just get to the heart of this here: God says I give you the authority to stand up to extremely powerful people. People who have the power to have you flogged and killed. People who really don’t like to be given bad news

I give you the authority to speak truth to power.

And give them some really bad news that they’re not going to like.

and it’s not going to be fun for you.

Explanation

He goes on in verse 11, he says

Jeremiah 1:11–12 NET 2nd ed.

Later the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said, “You have observed correctly. This means I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out.”

The almond tree, here, if you’re confused about what that has to do with anything, there’s a pun That god is using, the word for Almond Tree and the word for “Watching” Sound very similar. God’s using a pun, a play on words to make a point

And the point is, God’s doesn’t make empty promises and not fulfil them.

Specifically he’s talking about the promise in Deuteronomy 28. where God says

Deuteronomy 28:1-19

Deuteronomy 28:1–6 NET 2nd ed.

“If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

But, if you jump down to verse 15

Deuteronomy 28:15–19 NET 2nd ed.

“But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. Your children will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

For the nation of Judah, the time has now come to make good on that promise

Jeremiah 1:13-16

Jeremiah 1:13–16 NET 2nd ed.

The Lord’s message came to me a second time, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a pot of boiling water; it is tipped toward us from the north.” Then the Lord said, “This means destruction will break out on all who live in the land. For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord. “They will come and their kings will set up their thrones near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah. In this way I will pass sentence on the people of Jerusalem and Judah because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.”

Illustration

God is calling them to speak the truth, even when it hurts.

I think most people don’t actually want the truth.

Some do, some people actually want the truth

But i think most people really don’t want to know the truth

Most people don’t actually want to be called out on their behavior, most people don’t actually want to be told that what they’ve been doing all this time is wrong.

But god’s message is clear, Hey, I’ve been teling you guys for a long time. If you obey me, you’ll be blessed, if you disobey me you’ll be cursed.

And guess what. You’re not doing so great.

Application

How do we handle it when we have people in our lives who need to hear a hard message? When people desperately need the truth in their life, but We withold it, because we don’t want to upset them?

It can be hard, But God calls us to speak the truth in love

It’s up to use to love them enough to tell them the truth, and to build that relationship to the point where they’ll trust us and actually hear it.

Let’s step out of the shoes of the prophet, here, and step into the shoes of the people of Judah

How do we handle the truth?

How do we handle it when God reveals to us that we need to make a major change in our life?

Transition

That’s the situation Jeremiah is in.

When we read this, when we read God saying Jer 1 5

Jeremiah 1:5 NET 2nd ed.

“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

It’s maybe not as hopeful in the short term as we’d like to think.

And that’s ok.

Point

Statement

God does bring a message of hope to Jeremiah.

It’s just not the type of hope he would have asked for.

But there is indeed hope

Explanation

Jeremiah 1:17–19 NET 2nd ed.

“But you, Jeremiah, get yourself ready! Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them. I, the Lord, hereby promise to make you as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and all the people of the land. They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you,” says the Lord.

Illustration

Again, it’s hope, for sure,

But it’s the kind of hope that says, “hey, some real bad stuff is going to happen.” It’s not going to be easy, but in the end it’s going to be ok.

There’s a country song it’s been out for a long time, but it’s a brad paisely song called “letter to me”

The whole point of the song is that Brad paisley says, if i could write a letter to myself and send it back in time to when I was a kid. A high schoooler here’s what I would say

And he gives himeself advice, hey I wish you would take a typing class

I wish you would study spanish.

That stop sign over there, make sure you always stop completely at it, don’t just tap your brakes and roll through. wink wink, pay attention here, trust me.

And he tells himself in the song, look, I know at 17 years old you’ve got so much going on, and every thing feels like it’s the end of the world

You break up with your girlfriend it feels like the worst thing to ever happen

You fail a math test and you think it’s the end of the world.

But I just want to write this letter to me to let you know you’ll be ok

You’ll squeak by in your math class, you’ll pass it with a C

You’ll find out that girl wasn’t the right one for you

You’ll get through this.

Have a little faith. You’ll see.

Jeremiah was called to do something extremely difficult for the sake of the Kingdom.

God set him apart from the distinct purpose of doing something that was not easy. But it was good.

God said you’re going to preach to Judah, you’re going to warn them of the coming judgement, you’re going to tell them, hey turn back now.

And they’re not gonna listen.

They’re going to beat you and abuse you

And ultimately you’re going to have to watch as the thing you love so much. Jerusalem. The temple.

The temple that you, jeremiah spent time as a little boy watching your father go back and forth to from your home town

Babylon is coming and they’re going to tear down everything you love brick by brick.

And as you preach that message, the people are going to reject you. They’re going to attack you, but they will not overcome you.

I will strengthen you I will make you a fortified city.

He doesn’t say he’s going to stop the bad things from happening, he just says he’s going to strengthen him so that he can endure the bad things.

Transition

How do we take that and apply it to our own lives?

Conclusion

We can expect God to call us to do difficult things.

As God’s people, we can count on the fact that life as a disciple is NOT going to be easy.

In fact, it’s kind of a requirement

Anyone who doesn’t pick up his cross and follow Christ is not Worthy of being a disciple

Doing Hard things is baked into the system.

As we studied the holy Spirit a few weeks ago, we found that we As Christians are called to live by the spirit, put to death our old lives.

Build up God’s kingdom.

We as Christians, inately, are given a badnews Good news situation

Bad news, Life as a disciple is hard

God wants you to do difficult things, he wants you to seek after him, he wants you to spread the gospel to people who maybe don’t want to hear it.

He wants you to forgive people you maybe don’t feel like forgiving

He wants you to put to death the things in your life that maybe you crave after the most.

But here’s the good news. He will make you a fortified city. He will be with you

Guiding you and teaching you, strengthening you through it.

As you run your race, He’s right there beside you every step of the way.

Romans 8:18 NET 2nd ed.

For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us.

We’re promised we’re going to have a hard life as Christians.

But it’s so worth it.

That’s what God wanted for Jeremiah, and that’s what he wants for you.

Pray