God will Use Us
Notes
Transcript
Jeremiah 1:1-10
Jeremiah 1:1-10
Have you ever wondered how inventions come about? Who thought of it? How did they develop the imagination to design or create it? How long did it develop? Why did they make it? What was the back story to the creation? Eli Whitney is a famous inventor. His invention, the cotton gin, was one of the catalysts that started the Industrial Revolution. Most young men went to law or theology school during Eli's life. Eli did not want to do either. He wants to create machines. He graduated from Yale and went south, where he stayed at the plantation of Nathaniel Greene’s widow. At the urging of Mrs. Greene and her plantation manager, Phineas Miller, to create a machine that could separate the cotton from the seeds. Eventually, Eli made what we know as the cotton gin.
God created Eli as an inventor and gave him the imagination to develop the cotton gin. His work was just as meaningful to God’s kingdom as those who went to the Theological School. Jeremiah was not a king or part of the royalty, but his purpose was just as impactful in leading God’s people as the king. We will see how God explained to Jeremiah that He created him for this time and purpose.
God created Jeremiah with three fundamentals, and He also created us with them. First, He formed and consecrated us. Second, He is with us. Lastly, He will put His words in us.
Formed/Consecrated
Formed/Consecrated
The Psalmist paints a picture of who God, the Creator, is to us. Psalm 139:13-16 talks about nothing being hidden from the Maker, and in the book, every day of our lives was written. There is not a day that goes by that the Father does not know about. He is omniscient, which means He knows everything before it ever happens. You did not do something that surprised Him. Nothing happened that He did not already ordain for His purpose and our growth. The Psalmist is clear when he said, “…in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
How many of you have ever put something together? You look at the box and see what it is supposed to look like. Without the directions, it would look different. The maker of that product gives detailed steps for assembling the product. They know what comes next, but you don’t because you did not make the product. God knows the next step because it is His product and creates us for His purpose.
Before He formed you, He knew you. God’s foreknowledge of Jeremiah was known. God’s foreknowledge of you is the same as Jeremiah’s. Jesus spoke of God knowing each of us in Luke 12:6-7. But He formed and foreknew Jeremiah, He also consecrated Jeremiah as a prophet (and us to do His ministry).
“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.
“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
Consecrated means being set apart for a special mission in God’s service. In the Old Testament, we see special consecration. David had been blessed to be God’s ruler over Israel. Isaiah was consecrated from the womb to be a prophet Isaiah 49:1. John the Baptist was consecrated by God Luke 1:15. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Abraham, and Joseph.
Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me.
“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.
Here is a caveat: You, too, were consecrated to ministry for the Lord. And if He consecrated and formed you for ministry, He will be with you.
With Us
With Us
Joshua had a daunting task leading the Israelites after Moses. Could you imagine trying to lead people after such an influential leader? Joshua thought, "They did not listen to Moses; they are not going to listen to me.” Moses had the same thoughts when God called him. Exodus 3:11, we read God’s response to Moses in the next verse, Exodus 3:12. God told Joshua the same in Joshua 1:5.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”
“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
If God is with us, who can be against us? Jesus made it clear in the Great Commission that He would be with us, Matthew 28:20.
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
When Jehovah says to Jeremiah, “He is with him,” He means nearness, propinquity, by his side. He told this to Ezekiel 2:6. If He sends us out, we are not alone. If He is calling you to something, it will be Him who gets you through it. He is not a god like others who are silent and cannot talk. But He is the God that is your creator, sustainer, and provider. We do not worship a dead god but a living God. He was, is, and will always be GOD!
“And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.
Words
Words
Jeremiah and Moses both had a problem with public speaking. I understand their trepidation about public speaking. When I was eight, I had a three-wheeler accident that cracked my skull from ear to ear. Brain fluid leaked from my ears. My dad told me that I went limp in his arms and all the fluid left my body. They rushed me to the hospital, where twenty-seven of the world’s famous neurological doctors told my parents I would not make it out of the ICU. When I made it to my room, they said I would not make it out of there. They told them I would probably have mental disabilities (Which I do). I came away with a speech impediment. To this day, I fumble words. I know how to say them; they don’t trigger in my mouth. When God calls you to speak, it won’t be you but Him in you that will do the speaking.
I love that our Lord touches our mouths. We see this in Isaiah 6:7, where it purified Isaiah. The BLOOD of Jesus has purified us. Those who belong to Him are no longer stained with guilt but are washed with the blood. We speak life, not death. Why? Because it is not we speaking but the Holy Spirit in us that speaks for us.
He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
We are not giving a spirit of timidity but of power, 1 Timothy 1:7.
wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
