Intro to Jeremiah

Sanctity of Human Life

The unaborted Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1 KJV 1900

1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: 2 To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 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. 6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 7 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. 8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. 13 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. 14 Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. 17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. 19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

This morning I want to start a series of messages from the book of Jeremiah. We will be going through Jeremiah on Sunday and Wednesday Night and our purpose will be to see “GOD’S MESSAGE TO AMERICA TODAY”. This morning will give a brief introduction to Jeremiah and to prepare us for our Bible Study series.

THIS MORNING I WANT US TO LOOK AT JEREMIAHS CALL AND THE SINS OF THE NATION OF JUDAH (GOD’S PEOPLE)

Now there are about three points I want us to dig into this morning and the first of these 3 is

JEREMIAH’S CALL

When I read about Jeremiah, I can’t help but make some comparisons between the day he was called to preach and our day. Preachers are called to preach today in days of apostasy. In Paul’s letter to Timothy Paul said the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine but they will have itching ears and will find teachers for themselves who will tell them what they want to hear. In a day that we live, we have those kinds of preachers today. It is hard for them to tell you what they believe because they don’t know what they believe. I just believe people have the right to hear the truth and the truth is that Jesus is the only way to heaven. If you are depending on a vision, a sign or what ever, then friend you better look to the only source to heaven and that is Jesus and the way He said, faith. I want to tell you something and that is faith has to have an object and that object is the finished work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary.

Down in verse 5, God told Jeremiah before he was formed in the belly that He knew him. God is saying Jeremiah you were a person, you were life before you were born.

There are over 62 million abortions in America to date since Roe VS Wade in 1973. Also the new administration will reinstate FUNDING ABORTIONS AROUND THE WORLD AND MAKE IT EASIER FOR THEM TO OCCUR IN THE USA. THEY ARE PRO ABORTION AND PRO MURDER. GOD FORMED AND MADE EACH INDIVIDUAL IN HIS IMAGE YET SOMEHOW OUR GOVERNEMENT AND MANY AMERICANS BELIEVE IT IS OKAY TO PLAY GOD AND DECIDE WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES..... THE BLOOD OF THESE MURDERED BABIES CRIES OUT BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD FOR VENGEANCE!

That has to be the greatest social tragedy in the history of America. Have you ever thought that the next Billy Graham might have been aborted in his mother’s womb? Have you ever thought that the scientist who would find a cure for cancer was aborted in his mother’s womb?

Then the Lord says before you were born I had a plan for you. Did you know that God has a plan for you? You might be like Jeremiah and feel inadequate but God gives you what you need to fulfill His plan for your life. I have dealt with inadequacy for my entire ministry. I would have been the last person I would have called if I were God, but yet He did in spite of all my weaknesses. I am reminded many times of the Scripture, when I am at my weakest, He is at His strength.

Something else about the call of Jeremiah and his preaching, he would not have been too good with all this feel good crowd today. He would not have drawn thousands to hear the messages he was told of God to preach. He wasn’t looking at people grinning back at him during his preaching. He would have been looking at some pretty sad faces. I always like to look at those who have a smile and say amen once in a while.

Not only do we see Jeremiah’s call but also

JEREMIAH’S COMFORT

In verses 11-16, God shows Jeremiah some pictures and they teach him some lessons. Look at what He says in verse 11.

The almond tree was known as the waker tree because the almond tree was the first tree to blossom when the winter was over. It was the tree that gave the wake up call. It was the tree that was the alarm clock.

This tree was teaching Jeremiah to tell the people they had better listen to the Word of God. The Word God was giving Jeremiah was going to come to pass. We see the things that are happening around us today, and what that tells us is that the Word of God is being fulfilled. WE ALSO TODAY BETTER LISTEN!

Then God shows Jeremiah another picture in verse 13-16. Basically, what He is saying is what you tell the people, is going to come to pass. I don’t understand all the Bible; I am still learning but I do know that Jesus is going to come for His one of these days.

Next I want you to see

JEREMIAH’S CONQUEST

God gives Jeremiah some promises in verse 17 through the remainder of the chapter. God tells Jeremiah to gird up his loins that means to get to work. It is the term roll up your sleeves and get to the task at hand. Mt Zion Baptist, it is time to get to work. It’s now time to wait and see if someone else will do it but to get to the work of winning souls for Jesus Christ. Must be LIVING GOD’S WORD AND ABIDING IN IT NOT JUST SAYING IT AND PLAYING AROUND WITH IT!

I can imagine that Jeremiah went back several times in his ministry to this call of God. To the world, Jeremiah was a failure. But true greatness is not what the world calls success. True greatness is to be faithful to the call of God. Jeremiah was true to his calling.

SINS OF THE NATION

Judah was actively engaged in many sins and were rebellious at every turn. They celebrated sin blatantly and God SEES ALL! He will bring about Judgement for Sin. The biggest sin in the nation of Judah and the root of most of the other sins was SELF/IDOLATRY

Focus on things of the world

Going about doing the things of the world

Desire of things of the world

Fulfilling the lusts and desires of the world and the flesh

Blatant disregard for God and no desire whatsoever to repent and turn from sin and turn in obedience to Jesus Christ.

This is just like the USA today! Just as God brought Judgement to His children in the days of Jeremiah He will bring judgement to this nation today. The sins of this nation, the murder of over 62 million unborn babies, the blatant disregard for the created purpose of mankind, the removal of genders which God established, the breakdown of the family which God established, the people gone a whoring and lavishly enjoying sin and PROMOTING OTHERS TO JOIN IN. Mocking God and being openly defiant to Him.

God see’s and He Hears and is aware of the sins of this nation and is bringing about Judgement upon it!

Only Hope: Jesus Christ

Cross of Jesus

Must identify Idols in our life and surrender self at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

In repentance we must come and humble ourselves and pray for God to heal this land… and understand that healing is often painful!!!

Must learn to listen to God’s voice and the Holy Spirit as they guide us in the days ahead.