This eighth sermon encompasses three chapters of Jeremiah in verses 18:1 through 20:18
In Christian praise songs, both new and old, scripture is often used or referred to. As you read chapters 18 and 19 specifically, you won't be able to help but recall to mind those songs which speak of believers being the "clay" and the Lord being the "potter," or songs that refer to believers as "broken vessels."
In chapter 18, the Lord brought Jeremiah to the potter's house to watch how he takes clay, forms in on the constantly turning wheel, and when it doesn't take the shape he wants, he takes the same clay and reshapes it, again and again if necessary, until it takes the form he desires. The power to take the clay in his hands in order to break it down and begin again is in the potter's hands alone; the clay has no control over what is being done to it.
Such clay are we in the hands of Almighty God. Our prideful, intelligent minds speak lies to us about how "we are in control" when nothing could be further from the truth. And the sooner we put aside our prideful thoughts and humble ourselves to submit to the Lord, the better it will go for us when terror strikes our own land as it struck the land of Judah.
Such was the message that Jeremiah is told in chapter 18 to deliver to Judah.
After the clay takes the right shape and is hardened by the drying or heat process, if the clay (aka "earthen" as clay comes from the earth) becomes damaged in any way, it is impossible to repair it. Because it is now a useless vessel, unable to hold liquids, for example, there is no choice but to throw it onto the trash heap, where it is broken into bits and buried under more trash.
Unrepentant sin brings damage to us, the vessels of God, chosen for His purposes, but turned away from His purposes because of hard and unrepentant hearts.
What is very important to realize here is that the Lord told Jeremiah in chapter 19 to take an ordinary useless vessel, along with the eldest of the people of Judah and the eldest of the priests of Judah, to the "valley of Hinnom." And there he was to break the useless vessel into bits, probably by tossing it firmly onto the existing trash heap that the valley of Hinnom was known for at that time.
The valley of Hinnom was comparable to what we call the "city dump." It was outside the walls of the city, naturally, and the fires were kept burning continually in order to consume all the waste that was brought there. It must have been a black, smelly place of destruction with fires that were never quenched.
Imagine the effect the environment had on Jeremiah's "guests" as he escorted them to this foul place and spoke the words of the Lord that referred to Judah as damaged and useless vessels that the potter, God Himself, would destroy and toss onto this most "unclean" site with its sulfurous odor and the great heat of its perpetual fires. (What is this reminiscent of?)
We would think it would shake some sense into them, right? But what happened, as seen in chapter 20, is that Jeremiah becomes even more persecuted for the words of the Lord that he spoke against Judah.
"Now Pashur, the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord." (Jer. 20:1-2)
While the Lord allowed his servant Jeremiah to suffer for His sake, He never allows such behavior against one of His own to go unpunished. While all of Judah was already in line to receive judgment for their sins, the Lord made sure, immediately, that Pashur knew his own particular fate; a fate clearly brought about not only by his own hard-heartedness against the Lord, but because of his ill-treatment of God's faithful servant Jeremiah:
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
Moreoever, I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies." (Jer. 20:3-6)
The second half of chapter 20 tells us of Jeremiah's misery under such unjust persecution. After all, he is just relaying a message from God. He is merely the messenger of the Word of the Lord.
There is a sign to us in chapter 20, or perhaps I should call it a characteristic, that I want to bring your attention to in Jeremiah 20:9. It is the great "compelling" that inhabits faithful servants of God:
"Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. But His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."
The burning fire of the Holy Spirit anointing filled Jeremiah so that as much as he knew speaking the Word would bring him great pain, he had no choice but to speak it.
David spoke of this compelling. Peter and John spoke of it as well:
"And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:18-20)
Some of you may have experienced this compelling. I have. It is what caused me to go preach in the Douglas County jail, a most uncomfortable place to be in, preaching with much fear and trembling as I faced thirty or forty tattooed grim-faced men in orange jumpsuits, or the twenty or so equally grim and hard looking women, prisoners within the walls of those jails. I felt completely inadequate to face these people, and yet the compassion of the Lord for these men and women, that resided within me, allowed my mouth to open and, thankfully, HIS word to come out of it.
It is what compelled me to go further afield to the jail in Bridgeport, California, consuming most of my Sunday afternoons, to bring hope in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to the few women I was able to meet with there. In that smaller jail, in a more intimate women's bible study, I was able to witness the Lord doing some amazing transformations in only a couple of women there, while others remained rooted firmly in their sin and denial. But seeing the miracle of tremendously changed lives in even two young women, made the discomfort of being in such a place so rewarding. All I had to do was present my body for God's use, and He did the rest. Watching their transformations before my eyes, increased my faith exponentially, because I knew it was God doing it, not me. And what He could do for them, He could do for me as well.
Such a compelling is so great in you that you cannot resist it and must go, even in fear and trembling.
I believe Jeremiah preached with great fear and trembling. Yet he remained faithful to God. Such are we also called to do.
We are to hear from the Lord, wait for the compelling (the anointing of the Holy Spirit), and then move out no matter how much we tremble at doing so. If you have not yet experienced this, you will, once filled with the Holy Spirit, as the disciples were, and you will find that it is more terrible to NOT go than to GO. Because the Lord, through the Holy Spirit commands you to go, and go you must!
You will find, as Jeremiah did, that you "cannot stay."
In Christian praise songs, both new and old, scripture is often used or referred to. As you read chapters 18 and 19 specifically, you won't be able to help but recall to mind those songs which speak of believers being the "clay" and the Lord being the "potter," or songs that refer to believers as "broken vessels."
In chapter 18, the Lord brought Jeremiah to the potter's house to watch how he takes clay, forms in on the constantly turning wheel, and when it doesn't take the shape he wants, he takes the same clay and reshapes it, again and again if necessary, until it takes the form he desires. The power to take the clay in his hands in order to break it down and begin again is in the potter's hands alone; the clay has no control over what is being done to it.
Such clay are we in the hands of Almighty God. Our prideful, intelligent minds speak lies to us about how "we are in control" when nothing could be further from the truth. And the sooner we put aside our prideful thoughts and humble ourselves to submit to the Lord, the better it will go for us when terror strikes our own land as it struck the land of Judah.
Such was the message that Jeremiah is told in chapter 18 to deliver to Judah.
After the clay takes the right shape and is hardened by the drying or heat process, if the clay (aka "earthen" as clay comes from the earth) becomes damaged in any way, it is impossible to repair it. Because it is now a useless vessel, unable to hold liquids, for example, there is no choice but to throw it onto the trash heap, where it is broken into bits and buried under more trash.
Unrepentant sin brings damage to us, the vessels of God, chosen for His purposes, but turned away from His purposes because of hard and unrepentant hearts.
What is very important to realize here is that the Lord told Jeremiah in chapter 19 to take an ordinary useless vessel, along with the eldest of the people of Judah and the eldest of the priests of Judah, to the "valley of Hinnom." And there he was to break the useless vessel into bits, probably by tossing it firmly onto the existing trash heap that the valley of Hinnom was known for at that time.
The valley of Hinnom was comparable to what we call the "city dump." It was outside the walls of the city, naturally, and the fires were kept burning continually in order to consume all the waste that was brought there. It must have been a black, smelly place of destruction with fires that were never quenched.
Imagine the effect the environment had on Jeremiah's "guests" as he escorted them to this foul place and spoke the words of the Lord that referred to Judah as damaged and useless vessels that the potter, God Himself, would destroy and toss onto this most "unclean" site with its sulfurous odor and the great heat of its perpetual fires. (What is this reminiscent of?)
We would think it would shake some sense into them, right? But what happened, as seen in chapter 20, is that Jeremiah becomes even more persecuted for the words of the Lord that he spoke against Judah.
"Now Pashur, the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord." (Jer. 20:1-2)
While the Lord allowed his servant Jeremiah to suffer for His sake, He never allows such behavior against one of His own to go unpunished. While all of Judah was already in line to receive judgment for their sins, the Lord made sure, immediately, that Pashur knew his own particular fate; a fate clearly brought about not only by his own hard-heartedness against the Lord, but because of his ill-treatment of God's faithful servant Jeremiah:
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
Moreoever, I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies." (Jer. 20:3-6)
The second half of chapter 20 tells us of Jeremiah's misery under such unjust persecution. After all, he is just relaying a message from God. He is merely the messenger of the Word of the Lord.
There is a sign to us in chapter 20, or perhaps I should call it a characteristic, that I want to bring your attention to in Jeremiah 20:9. It is the great "compelling" that inhabits faithful servants of God:
"Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. But His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."
The burning fire of the Holy Spirit anointing filled Jeremiah so that as much as he knew speaking the Word would bring him great pain, he had no choice but to speak it.
David spoke of this compelling. Peter and John spoke of it as well:
"And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:18-20)
Some of you may have experienced this compelling. I have. It is what caused me to go preach in the Douglas County jail, a most uncomfortable place to be in, preaching with much fear and trembling as I faced thirty or forty tattooed grim-faced men in orange jumpsuits, or the twenty or so equally grim and hard looking women, prisoners within the walls of those jails. I felt completely inadequate to face these people, and yet the compassion of the Lord for these men and women, that resided within me, allowed my mouth to open and, thankfully, HIS word to come out of it.
It is what compelled me to go further afield to the jail in Bridgeport, California, consuming most of my Sunday afternoons, to bring hope in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to the few women I was able to meet with there. In that smaller jail, in a more intimate women's bible study, I was able to witness the Lord doing some amazing transformations in only a couple of women there, while others remained rooted firmly in their sin and denial. But seeing the miracle of tremendously changed lives in even two young women, made the discomfort of being in such a place so rewarding. All I had to do was present my body for God's use, and He did the rest. Watching their transformations before my eyes, increased my faith exponentially, because I knew it was God doing it, not me. And what He could do for them, He could do for me as well.
Such a compelling is so great in you that you cannot resist it and must go, even in fear and trembling.
I believe Jeremiah preached with great fear and trembling. Yet he remained faithful to God. Such are we also called to do.
We are to hear from the Lord, wait for the compelling (the anointing of the Holy Spirit), and then move out no matter how much we tremble at doing so. If you have not yet experienced this, you will, once filled with the Holy Spirit, as the disciples were, and you will find that it is more terrible to NOT go than to GO. Because the Lord, through the Holy Spirit commands you to go, and go you must!
You will find, as Jeremiah did, that you "cannot stay."
