Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday August 25, 2010

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Jeremiah was a Bullhorn

Jeremiah 1:1-8

Jeremiah’s call to the ministry

    * Called in the final days of Judah – ministry to last generation   1-3  CHART

The timeline of the book stretches from 627 when he was called n2 ministry,  to 562, where we find J in Egypt.  In J’s long ministry he witnessed the collapse of a culture and the destruction of a nation.   

He was called in the 13th year of King Josiah.  KJ followed the moral/religious depravity of the 43 year reign of his grandfather Manasseh, Judah’s most evil king.  M reintroduced Baal worship/set up altars to foreign gods in the temple area/other ungodly practices (2 Kings 21:6).  M was followed by a two year reign of his son Amon.  His son Josiah became king when he was eight years old.

When Jeremiah was called, times were prosperous under KJ. Assyrian power was waning and so KJ enlarged Judah’s territories. Through his religious reforms it even seemed that Josiah would turn the nation to God as he cleaned up after M/A evil reigns.  But, as we will see, the reforms turned out to be temporary.  

                + From beginning of Josiah’s reign to exile were 53 years.
                      # Called in Josiah’s 13th year – for 40 years + J spoke to last generation
                + What is amazing is that God should continue to speak after His Word disobeyed/prophets ignored & killed/knowing there will be no response.
                + God continues to speak in our day – which bears a striking resemblance to the last days of Judah.

    * Called to speak the truth   4-5
                + Many not speaking the truth – 5:12-13; 23:14
                + Give faithful representation of God to people who were being lied to

    * The call to speak the truth broke Jeremiah  6
                + Not protest of unwillingness, but of weakness
                      # Moses was unwilling/Gideon was unbelieving/Isaiah was undone/J was unsure of self

    * The call to speak the truth is coupled w/ God’s power  7-8
    * J pointed to weakness of his mouth and God touched that
                      # You minister out of what God has touched in you
                            * God teaching me discipline @ Arthur Cox & Sons.  No enduring ministry out of an undisciplined life
                + God touched Gideon/Timothy in area of weakness and ministry flowed
                      # No enduring ministry out of an untouched life
                      # Moses became willing/Gideon received assurance/Isaiah received cleansing/J was made strong in God.

Jeremiah’s dilemma in the ministry

    * King Josiah’s reforms  2 Chr. 34
                + Tearing down the false  1-7  
                      # A powerful, bold ministry calling the people to repentance -
                            * Naphtali is 80 miles N
                            * Simeon is 40 miles S
                + Repairing the temple  8-13
                + Humbling himself before the Word of God  14-21
                + Receiving prophetic word 22-30
                + God was moving big time! - or so it seemed.
                      # God’s call came to J in a time of spiritual fervor

    * Jeremiah’s reluctance
                + There was no room for a newcomer. What need could God have of J?  Remember, J was called in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign – when                   reform/revival were at their height.
                      # What more was there to do?  It was all being done.  How could he fit in and be of any help?  A Josiah and a J seemed to be redundant.
                            * Apply… Chuck Smith/Greg Laurie/Billy Graham doing it all
                      # If J called in the 13th year of Josiah, he had 18 years to prepare himself for the evil kings that followed KJ’s death.
                            * J exercised little ministry during Josiah’s reign – maybe 15%.  The bulk of his ministry lay years ahead of him.
                      # Maybe you sense a call, but no need – all the positions are filled and so many are trying to get in.  

From clergy shortage to clergy glut | by Greg Warner | Religion News Service

After a decade-long clergy shortage in America's pulpits, Christian denominations are now experiencing a clergy glut -- with some denominations reporting two ministers for every vacant pulpit. "We have a serious surplus of ministers and candidates seeking calls," said Marcia Myers, director of the vocation office for the Presbyterian Church (USA), which has four ministers for every opening.  According to PC(USA) data, there are 532 vacancies for 2,271 ministers seeking positions. The Assemblies of God, United Methodist Church, Church of the Nazarene and other Protestant denominations also report significant surpluses.  "With the employment prospects both in and out of the church being slim, those who are employed are not likely to leave" All that adds up to a clergy glut - seminary graduates struggle to find ministerial employment.  Patricia M.Y. Chang an associate professor of sociology at Stanford University who has studied clergy supply and demand for more than a decade said "There is just no place to go."  

                            * You say: There’s no room for me.  I teach so seldom/witness so infrequently/ serve sporadically
                                  o Don’t despise the day of preparation.
                                  o Preparing self in Oregon – Hebrew/Bible study/hymns
                            * If your call is from God, there will be room – prepare yourself
                            * Paul’s calling/preparation/ministry
                + There was no place for the little guy.  Part of J’s reluctance may be that he felt dwarfed by the heavyweights around him.
                      # J was called in the days of Hilkiah the high priest (father? Anathoth - 3 miles NW of Jerusalem)/Josiah the king/Huldah the                         prophetess (aunt?).  How could he enter the rank of such dignitaries?
                      # Lk. 3:1-2
                            * Word passed up emperor/governor/tetrarchs/high priests – came to John – not in the palace/mansion/temple – but wilderness!
                            * Not called to enter ranks of the dignitaries, but to speak the Word.

                + There was no sympathy for his message
                      # Called to speak a word of judgment in a seeming revival.
                            * 4:10 spoken in Josiah’s reign
                                  o A word of moderation in the midst of abundance/caution in midst of optimism/depth in midst of shallowness
                      # Josiah’s reforms were superficial/hearts of people not touched.
                      # J had to wade into this empty emotion and announce the party over
                            * Josiah’s reforms like Presto log burning – light, no heat
                      # Our message isn’t how to prosper in this world, but how to die to it

Jeremiah’s opportunity for ministry

                + When Josiah died, the ministry he had died – it didn’t live beyond him.
                      # Its shallowness became apparent.  It was people following a man and not the Lord.
                + If J had not prepared himself, he wouldn’t have been ready.

    * Judah’s demise
                + Last four kings CHART
                      # Jehoahaz – 3 months/Jehoiakim – 11 yrs /Jehoiachin – 3 months/Zedekiah – 11 yrs
                + In these 22+ years, from these kings, there is no call to repentance/no longing for the presence of God.  They were involved in the                   maintenance of the kingdom (taxes/foreign policy) – trying to keep it afloat.
                + In the day of a secular gov’t/empty religion, opportunity will come 4u.
                      # God will release Spirit anointed ministry at the proper time.
                      # There is always room for those who speak the truth
                + Most of J’s ministry was in the last 22 years of Judah’s history.
                      # Josiah was one of sound heart, but shallow ministry.  It’s when the lies really began to fly that the Lord released J.
                      # In this hour, God will raise up many J’s to speak truth to this culture. Jeremiah’s contemporaries included                                                 ZEPHANIAH/HABAKKUK/NAHUM?/EZEKIEL.

Because he prepared himself, J was a bullhorn and not a pipsqueak.