Fortified Against Leaving the Faith (Jeremiah 15:10-21)

Fortified
Jeremiah 15:10-21

INTRODUCTION:
My dad was working for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when he first decided to start preaching. I never asked dad just why he decided to preach. He was 36 years old when he changed jobs. Dad had wanted to move out west, to CO or MT. Once I was born, he had three kids and he had a good job. But then he decided to start preaching and our family income was cut in half.

It took Dad a year to finish his bachelor’s degree and then he accepted his first full-time preaching job in FL. We stayed there a year before we were forced to move. We moved to south AL, on the Gulf of Mexico and stayed 2 1/2 years before we were forced to move. We moved to NC and stayed another 2 years before we were forced to move. We moved to north GA and stayed 4 1/2 years before we were forced to move. We moved to NC where I stayed 2 years, graduated from high school and told myself I was not going to be a preacher because I did not want my family to have go through that!

All of those moves were not the fault of the churches. I grant that Dad, sometimes, was probably not easy to live with as a preacher. Dad never worked under an eldership so, in those environments, a lot of responsibility falls on the preacher and he receives a lot of complaints - about the church and about himself. When we were living in north GA, there was a time when Dad got so discouraged about preaching that he did quit. He went back to working for a small newspaper and we worshipped at one church on Wed night because they were a small congregation needing encouragement and we worshiped at another congregation on Sun mornings because they were bigger and had a youth group. It felt weird not to be a “preacher’s kid.” It was the only time I had ever been in a congregation with a youth group - for about 9 months.

My preaching career has not been anything like the experiences Dad had. For that, I am very thankful.

But the life of a “typical” Christian is not very different from the life of a preacher. Here’s what I mean… All of us have battles inside and outside. My dad was not perfect. I am not perfect. Just like you, I get aggravated at myself for sinning, for doing things that I know I should not do. Preachers are human and face temptations, and sometimes give in to temptations, just like everyone else does. We also have battles from outside. That is, you have people who don’t like to hear what you are saying religiously speaking; we live in a country that is becoming less in love with Jesus Christ than we were at one time.

I might get criticized for what I am preaching but you might easily get criticized for what you are saying and teaching from the word of God. That’s life. It’s not always easy. But it’s a vocation that we willfully chose and, we are all convinced, that if we stay faithful to Jesus Christ, our confidence and conviction will be vindicated one day.

Jeremiah was a preacher given a very challenging task. Israel was being threatened by the Babylonian nation under King Nebuchadnezzar and Jeremiah had to try to convince his own people that they were being punished for their sins and there were two responses they could and should give: #1 - They needed to repent of their sin, which was primarily brought about by their idolatry; #2 - They were to accept their punishment from God, go into exile in Babylon for 70 years, and then God would bring them back home.

As you can imagine, most of the Israelites did not like Jeremiah’s message. They persecuted Jeremiah and threw him into a prison on more than one occasion. Even Jeremiah’s own family, at least his extended family, did not support his work and his message. His hometown people persecuted him just as much as anyone else. Jeremiah had some friends, like Baruch and Ahikam but Jeremiah was forbidden by God to get married (Jer. 16:1-2) so Jeremiah did not have the loving support of a faithful wife to help him get through his challenges.

I want us to spend some time tonight with Jeremiah, specifically 15:10-21, and see what we can learn from Jeremiah’s conversation with Jehovah God recorded here.

THE PREACHER WANTS TO QUIT - 15:10-11:
Jeremiah wishes he had never been born: 20:14-18. Jeremiah recognizes that his message is causing strife and contention. There was no economic reason why he should be persecuted; he was not in to lending and receiving money (cf. Deut. 23:19). This is legal language which makes us wonder if Jeremiah was only speaking figuratively or if he actually had to defend himself in the court of law!

“Yet, everyone curses me.”

Jeremiah comments that Jehovah God had called him to be a prophet, for “purposes of good” (vs. 11). God had said that the enemy will come to Jeremiah and make supplication to him, in a time of distress and a time of disaster. When is it going to happen? Jeremiah asks. 21:1-2; 37:3; 38:14-27; 42:2-3.

GOD’S WRATH IS NOT GOING TO BE STOPPED - 15:12-14:
The “north” in Jeremiah generally refers to the invasion of the Babylonian nation. Can iron smash iron, coming from the north? In other words, God’s punishment, in the form of the Babylonian nation, is not going to be stopped! The Black Sea coast was known for its iron production, which would be to the north of Israel.

The wealth and the treasures that Judah has in her temple and in her capital city would not be enough to stop the Babylonians. Up until this time, the kings of Judah had frequently used the gold, silver, other precious items and furniture in the temple to appease the invaders, like the Assyrians and others. But, nothing was going to “pay off” the Babylonians. Babylon was still going to invade the borders of Judah.

Judah was going to be carried into a land they did not know, a land in which they would be strangers. God’s fire of anger was burning and it would not be quenched until it was extinguished in Israel’s punishment by Babylon.

That was the message that Jeremiah was preaching and that was the message that was causing him trouble and heartache, rejection, and ridicule!

Why did Jeremiah have to preach that message?

JEREMIAH’S PRAYER TO GOD - 15:15-18:
Some preachers are more emotional than others. Some preachers take things more personally than others. Jeremiah was one of those. Count the number of times here that Jeremiah uses the pronouns “I,” “me,” or “my.” Eighteen times (there is a “me” attached to the verb “know” in verse 15 not evident in English)! Jeremiah, at this particular point, is thinking about himself and has forgotten the most fundament principle about following God: life is not about me - it’s about God!

Jeremiah turns his attention to God in prayer and calls on God to: “remember,” “take notice,” “take vengeance,” and “not to take away His patience.” Jeremiah was frustrated. He was hurt. He was alone. He was scarred. He did not want to die, neither by the hands of the Babylonians nor by the hands of his fellow Jews.

He had done what God had called him to do (vs 16). He had internalized God’s message, just like Ezekiel (2:8-3:3) and John (Rev. 10:9-10). Let me remind you again of Moses’ words in Deut 8:3 which Jesus quotes in Matt. 4:4: “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” In that passage, God compares His word to bread - food for the soul. Jeremiah, here, consumes God’s word as he makes God’s message a part of his own thinking and life.

At one time, and perhaps in Jeremiah’s more spiritual moments, God’s message was a joy to him. But, this is the only time Jeremiah speaks of joy in preaching God’s message. Jeremiah had been called “by God’s name” - he had been called to the office of a prophet, even from a child. At one time, Jeremiah had joyfully accepted that challenge. But now, now it is hard. Now, Jeremiah is having second thoughts.

Life gets hard, sometimes challenging, for preachers and they quit. There are jokes among preachers about them quitting and driving trucks or selling insurance. Christians also, sometimes, quit. They quit the church; they walk away from Christ. Either their roots weren’t deep enough or Satan’s attacks dug deep enough to uproot their faith.

Jeremiah was not happy (vs 17). He did not sit with the merrymakers. He did not exult. What was there to be happy over? He felt God’s hand heavy on him and it made Jeremiah angry, filled with his own indignation. In short, Jeremiah wanted to quit. He wanted to start driving a truck or selling insurance so he would not get criticized for what he was preaching. In Jeremiah’s mind, he was alone because of God, because of the message God was giving to Jeremiah. It was God’s fault. Jeremiah was, at this instance, like so many preachers and even Christians today - he wanted to write his own job description, a description that would compel everyone to love Jeremiah and everything he said and did! We all want to be loved and popular!

“Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to heal?” Jeremiah asked (vs 18). Jeremiah accuses God of being a “deceptive stream, water that was unreliable.” Early in his ministry, Jeremiah said God was a “fountain of living water” (2:13). Now, not so much! Can you imagine a gospel preacher making this accusation to Jehovah God? To Jesus Christ? This is the nadir, the lowest point, in Jeremiah’s life and preaching.

But God had not deceived Jeremiah. Every preacher and every Christian is warned, right up front, that following God is not always a walk in a rose garden: 1:17-19; Matt. 10:34-42. At this particular point, Jeremiah has stepped over the line…

Now, listen to God’s response:

GOD’S ANSWER - 15:19-21:
God speaks to Jeremiah and tells him: #1 (vs 19) - Jeremiah, you need to repent! Isn’t it interesting that God doesn’t start with positive words, words of affirmation and value? God begins by telling Jeremiah he needs to repent. That’s the significance of the word “return” - it’s a word that Jeremiah uses a lot in his preaching! #2 - If Jeremiah repents, God will “repent” - that is, God will turn back to Jeremiah. God is getting ready to “fire” Jeremiah! It’s one thing to get fired by the church; I’ve been close to that in my own ministry. I won’t go into those details right now. God is ready to fire Jeremiah. Brother Tom Holland use to say that you don’t know if you are cut out to be a preacher until you are fired! What motivates you to be a preacher in the first place? But you all are not preachers but let me ask you the same question: Why do you want to be a Christian in the first place? To get praise from family or friends, or praise from God?

God tells Jeremiah #3 - If Jeremiah will extract the “precious” from the “worthless,” then Jeremiah can be God’s spokesman. Jeremiah needs to look at the good instead of focusing on the bad. It’s not about Jeremiah! It’s about God! It’s not about numbers! It’s about the message! It’s not about “ticking ears!” It’s about changing hearts! If Jeremiah compromises his words, to conform to the peoples’ wishes, then Jeremiah would be useless to God. You and I must purify our hearts and keep our hearts focused on faithful service to Christ. You and I must purify our thoughts and keep our thoughts focused on faithfully sharing the message of Christ. Temptations come all the time to compromise the word of God. We cannot compromise God’s message and stay faithful to God at the same time.

#4 - If Jeremiah stays faithful to God and His message, some Jews will turn to God and repent of their sins. But, Jeremiah needs to be careful about the path he is on, that he does not turn to the Jews and follow their sinful ways.

God tells Jeremiah: #5 - God will make Jeremiah, if he stays faithful to God and continues to preach the message God needs Jeremiah to preach, Jeremiah will be made a fortified wall of bronze (vs 20). The unfaithful Jews will not prevail over Jeremiah. That’s what God told Jeremiah at the very beginning of his ministry (1:18).

#6 - God will save Jeremiah. #7 - God will deliver Jeremiah (vs 21) from the hand of the wicked. #8 - God will redeem Jeremiah from the grasp of the violent.

God’s call would save Judah if they listened and obeyed. But even if they did not listen and obey, if Jeremiah listened and obeyed, Jeremiah would be saved. That’s all God asks. We often get overly concerned about what people think about us and what they say about us when our chief concern should be to heed God’s word and teach it.

When Bishop was still here, he was studying Calvinism with the FUEL devotionals Tuesday nights. One Tuesday morning, Bishop found out that a friend of one of our teenagers was going to be here who was in a Calvinistic church. Bishop was fretting about teaching the lesson because he did not want to offend the friend. As we were talking, I gave him this advice. I said that I believed he would teach the truth kindly and lovingly because I knew him. But, I said, don’t offend God by being afraid to teach the truth. I get that message and that strength from Jeremiah.

Jeremiah chapter 15 is not quite 1/3 of the way through Jeremiah’s book. I don’t know if he is 1/3 of the way finished with his preaching. But, he does get the strength and self-control he needs to finish his ministry, although physically speaking, it still does not end well. You’ve got to be in my Wed night class if you want to find out how it ends!

WHAT WE LEARN:
1. Even preachers are human and sometimes want to quit. Elijah got discouraged. Job got discouraged. Jeremiah got discouraged. Discouragement is not a malady that strikes only those weak in the faith. It hits those who are faithful just as much!
2. Every person, even Christians, have the freedom to accept or reject Christianity.
3. Yet, the cost of heaven requires complete obedience and submission to Jesus Christ.
4. Faithfulness to God does not exempt us from persecution; indeed, it may be the motivation for persecution.
5. The reward for faithful service will be the eternal presence of Jehovah God!

Take home message: Stay faithful, despite what the world and unfaithful Christians do!