God's Presence
When called to a difficult task,
we are to rely on God's strength
and the promises He has given us in His Word.
Here's Gene:
God called Jeremiah to accomplish
an incredible, difficult task.
And that's the Principle that emerges
from his life--an incredible task,
a difficult task.
And also we are going to see that
God didn't call him to do this on his own.
But God said to him:
You can do it in My strength
and you can do it because I'm promising
I'll always be with you.
So that's the Principle that we see
immediately coming from this passage.
Now the difficult task is illustrated
right in the opening verses
when you realize the span of time
that he was called to this difficult task.
And also the kings that actually were
ruling in Judah during his time.
He actually prophesied for at least 41 years.
From the time he was just a young man--
perhaps in his early 20's or late teens.
For example, he was called during
the time of Josiah.
Josiah, by the way, was the only righteous
king during the time that he was called--
the time Jeremiah was called.
And [Josiah] became king when he was 8 years old.
But he discovered the law
when he was about 21.
And we'll talk about that
in a future presentation.
Also during the time of Jehoahaz.
Now he was an evil king.
He only lasted for one quarter of a year.
The next king was Jehoiakim.
And he reigned for 11 years.
Now this guy was really evil.
In fact, we'll see later in a chapter in Jeremiah
that God called Jeremiah to inscribe
His Word to be delivered to Jehoiakim
in his winter palace.
And when that message is delivered,
Jehoiakim sits there.
And he asked the scribe or the one
reading it to bring it up to him.
And he took a knife and he just cut the
Word of God in two and threw it in the fireplace.
That's the kind of thing that
Jeremiah was up against.
Now later, God said to Jeremiah:
Rewrite it.
And because he did, we have it
in our Bibles today.
That's a difficult task--
confronting that kind of evil.
The other king that is mentioned
is Jehoiachin.
Again like Jehoahaz, he only lasted
for of a quarter year
but he was very evil.
And the final king that we have here
listed was Zedekiah.
And Zedekiah was also an evil king.
Ruled for 11 years.
And that's when, at the end of his reign--
that was the end of Judah.
When the Babylonians came in--
Nebuchadnezzar--and carried Judah off
into the 70 years of captivity.
So you see the Principle says
it was a difficult task.
And we face difficult tasks.
But God has promised to be with us.
Now look at God's reassurance
to Jeremiah in the midst of
this incredible situation. He said:
"Now get ready [get ready]...
That's a significant statement, isn't it?
Get ready.
I mean, when you face a difficult task,
you have to get ready in more ways than one.
For Jeremiah a lot of it was
emotional and spiritual.
..."Now get ready.
Stand up and tell them everything
that I command you.
Do not be intimidated by them...
And by that He is simply saying:
Those you're going to go up against,
will try to intimidate you.
In fact, they'll try to kill you.
That's a difficult task.
...Do not be intimidated by them
or I will cause you to cower before them. ...
That's God's sovereignty.
But the fact of the matter is, He's simply saying
that if you back away, this is what's
going to happen.
You're going to cower and they're going
to continue to intimidate you.
...Today [God said], I am the One
who has made you...
And here He uses metaphors--
three metaphors.
...I am the One who has made you
a fortified city,
an iron pillar, and bronze walls
against the whole land-- ...
In other words, He is saying:
You're an individual but when I speak
through you, you're going to be like
these inanimate objects that protect:
iron pillar, bronze walls.
...against the kings of Judah...
We just looked at them. Most of them evil.
...its officials, [not just the kings]
its priests...
And that one really had to really get to Jeremiah
because his father may have been a priest.
He knows how evil the priests
are inside those city walls.
...and the population. ...
In other words, you're going to go up
against everyone in Judah that live
in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.
Difficult task.
...They will fight against you
but never prevail over you,
since I am with you to rescue you."
This is the LORD'S declaration.
As I was reflecting on that,
that sounds like the promise that God
gave to Joshua when he stepped into
Moses' sandals to lead the children of Israel
into the promised land.
When He actually said to Joshua--God said:
I will never leave you or forsake you.
And it's interesting that in Hebrews,
the author of Hebrews picks up on that phrase:
. . . I will never leave you or forsake you.
And that's exactly, you see,
what God is saying to Jeremiah.
And if you go back in Hebrews from
chapter 13 and go back to chapter 11,
you have all of these Old Testament saints
and New Testament believers that are listed
that faced incredible persecution
in their lives.
And yet, they did not fail the Lord.
They had strength--strength that
frankly I don't even understand.
Paul understood that when he wrote
to the Philippians.
He was in prison for the first time.
Notice what he said:
My eager expectation and hope is that
I will not be ashamed about anything...
He's chained to a Roman guard.
...but that now as always,
with all boldness...
You see the relationship between these words:
not ashamed, all boldness.
...[that] Christ will be highly honored in my body,
whether by life or by death.
For me, living is Christ and dying is gain.
What an incredible perspective
that Paul had.
When I look at those words,
"by life or by death," I always go back
to the story of John and Betty Stam
who were missionaries in China.
And it happened back in 1934 when the
communists came in and began to take control.
And they were ruthless.
And they knew that John and Betty
were believers.
They took them captive.
They threatened them--threatened their lives.
They wanted a ransom.
And in the midst of that ransom,
this is what John wrote to the mission.
He said: My wife, baby--
and they had a little baby,
just a new little born named Helen--
and myself are today in the hands
of the communists.
Their demand is $20,000 for our release.
By the way, compare that demand
in 1934 with what terrorists
would demand today.
Their demand is $20,000 for our release.
The Lord bless and guide you.
As for us, may God be glorified,
whether by life or by death.
And John and Betty Stam were both killed.
Literally beheaded for the cause of Christ.
And it's an amazing story just to hear
how they went to their death
with God's presence.
I look at that and I say:
I don't understand that emotionally.
I can only understand it by faith,
trusting that I'd have the same grace
if I were faced with that kind of situation.
That's the kind of faith that Paul had.
That's why John quoted Paul:
By life or by death.
We're trusting God.
So here's the question:
When Paul was in prison in Rome,
how did he apply this great promise
of God's presence to his own situation?
And really this speaks to the question
when we read his words:
At my first defense, no one stood by me,
but everyone deserted me. ...
At his first defense.
Luke later--who stood with him.
Now this is his second imprisonment
and he knows he's going to die.
He knows Nero's going to take his life.
And he said: Everyone deserted me.
By the way, John and Betty Stam felt that
because a lot of the people who had
professed Christ were so fearful.
And we can't blame them in some respects.
Except there was one man
that's part of this story--a Christian,
a Chinese Christian.
When they were going to kill the baby,
he said to the communists:
Don't kill the baby. Take my life.
And they said:
You want to give your life for this baby?
And he said: Yes.
And they killed him and saved the baby.
That little girl lived because
he substituted his own life.
And while they're going towards the place
where they're going to be executed,
another Christian--Chinese Christian--
stepped up and protested and said:
Don't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this.
And they cut him to pieces.
There are some people who have the guts--
I should say the faith--to stand
in these situations for others.
That's tough to identify, isn't it?
But in Paul's case "everyone deserted me."
...May it not be counted against them.
But the Lord stood with me
[and] strengthened me...
The Lord was with me.
And that's what John and Betty,
if you read their execution story,
they went to their death
literally with humility.
That was God.
...the Lord stood with me
[and] strengthened me, so that the
proclamation might be fully made through me
and all the Gentiles might hear.
So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. ...
Maybe literally because we know
some Christians were fed to the animals
or had to battle the animals.
He may be speaking figuratively here.
...The Lord [however] will rescue me
from every evil work and will bring me safely
into His heavenly kingdom.
To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
In other words, I'm going to win either way.
To be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord.
Which he said is far better.
In essence, this is the Principle
that comes from the life of Jeremiah.
Let me repeat it:
When called to a difficult task,
we are to rely on God's strength
and the promises He has given us in His Word.