THREE WONDERFUL ASSURANCES
What a great day to be alive! Fall has definitely fallen along with many oak leaves in my yard indicating that it is time for my annual shock and awe campaign against the leaves produced by 15 oak trees being in my yard.
But leaves aside, the colors of fall are magnificent. They are a hint at what God has in store for us as Christians in the future. The colors in the leaves were created in six days of creation. Can you imagine what God has in store for us after these years of preparing a place for Christians? WOW!
As Christians, we are called to serve God, and I believe every Christian experiences doubt when it comes to serving the Lord. Each Christian doubts his or her qualifications to serve. Each Christian doubts his or her abilities to serve, and each Christian doubts his or her maturity or experience to serve.
Did you know the prophet Jeremiah, one of the major prophets of the Bible, had doubts? Jeremiah was perhaps twenty-years-old when God called him to be a prophet in the thirteenth years of Josiah’s reign around the year 626 BC.
Jeremiah’s father, Hilkiah, was a priest and so was Jeremiah’s grandfather, but God called Jeremiah to be a prophet. The duties of a priest were predictable, but a prophet never knew from one day to the next what God was going to call him to do, and Jeremiah doubted his ability.
Jeremiah’s doubts centered on his youth and inexperience.
Jeremiah 1 : 6
6 Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
Jeremiah lived in an awful era to be a servant of God. Does that sound familiar? Prophets were not exactly welcomed guests at the country club if you get my drift. God called Jeremiah at a time when Judah was rebellious instead of obedient. As a matter of fact, Jeremiah grew up in a time when idolatry flourished, children were sacrificed, and the Word of God was disregarded and disobeyed? I told you it was an awful era to be a servant of God. As a matter of fact, Judah sounds incredibly like Main Street, USA.
When King Josiah found a copy of God’s Word and had it read, he was moved, and the people were moved, but they were only interested in reformation and not in revival, so it is easy to see why Jeremiah was hesitant. He looked at the wickedness around him and the weakness within him and was certain he was not the man for the job, but when God calls you Christian friend, He is not making a mistake. If God calls you to do something, He will equip you with the ability to accomplish what He has called you to do. God called Jeremiah and gave him three wonderful assurances, and God offers the same assurances to every Christian that He calls into service, and make no mistake, if you are a born-again believer, you are called to serve. Can I briefly explain those three assurances? Since I cannot see you, I will assume that you said to go ahead.
Firstly, we have the assurance of God’s electing grace.
Jeremiah 1 : 4 – 5
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
To begin with, God knew Jeremiah. This refers to God’s sovereign election of His servant. God chose Jeremiah before he was conceived or formed in his mother’s womb. I want you to know that these two verses are addressed to every Christian reading this. God knew you before you were born, and He has ordained you for a purpose.
This is incredible. God formed Jeremiah and gave him the genetic structure He wanted Him to possess in order to fulfill what he was called to do. Psalm 139 : 13 – 16 describes it, and just as God gave Jeremiah his genetic abilities to accomplish what God called him to do so He does with you. When the Lord calls you, He knows what He is doing. What we are is God’s gift to us; what we do with it is our gift to God.
So, we have the assurance of God’s electing grace.
Secondly, we have the assurance of God’s protecting presence.
Jeremiah 1 : 7 – 8
7 But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.
God gave Jeremiah three commands:
· Go where I send
· Speak what I command
· Do not be afraid
Jeremiah could do those things because, in verse 8, God tells Jeremiah that I am with you to deliver you. If Jeremiah went where God sent him, spoke the words God gave him, and believed God’s promise, he was going to be delivered, and dear friend, you can have that same assurance today.
Jeremiah knew the Lord was with him just as you, if you are saved, should know the Lord is with you. God says in Hebrews 13 that He will never leave us nor forsake us, and Christian friend, that is an incredible assurance.
We have the assurance of God’s electing grace, and we have the assurance of protecting presence, but thirdly we have the assurance of God’s effecting Word.
Jeremiah 1 : 9 – 10
9 Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”
By touching Jeremiah’s mouth, God gave Jeremiah power and authority. Literally, it means God put His words into Jeremiah’s mouth, and those words would accomplish His will.
Jeremiah heard God’s Word, took it to heart, and fearlessly proclaimed it, and God did the rest. Dear Christian friend, has God called you? If He has, He will equip you and enable you with the same assurances He gave Jeremiah.
· The assurance of His electing grace
· The assurance of His protective presence
· The assurance of His effecting Word
If you respond to God’s call and live by His assurances, God will accomplish His purposes no matter how people respond.