Welling, the weakness. Let's talk about it on the edition of K.I.E. That's the Foghorn 40s of Steve Brown, and this is K.I.E. designed to get you home with freedom, joy and faithfulness. If that is your desire, stay tuned as Steve opens God's Word. Thanks, Mike. If you have your Bible turns of the first chapter of Jeremiah, I've made an executive decision. It's my program. I can do that. I was really going to end this week because we really need to move on. But I'm going to take one more week, and I really am just going to flip here and there in Jeremiah. We're going to look at some wonderful text in this wonderful book. One more week on Jeremiah, and then the next week we'll go to Lamentations. As we continue with our Old Testament survey, we're looking at the first chapter of Jeremiah. We've looked at a lot of places in Jeremiah, but we're trying to discern, you know, you can tell a lot about a man or a woman by reading what they wrote. I have some favorite novelists that I read, and then I read biographies of the novelists, and I thought I knew that. I knew that. I knew that because if you learn to listen to what people write or read carefully what people write, you learn something about them. And that's true of Jeremiah. So in the first chapter of Jeremiah, we're looking at these words, and we'll finish this today. And then next week, we'll flip from here to there in Jeremiah and look at some of the really special texts there. The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hill Kaya, of the priests who were at Antithroth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Aman, King of Judah, the 13th year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehola, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, until the end of the 11th year of Zedakaya, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the 5th month. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, behold, before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I sanctified you. That means I set you apart for something special. Do you ever think God did that for you? We're always saying saints as if they were especially religious and good people. That's not true. If you belong to Jesus, you're sanctified. In fact, and are in the process of sanctification in your life, moving on to perfection, you've been set apart the way Jeremiah was. Before you were born I sanctified you. I ordained you to be a prophet of the nations. And by the way that verse has something to say about abortion too, doesn't it? Then said, I, oh Lord God, behold, I cannot speak for I am a youth. But the Lord said to me, don't say that I am a youth. For you shall go to all to whom I send you. And wherever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces. For I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. 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. 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. Now using those verses we've been looking at a biographical sketch of Jeremiah, we've seen that he was grounded in God's written word. His father, the man I just read about or mentioned his name, Hillcaya, was the high priest who found the Torah and started a revival amongst the people of God. He was held and loved by Godly family. Not only his nuclear family, but his extended family, the church, the people of God. He didn't speak except the word that God told him to speak. So many people running around saying God told me to tell you when God didn't say that at all. So there was a comic bit that when Oral Roberts was talking about the statue that he had seen and that he was going to kill him if he didn't get a certain motivation or certain gift that would be given to the ministry. And the comic said that God said, I didn't say that. I said you had an unlisted number and I couldn't get through to you. I didn't say I was going to kill you. And I thought that was kind of funny and I love Oral Roberts, by the way. But you know, we all say things like that. I wish you hadn't said that. You've got to be careful when you say that God says something. God always uses people who speak for him, but only what he said. And then I want to show you something else today. I want you to show I want you to see willing weakness. We have this celebrity thing. We only believe in willing power. I mean, I'm just one person. What can I do? I'm a nobody. I sit in the back row. So if it's all right with you, I'll just be the servant here in the hall. I'll come when he calls, but he probably won't call because I'm ugly and my mother dresses me funny and nobody likes me. And I don't know much scripture and I haven't been disseminarian. But that's okay. I don't have to do anything. Jesus loves me and I just sit here. That's so bad. That's so wrong, willing power, but they say, if I had power, if I was articulate, if I had been disseminary, if I knew God's word, if I were a navigator, if then God would use me. That's not true, Jeremiah. Notice when God called Jeremiah, the most surprised person in the house was Jeremiah. It's like, oh, Lord God. In other words, you've got to be kidding. Lord, you calling me? Me? Oh, Lord God. Behold, I cannot speak. I'm just a kid. I'm a youth. I love that because that's willing weakness. The Bible says, and this is Paul's comment to the church and current. You remember Paul was saying, you know, if I just could get rid of this thorn in the flesh, and we don't know what that was, that may have been, some people say was a hunchback and they had bad eyes. Other people say was a besetting sin. And God leaves out what he wants to leave out and whatever he leaves out, he leaves out for a reason. So we can fit in that thorn, whatever it is that hinders us, maybe weakness. God said, you know, Paul said, you know, if you take this away, I'd be one dynamite servant of yours. And then Paul says that God said, no, they're going to do that. The thorn in the flesh is my gift to you, and my power is made perfect in weakness. Hey, that's you. It's me too. It's all of us. Listen, God's God, and he chooses funny people to do big things through. And you could be one of those Jeremiah was one of those. You'd be faithful. You said, God, I'm here. And if you can use Jeremiah, you can use me. If you can use Steve, you can use me. If you can use Paul, you can use me. If you use my preacher, you can use me. And I want you to know I'm available. Whatever you want to do. And I know that you will fill me with your words and empower me to do whatever it is that you want me to do. And so notice wheeling weakness. That's the most important thing in the Christian way. Wheeling weakness. Not willing power. And then I want you to show. I've got to do this fairly quickly. God called Jeremiah. This is another to do what he called everybody else to do. And if I were making this a new testament text, I would say this that what God called Jeremiah to do in every particular is what he calls every Christian to do. In every particular, how do I know that? Because a prophecy has been revealed. Joel 2, 28 through 29. You say, well, this is outside of Jeremiah. I know that. But it's also the place where we look to the future and we see what happens when the Messiah came. Joel 2, 28 through 29. And it shall come to pass afterward wins the afterward. That's when that's when Messiah comes afterwards that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. You mean like Jeremiah? Yeah. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. Even upon the men servants and the maid servants in those days, I will pour out my spirit. And then in Acts 2, Peter said, that's the prophecy that has been fulfilled this day. Same shoemaker who you may not know him. He's been dead for a number of years, but he was involved in the Christian side of alcoholics anonymous. Very much involved in the Oxford movement, but got out of it because it wasn't Christ centered the way it should have been. He had any meal, brooner and some others did. Same shoemaker wrote a poem, I stand by the door and it was one of the most moving poems. If I had time, I would read it. Some people go in deep, but I stand at the door because people will miss it. They don't know where the door is and some of them are afraid to come in. So I stand by the door and it was a defense of his entire life. Same shoemaker said this. There comes a time when every Christian must decide between the pain of a divided mind or the pain of a crucified self. See, God calls you to be Jeremiah. Now you're not going to do it very well sometimes. You can mess it up sometimes. And it's not going to be right sometimes, but God calls you to have willing weakness and to become your own Jeremiah. John Knox said this, the world is still waiting to see what God can do with a man and I would include woman who is consecrated to a service. John of an Edwards in his diary said, resolve first that every man should live always and everywhere at his highest and best for God. Resolve second whether any other man in the world strives to do this or not, I will so help me God. So and we'll talk a little bit more about Jeremiah next week, but at least say, God, if he could, I could. 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