Given For A Testimony

Jeremiah 1:9-12

See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

These children that are with you are given to you "for signs and wonders in" the earth and a testimony in Isaiah 8:18. See, the devil meant evil but for the testimony. The future was shattered but for the testimony. I would have been down and out but for the testimony. I do not know how God kept me but for the testimony. Somebody shout 'I've been given for a testimony.' See there could have been evil determined of the Lord. But today be the generation that pulls down strongholds. Be the generation of Luke 19:42 which leaves not one stone on top of the other. Be the generation today that breaks the chains that have been keeping you bound. Is it not interesting that Jeremiah has been set over the nations and yet perceives it not. How often is that a story of so many, both your life and mine. So then, what of the matter. Here, we see that Jeremiah has been chosen even from a child to bear the name of God unto the nations. His name meant near to God and lifted up. How many of you have had that experience today. If you have, it is personally a very humbling position to be in. Yet for all that history tells how Jeremiah came to be known as the weeping prophet to some and the prophet with no followers to many. Perhaps that is not entirely true.

But it should not be a surprise to any seeing that the Father had called him. Could it be then that the source of all his troubles was not God but rather himself. Sure, Scripture tells how his lips had been touched and his speech healed. So once was Jeremiah powerless, overlooked, and unheard by many. But when God was through, the people really had no excuse for his words went out to a nation. What then you might wonder was the source of this change. See, the lips of powerlessness in the hands of the Lord speak of his favor. If your life has forgotten it, however, you are prone to grow bitter. For in all that he had gone through were the footsteps of God though it was unrecognized. Could it be that Jeremiah had since forgotten his purpose given here in the text. Lest you too have forgotten, let us see such together. First off, the Lord speaks in the test of the plurality of the womb. It represents the life you bear within you and the one you bear within. Yet there is no third womb of the spirit mentioned. Well might some of you be concerned.

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

Notice how the Lord has gotten rid of the matter here. It forms a lesson that young Jeremiah would do well to remember. See, the almond tree corresponds to Aaron's rod that budded. Along with it came all the appropriate priestly duties as of old. With it came the promise of the perseverance of God. Against the end it stands, reserved in Heaven firm and sure. Lest then, would it not be known as the ark of the Covenant at all. For so is he a promise keeping God. Whether it bloomed or not was a condition of God. How Jeremiah would have done well to have but a little more trust. Having seen the clarity of the call, now let us note its' condition. It should be seen that it has been given him to plant. What power Jeremiah held unchecked, had he but realized it. How often the trouble we borrow is not of today nor yet is it God's way. Sure, the harvest the Lord's as in Matthew 9:38 but what of the planting. The tares also are his and the judgement with them but what of the rooting. What power he held unchecked. So then, see his position as the voice that changes things. So is God's Word sent to do all his good pleasure as in Isaiah 55:11. Well might the results be immediate if only some of us believed it enough. Herein lies the power to go after your destiny. Had the devil only shifted your focus from what God had said, well, that is half the battle. But the Lord is not through. There is some pulling down of strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 left to be done. These are the things that will wreck a life if not looked after closely enough. Hence is there some rooting out and some planting left to be done. So then every evil work that exalts itself against the knowledge of God is hereby destroyed. Then will you be perfect and upright, though in much trouble or only a little, set over the kingdoms, faithful in little, ruler in much.

Notice the "rod of the almond tree" if you will. It should be seen that the dryness of the branch corresponded directly with the performance of the Lord's word. This suggests then that faithfulness is often found in the continual abiding of Christ as in John 15:4. It is stressed in the branch found apart from the vine and suggests the ineffectiveness of such a one. Certainly it would not fulfill all the good pleasure of the Lord of Isaiah 55:11 in such a state. Consider also the words "without me" and "do nothing" to be telling. Indeed, it seems then that God's promise, purpose, and sending were contingent on Jeremiah's obedience. Just as the children of Israel sometimes wandered and often they fell so the Lord would deal with Jeremiah be it ever so severely if without him he was found apart. A funny thing here can be seen. Rarely is the servant found apart from the message or at the hand of the Lord. So then, here as in John 1:23 is the "voice crying in the wilderness" meant to give way to something greater. If it does not, it remains just that, a voice with nothing else behind it save for the driving of God. Perhaps some ineffective in ministry would do well to consider today. See, if the heavens of Psalm 19:1 did not declare the glory, they would remain just that, some other strange sky. It seems then that the voice requires a purpose, namely the sending, mission, and driving of God. His message then was subject to the former, and the former to the conditions of the latter. As some like to sing in church 'oh how sweet' it is to trust him and also to fulfill his Word.