Jeremiah 1:11-19 | God in Control

Listen to this week’s sermon, God is in Control preached by Pastor Irwyn Ince from Jeremiah 1:11-19

Episode Transcript

Rev. Benjamin kandt (00:06):
Hello everyone.
This is Pastor Benjamin.
You're listening to a sermonaudio from New City, orlando.
At New City, we long to see ourFather answer the Lord's prayer
For more resources.
Visit our website atnewcityorlandocom.
Join me in praying aloud thisprayer of illumination.
Join me in praying aloud thisprayer of elimination.
Eternal God, the grass withersand the flower fades, but your

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word will stand forever.
Holy Spirit, help us to loveand trust your word.
Through Jesus Christ, we prayAmen.
Our scripture reading thismorning comes from Jeremiah,
chapter 1, verses 11 through 19.
Hear now the word of the Lord.
And the word of the Lord cameto me saying Jeremiah, what do

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you see?
And I said I see an almondbranch.
Then the Lord said to me youhave seen well, for I am
watching over my word to performit.
The word of the Lord came to mea second time, saying what do
you see?
And I said I see a boiling potfacing away from the north.
Then the Lord said to me out ofthe north, disaster shall be
let loose upon all theinhabitants of the land.

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For behold, I am calling allthe tribes of the kingdoms of
the north, declares the Lord,and they shall come and everyone
shall set his throne at theentrance of the gates of
Jerusalem, against all its wallsall around and against all the
cities of Judah, and I willdeclare my judgments against
them for all their evil inforsaking me.
They have made offerings toother gods and worship the works

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of their own hands.
But you dress yourself for work, arise and say to them
everything that I command you Donot be dismayed by them, lest I
dismay you before them.
And I behold, I make you thisday a fortified city, an iron
pillar and bronze walls againstthe whole land, against the
kings of Judah, its officials,its priests and the people of

(02:01):
the land.
They will fight against you,but they shall not prevail
against you, for I am with you,declares the Lord to deliver you
.
This is God's word.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.

Pastor Irwyn Ince (02:14):
Well, good morning, new City.
It's good to be back here withyou again for what we are now
calling the Erwin InnsInvitational at New City,
orlando.
I want to speak to you thismorning on this subject.
It is a simple subject from ourpassage, but a profound one

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that we have to embrace day inand day out, and it is simply
this God is in control.
God is in control.
I graduated high school in 1986, and graduation years will

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stick out in our memory, andvery often those memories are
tied to music, and one of themusic projects that we were all
listening to that year of mygraduation was Janet Jackson's
breakout album Control.
Prior to the release of thatalbum in 1986, janet was just

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still perceived by most peopleas the baby sister of the
Jackson family.
Her career to that point hadbeen closely guided by her
father, joe Control.
The album was her declarationto the world of her independence
as an artist and as a woman.
Critics they praised it,calling the album a personal

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testament of self-actualization.
We were singing right alongwith Janet when she sang.
When I was 17,.
I did what people told me.
I did what my father said andlet my mother mold me.
That was long ago.
I'm in control, never going tostop Control to get what I want.
Control, I like to have a lotControl.

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Now I'm all grown up, got myown mind, she's saying.
I'm going to make my owndecisions when it has to do with
my life, my life, I want to bethe one who's in control At some
point in life.
You all that is the anthem ofevery human heart.
I want to be the one in control.

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For some of us, we just want tobe in control of our personal
lives.
Others of us want to be incontrol of our households.
There are folks who want to bein control of a corporation, of
a community, of a city, of astate, of a nation, even.
Let me say two things.
One first the desire or idea ofcontrol is not, at its heart,

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evil or selfish or wrong.
The first thing that the Biblesays about human beings is that
we are image bearers of God andGod, after blessing the man and
the woman in Genesis, chapter 1and verse 28, gave this command
be fruitful and multiply, fillthe earth and subdue it and have

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dominion over the fish of thesea and the birds of the heavens
and over every living thingthat moves on the earth, the
Bible.
The Bible talks a lot aboutbecoming wise.
The ability to make wisedecisions about your life and
its direction is a part ofmaturing into adulthood, and you

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don't actually get to matureunless you have some freedom to
make decisions and to makemistakes and learn from them.
If your parents are giving youthe same kind of oversight when
you're 25 as they did when youare five, there is something
wrong.
And at the same time here's thesecond thing Life demonstrates

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to us that we don't actuallyhave ultimate control.
Children can't wait to grow upso that they can be free.
And then you grow up and youget a job and you got bills,
whether it's related to ourwealth or our health.
Life reveals to us that we arenot actually in controluring of

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our life and the lives of others.
As autonomous creatures, wewant to be in control apart from
the authority, purposes andplan of God, and so the deal is
that you and I need to live withthe assurance, every moment of
every day, that God is incontrol, and that is where we

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find the prophet Jeremiah thismorning.
Jeremiah is a priest.
He is dedicated to the Lord.
He is from the city of Anatoth,which is about two to four
miles away from Jerusalem, andso he grew up in the shadow of
Israel's capital city and itstemple.
Jeremiah had a wonderful planfor his life.

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It was laid out for him as apriest.
He knew his responsibilitiesand he was fine with it.
He would live out his daysserving the Lord.
But God interrupted Jeremiah'splan with a different one.
Have you ever had your life andyour world turned upside down?

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Have you ever been moved from aplace of certainty into the
unknown?
It is not usually fun.
Part of wanting to be incontrol, part of my wanting to
be in control is that I want tocontrol the outcome also.
And when the Lord breaks inhere in this text to declare to

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Jeremiah and to us I am incontrol, we find out that that
is the best and most reassuringnews we can hear.
God is in control four ways wesee in this text he's in control
of his word, he's in control ofthe wicked, he's in control of
his worship and he's in controlof his warrior.
He's in control of his word.

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He's in control of the wicked.
He's in control of his worship.
He is in control of his warrior.
This first chapter of Jeremiahserves as the introduction and
table of contents for the entirebook and it also recounts for
us what Jeremiah's experiencewas when God called him to be a

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prophet.
And as we read through the text, as you heard this text read,
notice that this can scarcely becalled a conversation.
The Lord asked Jeremiah acouple of questions and Jeremiah
gets to respond, but thedominant voice in the passage is
the Lord, god.
He is in control and most ofJeremiah's time is spent

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listening to him.
The first point that God is incontrol of his word comes out of
verses 11 to 12.
God asked Jeremiah a questionin verse 11, what do you see?
Jeremiah responds.
In verse 12, I see an almondbranch and the Lord says to me

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Jeremiah says you have seen well, for I am watching over my word
to perform it.
There is a wonderful word playgoing on in the Hebrew text
that's not apparent in ourEnglish translations.
And when the Lord askedJeremiah what do you see?
Jeremiah says I see the branchof a shakade.

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And the Lord says you have seenwell, because I am chocade over
my word to perform it.
The Hebrew word for almond treeliterally means watching one.
This was so because in thatland.
When the almond tree was readyto bloom, it meant that spring
was coming.
It announced the change inseasons Winter was over and

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spring was on the horizon, andthis was extremely important in
a culture and a societydepending on the land to yield
its harvest.
And so they watched the almondtree and when it budded, it told
them that spring was imminent.
And I love God's metaphor.
God is letting Jeremiah knowthat, just like the bursting

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into leaf and bloom of thealmond tree heralded the
springtime, the spoken word ofthe Lord pointed to its own
fulfillment.
You've seen well, jeremiah,because I am watching over my
word to perform it.
And why does that matter?
Why does that matter?

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Jeremiah is concerned that hewon't be able to fulfill his
calling.
In chapter 1 and verse 6, whenthe Lord calls him, jeremiah
says oh God, look, I'm just ayouth, I don't know how to speak
.
And God told Jeremiah in verse9 of chapter 1, behold, jeremiah
, I have put my word in yourmouth.

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The emphasis is on my word.
God does not speak frivolously.
He doesn't make promises thathe will not keep.
Jeremiah, you don't have toworry about being a youth.
I'm taking care of my word.
It's my word that is in yourmouth and I'm going to see that

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it comes to pass, even when itseems like I'm not watching,
even when it seems like thepromise is dead, it is not.
It is alive.
Jeremiah, you can no moreprevent my word from being
fulfilled than you can preventthe almond tree from blossoming
in springtime.
Every last promise of God willbe fulfilled.

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We're going to see in our lastpoint that things will get rough
for Jeremiah and the Lord'spromises are going to seem like
they have been ground to thedust.
But the Lord's point is that,no matter what it looks like, I
am in control of my words.
So don't you ever forget mypromises.

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Apostle Paul says to theCorinthians in 2 Corinthians,
chapter 1 and verse 20, that allthe promises of God find their
yes in Jesus Christ.
That is why he says in thatchapter it is through Jesus that
we utter our amen to God forhis glory.
You and I can hardly getthrough a chapter of the Bible

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without hearing God make apromise.
He promises that if we confessour sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us and tocleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
He promises never to leave usor to forsake us, even when we
walk through the valley of theshadow of death.
He promises to give us wisdomif we ask him for it.
Jesus promises that he has.

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He's going to prepare a placefor us.
He promises us eternal life.
When the disciples said toJesus, we left everything to
follow you, jesus promises thereis no one who has left house or
brothers or sisters, or motheror father or children or lands
for my sake and for the gospel,who will not at the same time

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receive houses and brothers andsisters, and mothers and fathers
and children and land, withpersecutions and, in the age to
come, eternal life.
All of these promises are trueand all will be fulfilled, no
matter what it looks like.
There's a comfort becausesometimes God's word, the word

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that God speaks, is hard to hear.
It is often sharp and cuts tothe heart.
Its truth does not always bringwith it a pleasant response.
This is why the second point ishelpful to know God is in
control of the wicked.
After God reassures Jeremiahthat he will fulfill his word,
he asked Jeremiah a secondquestion in verses 13 to 15.

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Here's real life.
Object lesson, a metaphor forJeremiah.
Number two the word of the Lordcame to me a second time.
Jeremiah says what do you see?
Jeremiah says I see a boilingpot facing away from the north.
And the Lord said to me out ofthe north, disaster shall be let
loose upon all the inhabitantsof the land because I am calling

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all the tribes of the kingdomof the north, declares the Lord,
and they will come and everyoneshall set his throne.
At the entrance of the gates ofJerusalem, against all its
walls, all around, against allthe cities of Judah, against all
the cities of Judah, there's apot that is set aflame and the

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coals are being stoked and theLord is saying I'm turning up
the heat for the purpose ofcleansing my land.
He tells the people, throughJeremiah, in the first part of
chapter two, verses seven andeight you have defiled my land.
He tells them.
I brought you into a plentifulland to enjoy its fruits and

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good things, but when you camein, the Lord says in chapter 2,
verse 7, you defiled my land andyou made it an abomination.
Therefore, he says to Jeremiah,the clans of the northern
kingdoms will come and lay siegeon Jerusalem and Judah.
And notice what God says, verse15,.

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He says I'm calling, I'mcalling these kingdoms this
disaster even evil, we might saythat is being unleashed upon
the land is coming to fulfillgod's purpose.
This is hard for us to grasp,but even the works of evil in

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this world are ultimatelyserving god's purpose.
That is a hard, hard message tohear and to believe.
The seemingly senselesswickedness and violence we see
and experience makes many peopledoubt that God is even real.
We see bombs falling andchildren being slaughtered and

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we say does God even see or care?
Listen, this is not a newquestion.
Here's what we need tounderstand.
Left to its own devices, thehuman heart is bent against God.
Jeremiah will even say, inchapter 17 and verse 9 of this
prophecy the heart is deceitfulabove all things and desperately

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sick.
Who can understand it?
So, even as the wicked act outof their own accord, out of
their own wickedness of theirhearts, god is still fulfilling
his purpose.
In the context of our passage,his purpose is to bring judgment

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on Judah.
When Israel was in Egypt, godused the wickedness of Pharaoh
to display his power andauthority over Egypt and their
false gods.
And so when Israel wasdelivered from slavery in Egypt,
there was no doubt in the eyesof Israel or in the eyes of the
Egyptians who was God indeed, ofIsrael, or in the eyes of the

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Egyptians, who was God.
Indeed, in 1 Kings, chapter 19,god uses the wickedness of
Jezebel to put the prophetElijah on the run and show him
that, even though all seemed tobe lost and that he was alone,
god was still in control.
He left 7,000 in Israel who hadnot bowed the knee to Baal.
God's being in control of thewicked is a hard pill to swallow

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.
God is good, god is love, andwe have a hard time connecting
love and goodness withwickedness and evil.
But we need to grasp the factthat Jesus understood and
embraced God's control of thewicked for his own good purposes
.
What does Jesus pray in thegarden of Gethsemane before his

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arrest and his crucifixion?
He prays and he says my father,if it is possible, let this cup
pass from me.
Nevertheless, not as I will,but as you will.
God uses the wickedness of thePharisees and Judas and the
crowd to fulfill his purpose insending Jesus Christ to the

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cross as the Lamb of God whowill take away the sin of the
world, the only all-sufficientsacrifice for sin.
The apostle Peter, in hisPentecost sermon in Acts,
chapter 2, says men of Israel,hear these words.
Jesus of Nazareth, a manattested to you by God with

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mighty works and wonders andsigns that God did through him,
in your midst.
As you yourselves know this,jesus delivered up.
Listen to what Peter says.
Delivered up according to thedefinite plan and foreknowledge
of God.
You crucified and killed by thehands of lawless men.
There's never been a time whenGod was not in control of the

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wicked.
There's never been a time whenthe evil of this world has not
been used by God to fulfill hissovereign purposes.
You see, this is a source ofcomfort for those who have come
to God through faith in JesusChrist.
God is in control even of thewicked.

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The great reality and joy forChristians is that the ultimate
disaster, the ultimate disaster,the ultimate punishment for sin
was let loose upon Jesus Christ.
You see, the kingdoms of thenorth are not the only evil in
this text.
God is not only in control ofthe wicked, he is in control of

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his worship.
Why are the kingdoms of thenorth coming for battle?
The Lord says in verse 16 of ourpassage.
I will declare my judgmentsagainst them for all their evil
in forsaking me, they have madeofferings to other gods and
worship the works of their ownhands.
God says I am to be the objectof your affections.

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God says they abandoned him toworship other gods, the works of
their own hands.
They had broken the covenantthat they had made Before they
entered the land.
They renewed the covenant inJoshua, chapter 24, when Joshua
says as for me and my house, wewill serve the Lord.
And the people say we willserve the Lord also.

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And Joshua says no, no, no, youcan't serve him because he's a
holy God.
And the people say no, no, no,we will serve the Lord.
And they've broken this promise.
Why?
What was the lure?
What was the attraction toserve other gods?
They're accused of bowing downto the works of their own hands.
They wanted something that theycould touch and feel with their

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hands.
I can't see God, but I can seethis wooden statue.
It's tangible.
They were not atheists.
They believed in thesupernatural.
They just wanted a supernaturalthat they could control and
have authority over.
We can understand that.

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We know the pull and thetemptation to put our hopes and
our dreams into things that aretangible, tactile.
We still can't see god.
Our cultural context isdifferent, but we still worship
tangible things that we thinkwill bring peace and contentment

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and happiness and success.
And the reality is that webecome what we worship.
And God says that anything otherthan him is ultimately
nothingness.
Indeed, he says that very thingin chapter 2 of Jeremiah, in
verse number 5, where the Lordsays what wrong did your fathers

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find in me?
That they went far from me andwent after worthlessness and
became worthless.
God's intent is for his peopleto reflect his character and his
nature to the world.
He has set his people apart,both in the Old Testament and

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the New Testament, as a royalpriesthood.
What did God tell Moses to tellPharaoh, let my people go that
they might worship me.
God will not tolerate falseworship.
He's in control of his worship.
And what did their falseworship demonstrate?

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It demonstrated that they hadrejected him.
It demonstrated that they weregiving lip service to God, but
their hearts weren't in it and,what's more, they believed that
it didn't matter.
God will tell Jeremiah, inchapter 7 of this prophecy, to

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stand at the entrance of theLord's house, the temple, and
say to the people, as they comein to worship amend your ways
and your deeds and I will letyou dwell in this place.
God says Jeremiah, tell thesepeople do not trust these
deceptive words.
This is the temple of the Lord,the temple words.
This is the temple of the Lord,the temple of the Lord, the

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temple of the Lord.
Because if you truly amend yourways and your deeds, if you
truly execute justice with oneanother, if you don't oppress
the sojourner, the fatherless orthe widow, or shed innocent
blood in this place, if you donot go after other gods to your
own harm, then I will let youdwell in this place and in the
land that I gave of old to yourfathers forever.

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But behold, you trust indeceptive words to no avail.
Will you steal murder, commitadultery, swear falsely, make
offerings to Baal and go afterother gods that you have not
known, and then come and standbefore me in this house, which
is called by my name, and say weare delivered, only to go on

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doing these abominations?
See, as Pastor Ben said, youdidn't come to church when you
came here.
Yeah, you are the church.
And just in a similar way,worshiping God has never only
been about what we do when wecome together as a body on

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Sunday morning.
It is about lives that aregiven over to the Lord.
Completely Right, the value intangible things jobs and money
and houses and clothes andhealth and family, etc.
Those come only as they arerealized in a life submitted to

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Jesus, lives that are striving,by the grace of God, to reflect
the character of God to theworld.
God is in control of hisworship, he's in control of his
word, he's in control of thewicked, he's in control of his
worship and, lastly, he's incontrol of his warrior.

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I just needed another W, by theway.
At you, by the way.
The people are not going torespond favorably to Jeremiah's
message.
So the Lord tells him in verse17, jeremiah, dress yourself for

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work, get up and say to themeverything I command.
You Do not be dismayed by them,lest I dismay you before them.
God tells Jeremiah to do threethings in verse 17.
Dress himself for work, ariseand speak and do not break down
before the people Gird up yourloins.
I like that King James said itGird up your loins.
Jeremiah, that long flowingpriestly garment you are wearing

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is not appropriate for what youwill have to deal with, and if
God had left it at that,jeremiah would have been in
trouble.
He's speaking judgment againstthe inhabitants of the land and
God tells him in verse 19, theywill fight against you.
They will fight against you.
They will fight against you.
They will wage war against him.

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One man against everybody.
One commentator put it Jeremiahwas appointed over nations and
kingdoms to tear them down andto build them up.
This included standing up toGod's enemies, refusing to give
in to political pressure.
How could he do it?

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How can any believer, let alonea youngster who does not know
how to speak, have the courageto stand against the enemies of
God in a wicked world?
God tells Jeremiah get ready,get up and don't give in.
And then grace comes in verses18 and 19.
The Lord says I behold, I makeyou this day a fortified city,

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an iron pillar and bronze wallsagainst the whole land, against
the kings of Judah, itsofficials, its priests and the
people of the land.
They will fight against you,but they shall not prevail
against you, for I am with you,declares the Lord, to deliver
you.
Courage and strength come fromthe Lord.

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Jeremiah didn't make himself afortified city or an iron pillar
or a bronze wall.
I have made you strong,jeremiah.
You are not in this thing alone.
Remember this is my word.
It will be accomplished, andI'm using you as the messenger.
Yes, you will be persecuted.
Yes, you will be beaten.

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Yes, you will be mocked andscorned.
Yes, you will be thrown intoprison.
Yes, they will try to kill you.
Only be strong and courageous.
Say what I command you to say.
They cannot prevail over you,because I am with you to rescue
you.
You are not alone because oneman and God is a majority, a

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majority.
God promised Jeremiah that hewould be strengthened and
sustained in order to fulfillthe Lord's purpose, and it all
ties together.
God is in control of his word.
Not only would the word be kept, but the messenger would be
kept too.
You know what is so strikingabout this declaration?
That God makes you read it, andit feels like he's going a bit

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overboard with the metaphors.
It seems a bit exaggerated tocompare a man to a fortified
city, to an iron pillar, to abronze wall, but, as another
commentator pointed out, whenyou take a look at Jeremiah's
whole career, the metaphor turnsout to be an understatement,
not an exaggeration.
As he rightly pointed out,jeremiah held out longer than

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the walls of his fortified city,jerusalem.
The walls of that city weredestroyed, they cracked and
crumbled.
The pillars came down when thecity was overthrown and there
was Jeremiah, still standing,still declaring the truth of
God's word.
In this way, jeremiah prefiguresfor us one who would come

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centuries later declaring y'allhave a worship problem, so
repent and believe, for thekingdom of God is at hand.
And they would fight againsthim and they would plot together
on how they might destroy himbecause they didn't know that
God was in control of the wicked.
So they hung him high and theystretched him wide and they

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thought that when he had bowedhis head and was buried in a
borrowed tomb, that that was theend of the story.
But they did not know that Godwas with him to deliver him.
So early Sunday morning he gotup and he declared all authority
in heaven and in earth has beengiven to me.
In other words, I am in control.
So he can say to them and toyou and to me I am with you

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always to deliver you.
Amen.
This is the truth for everyonewho has put their trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
This is why we find the Bibletelling us in places like
Ephesians 6, be strong in theLord and the strength of his

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might.
Or like Paul to the Corinthiansin 2 Corinthians 12, 19, that
the grace of God was sufficientfor him, because God's power is
made perfect in weakness, so hesaid.
Therefore, I will boast all themore gladly of my weaknesses so
that the power of Christ mightrest upon me.
This is necessary for the lifewe live as Christians,

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understanding that Jesus is incontrol of everything.
He's in control of his word,he's in control of the wicked,
he's in control of his worship.
He's in control of the wicked.
He's in control of his worship.
He's in control of his warriors.
Christians know this to be truein our heart of hearts, and it
guides our lives and ourdecisions.
Daily we live out the lyrics ofthat hymn of the church that

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says I'm going through, I'll paythe price.
Whatever men may do, I'll takethe way of the world's despised
few.
I've started in Jesus and I'mgoing through.
Let's pray, thank you, and wepraise you, lord, that you are

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the one who is in control, nomatter what it looks like in our
lives, in this topsy-turvy,upside-down world with wars and
rumors of wars, with wickednesswe see running rampant in our
communities and sometimes evenin our own hearts.
We thank you that they shallnot prevail because you are in
control and that you are ourdeliverer.

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We bless you and pray that wewould live into this life and
reality daily, to the glory ofyour name, amen.