SPEAKER: Danny Roh (Living Hope Community Church)
Walking By the Spirit Series: Faithfulness
• A person who is led by the spirit is faithful, is loyal, is counted on to fulfill their responsibilities
– Even when it’s hard, uncomfortable, or when they don’t feel like doing it anymore
• Epitome of faithfulness in the Bible: Jeremiah
– a prophet who was reluctant to do God’s work because he probably suffered physically/emotionally more than any other prophet
– Also known as the “weeping prophet”
• FOUR THINGS WE SAY WHEN WE WANT TO GIVE UP
• Jeremiah 1:4-10
– The Call of Jeremiah: 4 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 set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” 7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. 9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
• Reason #1: We say “It’s not for me, I don’t feel like I’m qualified to do this”
• Response: There are times that God calls us to do things we may not want to do, but instead of saying “it’s not for me, you’ve got the wrong guy” we should say “I don’t think it’s for me, but I will follow anyway”
• Reason #2: It’s too hard
• God gave him a message of rebuke to tell others
• Jeremiah 38:14, 17-18
– Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again: 14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the LORD. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.”
– 17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from them.’”
• Jeremiah was thought of as a terrible villain
• He preached the same message for 40 years with nobody listening to anything he said, very discouraging, but he still did it for 40 years
• Sometimes God calls us to do things that seem strange or things that we don’t want to do
• Response: I know it’s not going to be easy, but I know God will help me along the way
• Reason #3: It’s not worth it
• Jeremiah 26:1-9
– Jeremiah Threatened With Death: 1 Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD: 2 “This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. 3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. 4 Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, 5 and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse[a] among all the nations of the earth.’” 7 The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD. 8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die! 9 Why do you prophesy in the LORD’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
• Jeremiah 38: Jeremiah gets out of prison and gets thrown into a cistern (a well) right after where it was cold and dark. Out of the well he got put under house arrest.
• Jeremiah 42-43: after being freed from house arrest, the Jews ask Jeremiah what to do. He says don’t run off to Egypt. But they did anyways because they thought he was working for the Babylonians. They bound him and took him to Egypt with them.
• So many times Jeremiah was thrown under physical turmoil. It se
• Response: I know the cost will be great, but the cause will make it worthwhile
• Reason #4: It’s too restricting
• Jeremiah 16:1-4
– Day of Disaster: 1Then the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”
• God tells Jeremiah not to get married
• Jeremiah 16:5-9
– Wasn’t allowed to mourn with others at a funeral, party with others at festivities left out
• Sometimes God will ask us to do things of great sacrifice that will interfere with our plans and desires
• Response: These are the things that I want, but I will give them up if that is what you want me to do
• In the eyes of God, Jeremiah wasn’t a failure, he was a faithful servant
• Even though it gave him so much suffering, he was faithful to the end
• God wants us to be faithful to whatever He has called us to
• If God wasn’t faithful, we would still be in sin
• If Jesus wasn’t faithful, we would not be saved by the cross
APPLICATION
• We are called to be students, to study a certain major so that we can be an influencer in that particular area after we graduate. Therefore, be faithful in little things, especially here as a student in UCLA
• Be faithful even when the emotional toll becomes too big, even when the cost seems high
• See what God has called you to do, even if it is something you don’t want to do, be faithful
• Don’t be afraid of things getting in the way of your personal plans, God has even GREATER plans for you
• Don’t worry about the things that will oppress you, just be faithful to God
