"The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month," Jeremiah 1:1-3.

Part two of the message begun in Kilskeery FPC on Lord's Day evening, 7th Jan, 2018.

Preached at the Monday evening prayer meeting, 8th Jan 2018, By Rev Ivan Foster (Retired)

Sermon notes

II. HIS MINISTRY WAS ONE OF PROTEST.

1. The message he was given to preach was God's protest! "For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice," 11:7. God is a "PROTESTER"! So must we be!

2. His witness was stoutly resisted by the nation at large. Jer 7:23-25; 25:4; 35:15.

3. He suffered for his faithfulness. Jer 32:1-3. 33:1.

4. He remained tender in his love for Judah. 2 Chron 35:25. His tears are legendary and his book of Lamentations illustrates that.

5. But he was preserved. He was not taken captive.

III. JEREMIAH'S MINISTRY FORESHADOWED THE LAST DAYS AND THE RETURN OF CHRIST.

Jeremiah, in the midst of all the darkness and discouragement was caused to see and speak often of the return of Christ and the glorious days which would follow for Israel. 2600 years ago he was, as it were, shouting out "Behold the Bridegroom cometh." See Jer 3:14-18. This was virtually Jeremiah's first sermon!

Please read these passages: 23:6-8, 20; 30:1-24; 31:35-40; 32:36-44; 33:7-9, 14-16; 50:1-20.

This topic was dealt with by Jeremiah:

1. So that we might learn that the coming again of Christ is ever the hope of the people of God. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," Titus 2:13.

2. His witness foreshadows the witness called for in these last days. A crying out against the sins of the age and a bold declaring of the hope of Christ's return.

3. He was joined in his stand by the great Daniel. Daniel benefitted from Jeremiah's prophecy. "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem," Dan 9:2.