Text: Jeremiah 1:9-10
Jeremiah was specifically appointed by God as a prophet before he was conceived. We may not be called to do the work of a prophet today as Jeremiah was, but we must teach & defend the truth (1 Timothy 3:15; Philippians 1:16-17). Studying Jeremiah’s commission helps explain how we do this.
Important: As Jeremiah would use the words of God (Jeremiah 1:9), so also must we today (1 Peter 4:11).
To Pluck Up
- To uproot – we don’t just treat the symptoms of sin & error, we must get to the root & pluck them up; otherwise they’ll keep growing back
- Religious error comes in many forms; we must pluck up the roots – disregarding the pattern (2 Timothy 1:13), ignoring God’s silence (Hebrews 7:14), following human religion (Matthew 15:9)
- Whatever is at the heart of sin & error must be eliminated – or else we’ll keep moving from one sin to another
To Break Down
- To dismantle – surrender & take apart what we have built that is contrary to God’s will
- Example of the alters to the false gods that Josiah broke down (2 Kings 23:15)
- Paul dismantled the entire course of his life in order to follow Christ (Philippians 3:4-11)
To Destroy
- To wipe out – part of our spiritual warfare is to destroy opposing doctrines (2 Corinthians 10:5); also includes the battle against sin (2 Corinthians 10:5-6)
- Sin is not to be put in a box & allowed to remain in a compartment of our lives – we must continually work to put away all sin from our lives (John 8:11; 1 John 2:1)
- Error is not to be tolerated (2 John 10-11) – must be opposed (Galatians 2:4-5), not fellowshipped (Ephesians 5:11)
To Overthrow
- To depose from power – overthrow anything that would be master over us in a way that’s opposed to God
- Things which should not have power over us – sin (Romans 6:12-14), our own desires (1 Corinthians 9:27), human religion (Colossians 2:20-23), evil governments (Acts 5:29)
- We must have “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
To Build
- To rebuild – not establishing anything new, but trying to rebuild what God established in the first place (Jeremiah 6:16)
- We are not trying to make anything new (Galatians 1:6-9)
- We are built upon the foundation of Christ & the apostles & prophets (Ephesians 2:20) – building must be according to the pattern (Hebrews 8:5)
To Plant
- To sow the seed – the seed is the word of God (Luke 8:5, 11)
- We plant by teaching – we are hoping to find good & honest hearts (Luke 8:15)
- A seed that is planted & grows bears fruit (Luke 8:15) – done through teaching, example, encouragement
