Ordination and welcome Service for Pastor Scott McFarland

 

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

ORDINATION AND WELCOME SERVICE FOR PASTOR SCOTT McFARLAND

FRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2023

JEREMIAH 1 VERSES 1 -10

 

The service of Jeremiah the prophet to the nation of Judah.  A young man.  When God called him into the work some say he was as young as 15, others 18 or 19.  When the call came here in chapter 1 we can understand his response in trying to get out of it.  He served the Lord through 5 kings lasting 40 years.  His ministry was outstanding during a difficult period.  Jeremiah did not get it easy in the service of the Lord.  He started serving the Lord in the thirteenth year of King Josiah, a godly young man who was killed on the battlefield at 39.  For 18 years of Jeremiah’s life a godly young prophet served alongside a godly young king, they supported each other, calling the people back to the Lord.  Those were blessed years.  2 young men supporting each other in the work.  After he died things went down hill rapidly.  Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet.  What I want to point out is God did not abandon him.  Reading the book initially I see God encouraged, comforted him.  There are many messages and promises God gave as Jeremiah sought to labour in difficult circumstances.  It is those encouragements that I want to explore.  I believe the encouragement God gave to Jeremiah will meet the need of the hour.

 

Firstly, the encouragement of a very clear distinct call from God.  We read that in our reading – when God came “to Anathoth in the land of Benjamin” he spoke clearly and plainly to him.  “Before you were conceived I was preparing you to speak to the nation of Israel and further afield.”.  It was not Jeremiah’s idea, it was not forced on him by men, his parents didn’t beat him into it.  He was called by the high and lifted one that inherited eternity.  If and when things get difficult, when every voice is calling you to give up it is good to get on your knees and say “but Lord you told me to go, they are telling me to shut up but you told me to speak.”  The Lord is clear in the New Testament of how the Lord called Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus – Galatians 1 verse 15 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace. To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.”  Paul heard the voice of God to his heart, the Lord saved him, called him to go into Damascus.  He was told what to do and 3 days later Ananias was also told what to do. “Go for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”  His call came from Damascus but his preparation started from his mother’s womb.  That must have been an encouragement to him when it got tough.  This call didn’t happen from the spur of the moment but from his mother’s womb.  God called him to the work.  Is there a young man God is calling to leave whatever they are involved in up to now?  Do you know the feel of the nail scarred hands on your life?  The voice of God speaking into your heart?  Go through with God, let the dealings of God burn into your memory.  The fact God has called you will sustain you through any hard times you face.  Just to know you are called by God into the service of his work should have been an encouragement to Jeremiah in these difficult days.

 

Secondly, there is the encouragement of a real ministry, a vital ministry.  He could have said “I am wasting my time, I could be doing something more fulfilling with my life.”  He didn’t give up.  There were times when God came to him and reminded him what the work of God involved.  He was engaged in faithfully communicating God’s word.  52 times we read “the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.”  His God given appointment was to pass on the word of God, sometimes to the king, sometimes to the nation.  He recognised God’s calling to declare his word to the people.  That is the pastor or evangelists task today, to find God’s mind and faithfully to pass that on to those who will listen.  It is a wonderful task to know God’s mind and minister it faithfully to those who will listen.  He is also to feed the flock of God and minister to them.  “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! Saith the Lord.  Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people: ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.” (Jeremiah 23 verses 1 to 3)  Jesus was impressed that he received a genuine call from God,  He had a real work to do – to feed, visit, comfort, counsel and protect the people.  Jeremiah was not involved in something worthless.  You have a work to do – to preach the word faithfully without fear or favour, to visit and feed the flock.

 

Thirdly, the call of God on his life involved seeking the souls of men – chapter 48 verse 10 “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.”  God takes his work so seriously that those who were involved in it were judged on how they had fulfilled it.  When we go into the pulpit each week we need to wield the gospel sword and be prepared to draw blood.  We need to pray for it and preach, longing and desiring to see men brought into a living relationship with himself.  The work was difficult in Jeremiah’s day and it is not getting any easier at the moment in ours. There is less response now than in the past.  It is not a waste of time.  Those involved are not wasting their lives.  It is God’s work.  The destiny of immortal souls is at stake.  We have the only answer available.  We can always be reminded of 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58 “Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  Faithfulness is every bit as important as success.  What an encouragement it must have been for Jeremiah to hear “I have a message for you and I want you to deliver it, there is a work I want you to do, souls I want you to reach, don’t hold back.”

 

Fourthly, an encouragement of the promise of God.  God came to his servant not once, twice, but on a number of occasions.  He gave a promise – firstly of protection way back at the beginning of his ministry.  “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.” (verse 8)  God does not call his servants to abandon them on the frontline.  God has promised to be there with his servants.  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” (Psalm 34 verse 19)  Jeremiah found that time and again.  Remember the king burned the scroll Jeremiah had written.  He was so annoyed with the message on the scroll that he sought for Jeremiah and Barak, he wanted to punish them – “But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet but the Lord hid them.” (Jeremiah 36 verse 26)  I wonder where the Lord hid them?  It doesn’t tell us so that God could use the same place to hide others.  The princes accused him of preaching and put him into a pit of slime.  God raised an African, Ebedmelech to plead his case and saved set him free.  “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 54 verse 17)  God hides his servant in his pavilion, delivers them in ways known only to himself.  God promised it to him. There are also promises of answered prayer.  “Call unto me and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33 verse 3)  How many times have we said those words and pleaded with God for their truth to be made known in our lives?  Those words came while Jeremiah was in prison, when he was needing it more than ever.  No security could keep God out nor the prayer of God’s servant could be kept in.  Your prayers will be answered – maybe not in the way or time we expect but they will bring glory and honour to God.  They will be in a way which will surprise you.  God has promised to show mighty things we have never witnessed before.  The final promise is of a bright future – Jeremiah 29 verse 11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  The promise is not just for him but for all the nation of Judah who were going into bondage in Babylon.  God would not forget them.  70 years later they would return again.  God allowed his servant to see beyond – to God’s own son sitting on the throne of David.  They would suffer for a while but they had a glorious future waiting for them.  1 Peter 5 verse 10 “But the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”  It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.  At the moment it is a day of small things and big problems.  Let us not be discouraged, let us not faint or grow weary.  Remember God has called you.  You are doing a vital work.  God has promised and will promise over and over and over again as we serve him in this place that we will lack nothing.  As a congregation you have a vital role to play with your pastor – to encourage him, to pray for him, pray with him and in so doing you will share in the blessings God has for you all.