Outline
“Preaching and Unpopular Message” (Jeremiah 18-20)

Intro/Set-up
Review from Jeremiah 16-17

I. Action Sermon # 1 (The Potter and the Clay) (ch. 18)
- The Illustration and Interpretation (vv. 1-11)
- Reaction (vv. 12; 18)
- Rebuke
+ From the Lord (vv. 13-17)
+ From Jeremiah (vv. 19-23)

II. Action Sermon # 2 (The Broken Pot) (ch. 19)
- Condemned: Despicable Acts in a Despicable Place (vv. 1-13)
- The Message Repeated (vv. 14-15)

III. Angry Actions Against Jeremiah (ch. 20)
- Locking Up Jeremiah (vv. 1-3a)
- Jeremiah Responds:
+ In Rebuke (vv. 3b-6)
+ In Prayer (vv. 7-18)

IV. Conclusion
- Summary Thoughts

“Whenever people become so spiritually dull that they can’t hear and understand God’s Word, the Lord graciously stoops to their level and dramatizes the message.” –Warren Wiersbe

“As Jeremiah watched, he saw that the clay resisted the potter’s hand so that the vessel was ruined but the potter patiently kneaded the clay and made another vessel.” –Warren Wiersbe

All throughout Scripture God communicates His sovereignty over nations:
“3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” –Ps. 115:3

“6 Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.” –Ps. 135:6

“... Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,For wisdom and might are His. 21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.” –Daniel 2:20-22

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” –Matt. 28:18

“Proud sinners don’t enjoy hearing about God’s sovereignty or the threat of impending judgment. They think that by silencing the messenger they will silence the Lord. “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision” (Ps. 2:4 nkjv). Their argument was “We have plenty of priests, prophets, and elders, so we can do without Jeremiah!” –Warren Wiersbe

“Gehenna became a place where corpses of criminals, dead animals, and all manners of refuse were thrown to be destroyed.The Gehenna Valley was thus a place of burning sewage, burning flesh, and garbage. Maggots and worms crawled through the waste, and the smoke smelled strong and sickening (Isaiah 30:33). It was a place utterly filthy, disgusting, and repulsive to the nose and eyes. Gehenna presented such a vivid image that Christ used it as a symbolic depiction of hell: a place of eternal torment and constant uncleanness, where the fires never ceased burning and the worms never stopped crawling (Matthew 10:28; Mark 9:47–48).” (From GotQuestions.org)

“Anguish is anger plus love, and it isn’t easy to maintain a holy balance. If Jeremiah seems too angry to us, perhaps some of us today aren’t angry enough at the evil in this world. Thanks to the media, we’re exposed to so much violence and sin that we tend to accept it as a normal part of life and want to do nothing about it. Crusading has given way to compromising, and it isn’t “politically correct” to be dogmatic or critical of ideas that are definitely unbiblical.” –Warren Wiersbe

Jeremiah Resources:

Jeremiah Summary (GotQuestions.org):
https://www.gotquestions.org/Book-of-Jeremiah.html

Jeremiah Overview (The Bible Project):
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=8B_qBCTeUrqHcvfI

Recommended Reading:

"The Awe of God" (Author: John Bevere)
https://a.co/d/aYj3Ver

Charles Spurgeon sermon from Jeremiah Chapter 3:
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0762.cfm

E.M. Bounds "On Prayer"
https://a.co/d/iouYVO8

Additional Resources:

Adrian Rogers Article: “Righteousness Exalts A Nation”
https://www.westernjournal.com/rogers-hamilton-right-people-government-deserve/

GotQuestions Article(s):

"What is Gehenna?"
https://www.gotquestions.org/Gehenna.html