Be Not Afraid of Their Faces: For I Am With Thee…
Jeremiah 1:1-10
Since we are about to start Continuing Witness Training, I thought it would be good to discuss the call of Jeremiah. Many people do not witness because they do not feel called. Many have fear of rejection or physical harm. Many feel religion is a personal thing and ought not to be discussed like politics. Many feel they are not articulate enough or do not know enough theology to speak for God or about Him.
Those who have participated in the S.A.F.E program with me see the common flaw in the above arguments. That flaw is feeling. They have made presuppositions about witnessing based on their emotions or wrong information given to them.
Psalms 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; (KJV)
1 Peter 3:15-16
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. (KJV)
Who says that you are not called? Somewhere along the line, the concept has been developed that the work of the ministry belongs only to a paid or volunteer clergy. Ephesians 4:11-17 clearly states that those who have been given the gifts listed in verse eleven are given them to train or equip the rest of the believers/redeemed to do the work of the ministry. The "clergy" are meant to be trainers not employees of the church. The Church is meant to be the ministers of the Gospel and that is why we teach at our church that every member is a minister. Therefore, every saint of God is ordained to perform ministry within the scope of his or her role and gifts. Every saint is called and thus dies that excuse. If you are redeemed and have a hope lying within you, you have met the criteria for being His witness. One day, we will disgust, I mean discuss that clergy nonsense.
Let us look at how Jeremiah reacted to his call. Jeremiah was born into the household of a priest and understood what that meant. He was most likely content with what he considered his lot in life and had plans related to his perception. Hmm, sound familiar? He was not much different than us.
Then God knocks on His door and makes some astounding remarks. Jeremiah would not have had much of a problem with the foreknowledge of God. He would have believed that God knew Him before conception. Time is a thing for man. God is the beginning and the end. He knew whatever day it was that Jeremiah was conceived from the foundations of creation just as He knew that I would be conceived in 1951 and delivered in 1952.
Having God know him was not the problem that Jeremiah had. His problem was what God was saying He had planned for him all this time. He was born in the house of a priest and thus sanctification was not an issue. Jeremiah understood it well. Being a prophet was another thing!
Not all priests had a vocal or a public ministry. Some maintained the building, the storehouse, the clothing, and other accouterments. Some may never even have had a need to leave the temple and if they did, they may not have spoken to anyone in a priestly sort of way. Only their clothing would give away their identity. A shy guy in the right priestly job would have no tension.
Jeremiah may have been such a guy. He told God that he could not speak. I am just a child (Jer 1:6). He may have been still an adolescent. He may have been 20 or younger. In the Old Testament, a man could not be called to serve as a soldier until he was twenty which is most likely where we got our original standard for a person not being an adult until they were 21 (Numbers 1:3).
The word babe can also mean a servant and he may have been referring to his own position in the priesthood as not being a leadership but a servant role. The word speak can also carry a connotation of subduing or convincing. Who am I? I have no position or age. Who in the world would listen to me? How many times have I heard that from children of God?
Yet God said, "Say not I am a child." Man, does not that just drive you nuts? I mean you have all these great, logical arguments and God says forget them. Does He not hear well or what? Can he not see? I am a child. I cannot speak. I have no position. I have no education. I am not a THD, for crying out loud! I get nervous talking to a waitress! Kids mock me! I am not prophet (or whatever else) material. There are a few hundred things I am willing and able to do for you, but I cannot do this.
Know anyone like this? Do you see this person in the mirror? Give it up! God is not buying it. Do not start that being too bad stuff either. Peter told Jesus to "depart from me for I am a sinful man." That worked for him, right? Peter ends up preaching on Pentecost and writing two epistles even after denying Christ. Nobody is good enough which is why we have a Gospel to preach in the first place.
In verse 7, God tells Jeremiah he shall go to all that God sends him to. Hmm, I do not see an option here. In the Great Commission, the concept is really as you are going rather than a command of go (Matt 28:18-20). It was just presumed that you would be going and while you are at it this is what you are to do. Again, that does not seem to leave any option but obedience.
Jeremiah did not need to even prepare a sermon. He needed no homiletic or expositional skills. God will tell him exactly what to say. Preachers need to pray for better ears. God may not always speak in three points and a poem format. He may also want more of the full counsel of God than their personal hobbyhorses or ministerial machismo. I am not saying that we should not study nor prepare. We just need to be careful that we do not just crank messages out like cogs on an assembly line and make the ministry a career and not a calling. The Children of God need His message, not the preacher’s. People who witness also need to be sure they are giving His Gospel and not theirs. His will bring life and ours death.
In verse eight, he touches on the number one reason people do not witness for Christ. What will people think of me? What will they say? What will they do? They may laugh at me or even hit me! We are afraid of their faces.
In our society, the Word of God is not popular. His message is not popular. If you yield to God’s call, you will be taking an unpopular message to a hostile crowd. I do not mean just the lost or the unchurched. If you take a real stand for Him there will be "brethren" that will oppose you. You will be accused of being intolerant, hateful, narrow minded, bigoted, unloving and yes, even unChristlike.
The joke to this is the people who accuse you are the ones truly guilty of all these things. Most have no clue as to what being Christlike is because they have no idea whom Christ really is and have fabricated a "Christ" in their own image. They are tolerant of everybody and everything, but you. They are narrow-minded because they claim there are no absolutes except that you are absolutely wrong. When is the last time some of these folks treated you in loving, Christlike way? They hate you and treat you and speak of you as any Klansman would of a black person, but they are not bigoted or narrow minded.
With all that you say, "See, we have a reason to fear their faces!" God says, "I am with thee to deliver thee." We are to remember Who is on our side. The worse they can do to us is kill us. It may come to that sometime in the future, but then if we really believe that we are just a passing through anyway this is not a real problem. In the light of eternity, when we actually enter it does not matter. We will all enter it sooner than we may like to think, but we will forget about it in a twinkling of an eye whether we are Raptured or not.
I have worked in a place where if there had been an open season on Christians, I would not be writing this. My life was threatened. I was harassed continuously every day. They would pin porno up on the walls of my work area and place cartoons in my desk drawer that mocked God. They would break my belongings. When I would talk to two other Christians in the area they would eavesdrop and then get all upset if we discussed something that might be contrary to their lifestyle or views. Yep, these folks were open-minded all right.
The sad thing is that the whole gang professed faith in one denomination and the ringleader professed to be another. They thought themselves to be Christians. Some pagans would not hang out with this group. In the beginning, when they heard I had been to Bible College, they would ask me questions and I would give them what the Bible said. Well, they did not like the answers to say the least and after that, it was nail the messenger since they could not assail the message. Ah, such tolerance folks practice!
In the end, I would retreat to a caged area, put my headsets on and listen to Christian music as I read my New Testament to drown out the taunts. This was one of those places where there were more workers than workload. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
I went at one point to my supervisor and then to his supervisor, but that was useless. The whole thing lasted fourteen months until I found another job in the area. However, the ringleader had a friend in my new organization and it started over again, though not to the same degree. A year later, I was promoted to another job out of state. I suppose I could apply for PTSD benefits due to that experience, but I learned a lot from it. As each day goes by, it will become a put up or shut up situation. Christians will live their faith and speak their faith or lose their freedom to do so. Be not afraid of their faces!
Through all that, I survived and the thrust of this text seems to indicate that we will be delivered alive. God does not usually send His people on Kamikaze missions. True, many of the prophets came to what we might call an untimely end, but this was often after a long life. God wants us to grow in our knowledge and trust of Him. This does take time and often He starts us out on small missions. As we grow in faith and faithfulness, He moves us on to bigger missions. He wants our love and to fellowship with us. We often fear the faces of others because we fear the face of our own Father in Heaven. How do you take an unpopular message to a hostile audience when you are unsure of the love of the One who sent you? Trust him!!! He is able to deliver and He will deliver you out of the hands of His enemies.
Here again in verse 9, He tells Jeremiah that He will give him the words to say. Jeremiah is required to be faithful and obedient. He does not have to have proper elocution or the wisdom of man. He just needs to lean on God and God will handle the situation. You have an even greater advantage than Jeremiah. The Book has been written. Christ has arisen. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. I believe He will do the same and more for you than He did for Jeremiah. We have been given some great promises. Claim them!!
Psalms 81:10 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. (KJV)
Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. (KJV)
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (KJV)
In verse 10, he lays out all that is involved in Jeremiah’s ministry. Initially, he sent on a mission of judgment. He is above the kingdoms because he is the prophet/emissary of God. We are the ambassadors of Christ. Just as Jeremiah’s message caused a rooting out, pulling down, throwing down, and destruction of the kingdoms of his day so also are we to deal with the kingdoms of Satan today.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. (KJV)
Jeremiah did not have any weapon other than the Word of God to fulfill his mission. The root of the evil in mankind is in the heart. Imprisoning bodies does not change the heart. Wars may kill bodies, but evil is still present because it is in every heart of man. The body is merely the vehicle for evil’s expression. The only way to change the driver of the vehicle is to change the heart. Only the Word of God can do this.
This is why we are taught to bring every imagination and thought into obedience to Christ. The heart in scripture really means the core of our being. It is not the blood pump as we think of on Valentine’s Day.
Proverbs 23:6-7
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. (KJV)
A loose paraphrase of this might be, Beware of two-faced people who put on a feast and tell you to indulge. You hear, "Eat and drink!" but in his mind he finishes the sentence with "and I hope you choke because no one here knows the Heimlich maneuver!" He is not thinking this in his blood pump.
To change the heart of a man requires the Holy Spirit to bring the light of truth to that heart. It does not require man’s wisdom and erudite speech. (1 Cor 1:17) Man does not convert anyone. God converts them.
Satan has lied to people from creation and he has not stopped and will not stop until he is cast into the lake of fire forever. Even after a thousand-year reign of Christ with no devil present there will be people who will choose a lie over the truth they have seen and will join the devil in one last revolt. (Rev 20:7-10) That is the truly amazing thing to me!
Therefore, if you witness and witness to a person and they do not seem to get it you have to remember you have an enemy that blinds them to the truth. (1 Cor 4:3,4) All you can do is be faithful, shine the light and pray that God will break those chains. (2 Tim 2:24-26) Ignore the outward appearance of the vehicle and the specific display of evil and just go for the heart!!!
Do these things and ultimately your mission will change from judgment to blessing and then you will be able to plant. When God clears out the lies in the hearts of men with His truth He plants the seed of righteousness in them that brings about the new birth and a new life of abundance. That seed is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When you fear not their faces, you will see His deliverance of you and many souls from prison as well.
We must commit ourselves totally to Him. We must trust Him explicitly! We must deliver His message! We are going to war!
Jeremiah 1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. (KJV)
If the faces before you are gods and you fear them more than the one true God, then He will allow you to reap the results of your fears. When you go into spiritual warfare, you must know where your loyalties are, Who is your commander-in-chief, where is the source of your strength, and how to use your weapons. Then you can set your face as flint and ask without wavering knowing the victory is yours. Go, fight, win in the name of Christ, my fellow soldiers!!!
Addendum
What’s in a name?
Sometimes it appears that God preaches a sermon or speaks of Himself or the children of Israel in the names, lineage, and geography of the people He calls.
3414 Yirmeyah (yir-meh-yaw’);or Yirmeyahuw (yir-meh-yaw’-hoo); from 7311 and 3050; Jah will rise; Jirmejah, the name of eight or nine Israelites: KJV-- Jeremiah.
2518 Chilqiyah (khil-kee-yaw’);or Chilqiyahuw (khil-kee-yaw’-hoo)’ from 2506 and 3050; portion of Jah; (Chilhijah, the name of eight Israelites: KJV-- Hillkiah.
6067 `Anath (an-awth’); from 6030; answer; Anath, an Israelite:
KJV-- Anath.
6068 `Anathowth (an-aw-thoth’);plural of 6067; Anathoth, the name of two Israelites, also of a place in Pal: KJV-- Anathoth.
1144 Binyamiyn (bin-yaw-mene’); from 1121 and 3225; son of(the)
right hand; Binjamin, youngest son of Jacob; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory: KJV-- Benjamin. - All from electronic version of Strong's Concordance.
Even in the New Testament people questioned Christ’s claims because of His birthplace, where prophets normally come from, lineage, etc.
A possible message that God was giving to His people just by his name, his lineage and geography could be the following.
Jah will rise and the portion of Jah will give answers to Him although they are the sons of His right hand.
Since Jeremiah was pronouncing judgment on Israel, such an ominous message would be fitting. Now, had they been obedient and in trouble, it might have come across like this.
Jah will rise for His portion and give answers to the sons of His right hand.
I would rather be on the blessing slant of this than the other. I am sure Israel wished the same. In this case, it really carries both messages. While God was chastising His people, He also promised them restoration in Chapter 30. In essence, it is the cycle of revival. We move away from the blessing message. God has to send the ominous message and the chastisement. When we repent and return to Him we are given the message of blessing again.
