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.
Jeremiah chapter one is taken up with the call of this young man into the ministry. His call, we who have read the book know, would be an exceptionally challenging one. God provides in the chapter several things to bolster Jeremiah in his work.
· He was known of God
· He was ordained of God
· He was accompanied by God
God told Jeremiah not to be afraid of the faces of the people he preached to “lest I confound thee before them.” Public speaking is intimidating to many people, maybe even most. It is certainly a skill that must be developed but it is a skill that can be developed. The point of this verse is not to develop the skill of public speaking so that Jeremiah was confident when he preached. The point was that he must not be afraid of their faces. If he was to preach confidently amidst such opposition as he would face, he had to have something far greater than confidence in his ability to speak — he had to have a greater confidence, a greater fear of God and of His calling than of whatever obstacles, personal or otherwise, that would be in his path.
The preacher is not a professional. His is not a vocation. Preaching, in God’s view, is not a skill one can acquire. Preaching, God’s way, is a divine commission. The preacher must preach under the fear of the Lord or, regardless how well he presents his sermon, his words will become confounded and meaningless to those who hear Him.
#DivineCommission #FearOfTheLord #PreacherCalling #ConfidenceInGod #JeremiahMinistry
Confidence in the Call: The Preacher's Call to Fear the Lord
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