Text
Jeremiah 11:17-23 | Isaiah 30:9-10
Theme
God’s servants must faithfully proclaim and apply His Word, regardless of opposition or pressure to compromise.
Introduction
Who was Jeremiah?
Jeremiah was divinely commissioned by the Lord to preach to the southern kingdom of Judah after the northern kingdom of Israel had been taken captive by Assyria. His ministry likely spanned about forty years, continuing until the southern kingdom of Judah was also conquered.
Jeremiah was the son of a priest from the town of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. The main thrust of his message was to rebuke Judah for forsaking God. He repeatedly used God’s judgment upon the northern kingdom as a warning to Judah, but they refused to listen.
Jeremiah 3:8
“And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.”
Today we are going to look at two examples from Scripture of objections to the faithful preaching of the Word of God.
In This Study
- The Threat Enforcing Silence
- The Compromise Effecting Silence
- The People Demanding Silence
The Threat Enforcing Silence
Jeremiah 11:21
God Commissions His Messenger
Jeremiah was commanded by God to preach God’s message to Israel.
He was not a self-appointed preacher.
He was a prophet chosen and commissioned by God.
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Not only did Jeremiah have a God-appointed ministry, but he also had a God-given message.
Jeremiah 1:7
“But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.”
Jeremiah was not free to alter the message.
He was simply to proclaim what God had given him.
The same principle applies today.
God Has Commissioned His Church
Just as Jeremiah was sent by God, believers today have likewise been commissioned to proclaim God’s truth.
Peter reminds us that God’s people are:
1 Peter 2:9
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”
Along with that calling comes a God-ordained message.
Matthew 28:19-20
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Like Jeremiah, we are not at liberty to change the message.
Our responsibility is to faithfully proclaim what God has already spoken.
Opposition to the Gospel
The people in Jeremiah’s day stood under the shadow of coming judgment.
Long before Israel entered the Promised Land, God had warned that turning away from Him would result in judgment through the surrounding nations.
Deuteronomy 28:47-49
“Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God… therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee… The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far…”
Because of Israel’s rebellion, the northern kingdom had already been carried away captive by the Assyrian Empire.
Jeremiah used that judgment as a solemn warning to Judah.
Judgment was coming.
The people needed to repent before it arrived.
Instead of responding to God’s warning, however, the people threatened the messenger.
They warned Jeremiah that if he continued preaching the Word of God, they would put him to death.
They did not want to hear about coming judgment.
They did not want to be confronted over their rebellion against God.
Rather than changing their lives, they sought to silence the preacher.
The Same Opposition Today
Human nature has not changed.
Sinners today remain just as resistant to God’s Word as the people of Jeremiah’s day.
God has commissioned us to proclaim both a warning of coming judgment and a message of salvation for all who will believe.
Colossians 1:27-28
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
Acts 17:30
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”
The world’s response has largely been the same as it was in Jeremiah’s day.
Many seek to silence those who faithfully preach the Gospel.
I don’t think, not even for one minute, that the devil was absent from the decision to shut down churches during COVID while keeping the bottle shops open so people could continue buying alcohol.
Apparently, the government considered churches to be unessential, but alcohol sales were not.
The preaching of the Gospel—which has the power to transform lives—was restricted, while the sale of alcohol—which so often contributes to broken homes, domestic violence, public disorder, and drink-driving—continued uninterrupted.
Anyone who has spent time witnessing on the streets or going from house to house has seen the same principle firsthand.
Some people become openly hostile when confronted with the Gospel.
They do not want to hear that they are sinners in need of salvation.
They seek to silence the messenger because they refuse to receive the message.
Our Responsibility
As Christians, we have a responsibility to continue proclaiming the Gospel regardless of opposition or persecution.
The Lord Jesus prepared His disciples for this reality.
John 15:20-21
“Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.”
Faithful preaching has always produced opposition.
It did in Jeremiah’s day.
It did in the days of Christ.
It continues to do so today.
Our responsibility is not to measure success by acceptance, but by faithfulness.
The Compromise Effecting Silence
Isaiah 30:9-10
Not every attempt to silence God’s truth comes through open persecution.
Sometimes the pressure comes through calls for compromise.
Rather than demanding that the preacher stop speaking altogether, people simply ask him to soften the message.
The result is often the same.
Truth is gradually silenced.
Isaiah’s Ministry
The prophet Isaiah began ministering in the southern kingdom of Judah nearly a century before Jeremiah.
His ministry took place while Assyria was the dominant power in the region, having already taken the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity.
Like Jeremiah, Isaiah faithfully preached against Israel’s idolatry, vain religion, pride, and self-sufficiency in rejecting God.
Isaiah ministered during the reigns of four kings.
Uzziah
Isaiah’s ministry began in the year King Uzziah died.
Although Uzziah’s reign ended sadly, he had generally been a godly king under whom Judah experienced blessing.
Jotham
Jotham largely continued the godly reforms begun during his father’s reign.
Ahaz
Ahaz was an exceedingly wicked king who rejected the Lord and led Judah further into idolatry.
Hezekiah
Hezekiah was a godly king who trusted both the Lord and the counsel of Isaiah, leading the nation back toward God.
By contrast, of the four kings who reigned during Jeremiah’s ministry, only one could truly be described as godly.
Josiah
Josiah led the last great revival in Judah before Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and carried the people into captivity, including the prophet Daniel.
Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim rejected God’s Word and persecuted Jeremiah.
Jehoiachin
Jehoiachin reigned for only three months before being taken captive to Babylon.
Zedekiah
Zedekiah was a weak and disobedient king who repeatedly ignored Jeremiah’s godly counsel.
Considering the spiritual condition of Judah during these years, it is not difficult to understand why the people resisted faithful preaching.
The Demand for Smooth Preaching
The people openly told God’s prophets:
Isaiah 30:10
“Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.”
Their request revealed the true condition of their hearts.
When they said to the seers,
“See not,”
they were effectively saying,
“Don’t seek God’s counsel. Don’t seek to know God’s will. Don’t tell us what God has said.”
When they said,
“Prophesy not unto us right things,”
they were saying,
“We would rather hear lies than hear the truth.”
This was a step removed from the death threats Jeremiah received, but it was designed to accomplish the same objective.
The people wanted God’s prophet to compromise his message in order to keep them comfortable.
They would rather hear pleasant lies than uncomfortable truth.
“Speak Unto Us Smooth Things”
The expression “smooth things” carries the idea of flattering words and easy messages.
The people wanted Isaiah to tell them how good they were rather than confront them with their sin.
Likewise, when they asked him to
“prophesy deceits,”
they were asking him to confirm them in their own delusion.
They wanted Isaiah to assure them that everything was fine, even though God’s judgment was drawing near.
Instead of bringing their lives into line with God’s Word, they wanted God’s Word adjusted to fit their lives.
The Same Pressure Today
The world still does not want to hear the Gospel preached plainly.
Sadly, many churches have responded by changing the message.
Rather than telling sinners that they are guilty before a holy God and need to repent, many simply say,
“You’re basically a good person who just needs a relationship with Jesus.”
Or,
“You just need to follow Jesus.”
The offence of the Gospel is gradually removed.
The blood atonement is often downplayed because some might find the subject of blood offensive.
Repentance is softened or omitted altogether because people do not want to be confronted with their sin.
Yet the Lord Jesus Himself declared:
Luke 5:32
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
When repentance is removed from the Gospel, the Gospel itself has been altered.
When Compromise Silences Truth
This is why this section is entitled “The Compromise Effecting Silence.”
Truth does not have to be outlawed in order to be silenced.
It only has to be diluted.
Whenever God’s servants begin changing God’s message to satisfy the preferences of sinful men, the truth itself is effectively silenced.
Faithful preaching is not measured by how comfortable it makes people feel.
Faithful preaching is measured by whether it faithfully proclaims what God has said.
The People Demanding Silence
Jeremiah 11:17-23 | Isaiah 30:9-10
Up to this point, our attention has largely been directed toward the opposition of the unbelieving world.
Now the focus shifts much closer to home.
These passages remind us that some of the strongest opposition to faithful preaching can arise from among the very people of God.
God’s People Sought to Silence God’s Prophets
Both Isaiah and Jeremiah were sent primarily to minister to Israel, God’s covenant people.
They were not preaching to the heathen nations around them.
They were preaching to God’s own people.
Yet it was God’s people who attempted to silence God’s prophets.
They had reached the point where they no longer wanted to hear the Word of God faithfully proclaimed.
Instead, they demanded that the preacher either change the message or stop preaching altogether.
When Preaching Touches Favourite Sins
Whenever the preaching of God’s Word exposes cherished sins, the natural tendency of the human heart is often to attack the preacher rather than examine ourselves.
Our sinful nature instinctively looks for ways to shift responsibility elsewhere.
The very first example of this is found in the Garden of Eden.
Adam blamed Eve.
Eve blamed the serpent.
The serpent, already confirmed in his rebellion, made no attempt to shift the blame.
Human nature has not changed.
Blame Shifting and Misdirection
When blame shifting fails, people often resort to misdirection.
This has sometimes been called “whataboutism.”
Rather than dealing with the issue at hand, attention is redirected elsewhere.
People respond by saying things such as:
“Well, what about that person and what they said?”
Or,
“What about what they did?”
Instead of honestly dealing with personal conviction, the conversation is redirected toward someone else’s failures.
Attacking the Messenger
Another common response is to attack the person bringing the correction.
Comments such as these are often heard:
- “What about this area of failure in your own life?”
- “You should have approached this in a more humble or Christian manner.”
- “I feel like you have the wrong motives.”
- “Who made you the authority over me?”
Rather than admitting we have responded wrongly, we often attempt to silence the one pointing out the problem.
Receiving Correction Biblically
Scripture teaches us a far better response.
The book of Proverbs repeatedly emphasises the importance of receiving correction with humility.
Proverbs 1:5, 7
“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning… The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
A wise believer welcomes biblical correction because he desires to grow.
A foolish person resists correction because pride has taken root in the heart.
The Fear of the Lord
It is sad that we are often weak in rebuking sin and slow in correcting error because we have lost something of the fear of the LORD.
If we possessed a higher view of God’s holiness, we would naturally err on the side of caution rather than on the side of careless liberty.
This does not mean becoming legalistic.
Neither does it mean imposing personal convictions upon others where Scripture has not spoken.
Rather, it means becoming increasingly sensitive to grieving the Holy Spirit and increasingly concerned about living lives that honour God.
Will the People of God Please Stand Up?
We Should Set the Example
God’s people ought to be leading the way in holy living rather than undermining it.
We live in a world that has become increasingly opposed to biblical truth.
The world continually pressures believers to conform to its values.
Scripture, however, calls us to be conformed to the image of Christ.
The world tells us that opposing the moral revolution of our day is hateful.
The Bible continues to call us to holiness.
The world promotes the breakdown of the home through no-fault divorce and the widespread acceptance of abortion.
God’s Word teaches that every human life possesses intrinsic value and that the family was established by God for our good.
The world celebrates gender confusion.
God’s Word continues to uphold His created order.
Living Philippians 4:8 Christianity
God’s people should be known for living lives characterised by the standard found in Philippians.
Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
We should be examples of this standard rather than opponents of it.
Taking a Stand
It has never been easy to stand faithfully for God’s truth.
Neither is it easy today.
Yet it is imperative if we are to leave a godly foundation for the next generation.
People are often happy for Christians to stand for biblical truth—provided that stand does not challenge a particular sin or idol in their own lives.
Therefore, we must be prepared to stand even when doing so is unpopular.
There are convictions this church holds that some would describe as legalistic or extreme.
Our desire, however, is simply to be faithful to what we believe is the proper application of Scripture, leaving the results with God.
Among those convictions are:
- KJV-only church services. This church unapologetically uses the Authorised King James Bible and does not support the use of other Bible versions in its services.
- Simple hymnology. This church does not endorse secular music or Contemporary Christian Music with worldly musical styles. The same standard should be maintained within our homes.
- Godly standards of appearance. This church believes God intended there to be a distinction between men and women in both conduct and appearance. In a world determined to erase those distinctions, we believe they should be maintained.
Proverbs 22:28
“Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.”
If God’s People Don’t Stand, Who Will?
This brings us back to the challenge of the message.
Will the people of God please stand up?
- Stand up for the Gospel.
- Stand up for the truth.
- Stand up for godliness.
- Stand up for personal holiness—and practise it in your own life.
Conclusion
Will you exemplify Philippians 4:8 Christianity, despite opposition and even persecution?
Or will you allow the truth to be silenced through compromise or opposition?
Above all, determine that you will never become one of those who opposes the faithful preaching of God’s Word.
The world has always sought to silence God’s truth.
Sometimes it does so through persecution.
Sometimes it does so through compromise.
Our calling is not to seek the approval of men, but to remain faithful to the God who has entrusted us with His Word.
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (2 Timothy 4:2)
May God give us the courage to stand faithfully, proclaim His truth without compromise, and refuse to be among those who would silence the very Word that has the power to save souls and transform lives.