“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.” (Jer. 1:17)
Each time I pick up my pen and open my notebook, there is a type of fear that enters into me, a dread feeling, if you will, for I know that someone is going to read what I have been led to write, and they may accept it as the wisdom of the Almighty.
If I am wrong, I will pay the price for both of us, just like the Lord said to Jeremiah.
There are three reasons for these letters, and the order of those reasons are just as important as they are in themselves. The first is that God would be glorified in them, and there is no higher honor, greater humility or fear of dread that a man can have than speaking for the Living God. If the pastor of your church does not agree with that statement, then perhaps a different church would be in order.
“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” (James 3:1)
I am neither fit for nor prepared to be placed in this position of “letter writer,” but it is where He has called me to be, and so I obey.
The second reason is that the brethren, those that are my family in Christ, will be encouraged.
When I am done with some of these letters, after I read them, fold the paper in half and hand it to my lovely wife to type up for me, sometimes I can see very little encouragement in them. In fact, some of them seem downright offensive, far too much reproving and too little love expressed. But I have been taught by the Holy Spirit that the only way to reach most people is when they are forced to see the truth in themselves, when it is so personal to them that they must take notice, for those supposed truths they may have been holding onto, sometimes for years, are finally revealed to them as lies.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Heb. 10:25)
And I have been blessed to be able to see at least the shadow of those approaching dark and evil days, so perhaps the Lord has called a man like me, one a little rough around the edges, one perhaps a little too adamant for some, to preach, if I can use that word, the message of “Be sure, be very sure that you have been born-again.”
The third reason for these short letters to you is the most frightful to me, for it is a position I do not want to be placed in, that the Holy Spirit would use the words of the Scriptures to convict the hearts of all who read these letters.
My friends, that means I cannot be wrong. Every verse offered must be in context, every word must relate to the entire subject being offered, there can be no mistakes, or I may have inadvertently led someone astray.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24)
In this regard, my cross is too heavy for me to bear. I am going to have to give an account to my Father in heaven for every single one of these letters, and I am not going to be allowed to use the excuse of “You led me to write what was written.”
I can just as easily throw this one in the trash as hand it to my beautiful wife, but not once have I begun to write and not finished a letter. I pick up my pen and open my notebook as an empty vessel, I am filled as I write, and then each time they are completed I feel completely drained.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)
If I have ever offended you, please forgive me, if the Word of God has ever offended you, that, my friends, is one of those rare times where this statement is a truth.
That’s between you and God.
