“Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:18-19)
Jeremiah stood against kings, officials, the priests and the people of the land. God sent one man to take them on. It is his way to challenge the many by the few, so it cannot be said that his will is achieved by a human power that overwhelms the opposition, but rather by a divine power that defies the human majority. The people stood against Jeremiah, and he stood against them. They wanted to kill him, and he suffered their persecution, but God delivered him and enabled him to do all his will.
Jesus also stood against many. They were hostile to him and plotted to kill him. He came to die, but he could not be killed before the appointed time. Again and again, he eluded capture and continued spreading his message. He went all over the place preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and exposing the failure and hypocrisy of the religious establishment. No one could touch him, because God was with him to deliver him. God made him a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall.
When God sends me out to speak, he makes me a fortified city. When he commands me to say a harsh word, he makes me an iron pillar. When he moves me to address a rebellious people, he makes me a bronze wall. By his power I stand unscalable, unyielding, and unbreakable. Although the people fight me, they cannot overcome me. They cannot win. No, I will win. I will accomplish all that God has commanded, because he is with me to deliver me.
If you preach the faith of Jesus Christ, people will become angry with you. Even the simple message that Jesus Christ is the savior of sinners will offend them. In this message, we declare that man is sinful, that there is divine punishment of sin, that Jesus Christ is God, that he came as a man to die and make atonement for sin, that to trust in this person and his work is the only way to escape divine wrath, that man is helpless and cannot contribute to his own salvation, and that he must depend on God’s sovereign kindness to save him.
Every item in this message is offensive to man’s pride and to what the sinner wishes to believe about himself. Repentance is God’s gift to man that enables him to abandon these assumptions, these assumptions that amount to idolatry and the worship of self, and to turn to God with his whole heart. So men will hate you when you preach the gospel of Christ, because they hate God and his righteousness. They do not want to hear from him, and when you speak his word, they will want to silence you.
The most dangerous opposition will likely come from others who claim to be Christians – it will come from the church and the religious establishment. The Pharisees desired to murder Christ because his message and his righteousness became a threat to them. Likewise, when you confront today’s false teachers and religious hypocrites, and those who have institutionalized the faith of Jesus Christ to serve their prejudices and traditions, they will also descend upon you with a demonic viciousness that is sufficient to inspire perjury and murder.
O man of God, O woman of faith, beware of Christians. But if God has put his words in your mouth, say it! Of course people will be angry. Say it! They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, because God is with you to deliver you. God has made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will declare his message. You will succeed in your mission.