Jeremiah 44:16

As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will net hearken unto thee.

The ministerial message and its reception

I. It devolves on ministers to speak to sinners in the name of the Lord.

1. They represent to them their deplorable situation; they describe to them the horrors of the pit wherein there is no water, in which they lie; the miseries of that prison in which they are closely confined; the unprofitableness of the drudgery in which they are engaged; and the tribulation and anguish which they have to expect. “Knowing the terrors of the Lord, they persuade men”; and sensible that, if they are unfaithful, the blood of souls will be required at their hands, they are “instant in season and out of season,” if by any means they Could persuade them to flee from the wrath to come.

2. They do all this in the name of the Lord.

(1) They speak in obedience to His command.

(2) They speak in perfect agreement with the Divine word.

(3) They preach in the hope of promoting His glory.

II. The unpleasant reception with which their message often meets. “We will not hearken.”

1. We hope that there are but few who would plainly say this in words; who are so hardened as to glory in their shame; or so incorrigible as to tell God’s ministers that they cast His words behind their back, as unworthy of attention, and beneath their notice: yet we are persuaded that there are many professors who say this in their hearts, and who will not see when the hand of God is lifted up; for if this were not the case, would ministers so often have to lament over them, saying, “Oh, that they were wise”; and, “Oh, that there were such a heart in them, to keep His commandments and do them”? Careless hearers all say, “We will not hearken unto Thee.” And oh, how few are there that will hear believingly! The word does not profit, “not being mixed with faith in them that hear it”; men often “reject the counsel of God against themselves,” and disbelieve the record that God has given of His Son. Their conduct shows that they believe not in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.

2. What is the reason that they will not attend to those things, which, it is evident, belong to their peace?

(1) Because they are in league with sin.

(2) What your ministers preach loudly speaks your condemnation.

I would say, by way of inference, In what an awful state are those persons who are making the resolution contained in the text. They are evidently exposed to the loss of their privileges; to hardness of heart, and contempt of God’s Word and commandments; and to utter and eternal destruction. (T. Spencer.).