So You're Not An Ordained Preacher

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.”

Many men have the errant mindset that they can't become a Gospel preacher unless they're “ordained” by some holier-than-thou ministerial committee or governing ecclesiastical body. Brother, you can't show me that in the Bible! Take a close look at our text Bible passage. The Bible says in Jeremiah 1:5 that God “ORDAINED” Jeremiah while in his mother's womb, not from some apostate Evangelical Church Alliance or Deadbeat Ministers Club. Boy I love that truth—God ordains men to preach, not other men!!! 

Furthermore, there is no call to preaching the Gospel, it is a COMMAND for every believer (Matthew 28:19-20; Proverb 11:30; 2nd Corinthians 5:10-11; Philippians 2:16; Romans 10:15; Luke 8:15; Daniel 12:3). Every Christian believer is commanded by God to go soul-winning. Every believer is an AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST! 2nd Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” We represent the King of kings, and the Lord of lords! You are the only Jesus that someone knows! They need your help to get saved. They need for you to share the Gospel of free grace with them. Will you obey the Master? Will you heed His call? Will you preach the Gospel? 1st Corinthians 9:16, “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”

There is a call to leadership within the New Testament Church as a pastor, and so forth; but not a call to go soul-winning. God ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet unto the nations, before Jeremiah was even born. Jesus told all of His disciples to go forth into the the world with the Gospel, to get people saved, water baptize them (as a public profession of their faith), and then teach them to go do likewise. This is known as 'THE GREAT COMMISSION' (Matthew 28:19-20). Sadly, for most churches today it is 'THE GREAT OMISSION'! I am proud to call myself an Independent Fundamental Baptist. That is my roots! That doesn't make me a born-again Christian, it just defines the distinctives of my faith. But sadly, most Baptist churches today have no public soulwinning program. The church is often a mere place of religious entertainment. 

The hardest part of 'THE GREAT COMMISSION' is “GO YE”! That is why in Romans 10:15 the Bible calls the believers feet, and not their mouth or lips “beautiful,” because the most eloquent speech in the world is totally worthless if a believer's feet are too lazy to take THE GOSPEL to those who need it. Romans 10:15, “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” It is called 'THE GOSPEL OF PEACE' because 'THE GOSPEL' brings “PEACE” between men and God. Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” What a beautiful God and Savior!!! 

Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935) was a professional baseball player turned preacher, and PREACH HE DID!!! Here's Billy's batting record. And Brother Sunday scored much higher in soul-winning, leading MILLIONS of needy sinners to the redeeming truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!!! Bless God, anyone can serve God!

I was ordained as a minister in 1993 by a local group of Pastors in Chicago. During the ordination, one of the pastors asked me what it would mean to me, if they decided not to ordain me at that time. My response was immediate, I replied: “God called me to preach, and I'm going to preach whether you guys ordain me or not!” That pastor wisely replied: “That was the answer I was looking for!” He wanted to make sure that I knew God ordained me, not men! Official ordination is necessary, if a man is going to function in a legal capacity as a minister, which is why I was ordained; but I only answer to God. It will be a cold day in Hell before any Pulpit Committee or anyone messes with my preaching!!!  

I once knew a man who drove a garbage truck, who had hand-written out Scripture verses on 3” x 5” cards. He put together a Gospel presentation to give people on his pickup route. He gave me one of them, and I was joyful to meet a fellow soulwinner. That man loved the Lord Jesus Christ enough to tell others about Him. If a baseball player, and a man driving a garbage truck, and a lowly sinner like me, can do something for God, then so can you my dear friend. Look what this faithful Christian man (Raymond Rogers) is doing to share the Gospel message with others. Hell is real and forever! Do you think a God of love, Who allows suffering in this world, won't allow suffering in Hell? Don't fool yourself! God's holiness demands justice. Sin must be paid for! Thankfully, Jesus paid your sin debt (and mine), if you'll receive God's gift of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ, as I did as a 13 year old lad!

If you have a burning desire in your heart to preach THE TRUTH, then that is God's calling, leading you to volunteer to serve God. The fields are still white unto harvest today. John 4:35 and Matthew 9:37, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest ... Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” Jesus said that the harvest is PLENTEOUS, but the labourers are FEW. That is still very true today in 2020. The average Christian layman couldn't care less about winning souls, because today's apostate pastors are incompetent!!! 

If not us, who? If not now, when? If not here, where? To the same degree that we witness to others shows the degree of our faith in the Holy Bible. More and more, as I grow nearer to the end of this life (I'm 53 now), I am compelled to share the Gospel with more people. Proverb 4:18, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” What an awesome Scripture!!!

Here is an excellent quote from the mighty man of God, Dr. Lee Roberson (1909-2007), concerning eternal punishment:

“Somebody says, 'The thought of Hell is so horrible.' Well, my friend, so is cancer, so is tuberculosis, so is the grave. Someone said, 'I believe sin ought to be punished, but not for eternity.' That's your view, not God's.

Again another says, 'I don't believe in the wrath of God.' Then you don't believe your Bible. The Bible says the wrath of God abideth on the one who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. He is lost forever.

Now, these things come to us out of the Word of God. The teaching of eternal punishment should give us a hatred for sin. We ought to hate sin. The reason we have changed so much in this day in all of our churches is that we are not hearing much on this subject. Therefore, we endorse sin. We engage in sin. We camouflage the sin in our lives and allow things to go by, instead of hating sin as God wants us to hate sin . . .

The teaching of eternal punishment should give us a passion for the souls of men.” —Pastor Lee Roberson, 'Disturbing Questions... Solid Answers,' chapter 16, pp. 196-198; ©1978.

The Biblical doctrine and reality of God's wrath has been abandoned in America's pulpits. Psalm 7:11, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” 

Thank God for those few preachers today who do still faithfully preach the word. Thank God for those faithful preachers over the past century—Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935), Pastor Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899), Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951), Dr. R.G. Lee (1886-1978), Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980), Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995), Dr. Jack Hyles (1926-2001) and other mighty men of God over the past century who have carried the mantle of God's Word.