In the sermon 'Do Not Fear the Face of Man' by Paul Carrington, the speaker urges listeners to place their trust in God rather than fearing human judgment. Drawing from Jeremiah 17, Carrington highlights the peril of relying on human strength and the spiritual desolation it brings. He contrasts this with the security found in trusting God, as emphasized in Proverbs 29. The sermon encourages believers to fight the natural inclination to fear human opinions and instead prioritize honoring God, which leads to a clear conscience and spiritual peace. Carrington also draws on historical examples of faithfulness in the face of adversity, urging listeners to follow these examples by relying on God rather than their own strength.

One of my favorite verses is found in Jeremiah 17 and he speaks of the blessing of the man who trusts in the Lord, but before that he speaks of the man who fears man and he basically says, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm and then he departs in his heart from the living God. He talks about him as a shrub in the desert and he shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited." And so sometimes we can be so careful to preserve things that we think we've built up, whether it's our names or our platforms, we can triangulate every decision. If I do this, what will this... I think that's a great, great danger. A lot of times we want to be wise, but we want to primarily honor God.

And if a man who has a view of fearing God and honoring God above all else He doesn't have to be too preoccupied with what everyone else is going to say what everyone else is going to do He just has God Preeminently in his mind And you have to ask how many verses do you find in the Bible? You know, Proverbs 29, for example, talks about the fear of man brings a snare, but he who puts his trust in the Lord is safe. And there's so many scriptures in the Bible that talk about fearing man, fearing man, don't fear their faces. And it's such a temptation. I think most of us, if we're honest, would have a certain amount of fear of man.

And that's why we're called to fear God above all. And that sometimes is gonna be a fight. But what I would love to do at the end of the day is, you know, they say that the softest pillow is a clean conscience. And you can go to bed at night, I obeyed God. Yes, this was the cost, this was the difficulty, but you know that you obeyed your God whom you're going to stand before, whom you're going to have an account to.

And so I think we have great reason to fight to not be afraid and to live in a way that gives glory and honor to him in all seasons. We have a great cloud of witnesses in the Bible. Church history is a wonderful example of men who were just like us, women who were just like us, who stood in the face of great opposition. We read their biographies, but we want to also follow in their train. Let's not just be people that glorify the Reformation and people who glorify wonderful things that have happened in history and yet cower at the first sign of opposition, but may God help us as well, like he helped them to stand.

It's not in the arm of flesh, it's not in our own strength, but it's by clinging to God that we derive all our hope and comfort.