Is There Any Word From The Lord?

IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD?

Jer. 37:2-17

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A teacher asked her class what was their favorite animal. Billy raised his hand, “Fried chicken.” She said, “No, I said what ‘animal.’” Billy responded, “Fried chicken!” She said, “I’m a member of PETA, the SPCA, Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth, and that offends me! You’re going to the office!”

2. On hearing the story, the principal chucked to himself, and sent Billy back to class. The teacher again asked Billy what his favorite animal was, and again Billy answered “Fried chicken.” Back to the office Billy went.

3. After a word of rebuke to Billy, the principal sent him back to class with a note asking the teacher to change the subject. She said, “Ok, Billy, I want you to name your favorite American hero.” Billy thought a moment and said, “Colonel Sanders!”

B. DO WE WANT TO HEAR FROM GOD?

1. 1 Sam. 3:1 says, “And the Word of the LORD was precious [“rare”] in those days; there was no open vision” 1 Sam. 3:1. WHY WAS THAT?

2. Israel had come out of Egypt after 400+ years of slavery. They had seen the miraculous hand of God as NO OTHER NATION IN HISTORY!

3. They watched as the ten plagues reduced the mighty Egyptian Empire to a wasteland. God opened up the Red Sea, and came down in fire on Mount Horeb; they’d walked with Him in the wilderness for 40 years.

4. But after 200 years in the Promised land, they lost their first love and reverted to their former idolatrous ways. They pretended to serve the Lord, but in their hearts they’d turned from Him.

5. The reason “the Word of the LORD was precious in those days” was because they didn’t think they needed God anymore. I think America is in the same place today. Do we want that to change?

C. TEXT

2 Neither [Zedekiah] nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. 6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘…the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’ 16 Jeremiah was [arrested and] put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon.... 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him...“Is there any word from the LORD?” “Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” Jer. 37:2,6-8,16-17.

D. THESIS

1. Tonight we’re looking at our “hunger-level” for God and His Word. Are we listening and obedient?

2. The title of this message is, “Is there any Word from the Lord?”

I. PICTURE OF SELECTIVE HEARING?

A. DO WE REALLY WANT A WORD FROM THE LORD?

1. Couples who’ve been married a long time often develop the habit of pretending NOT TO HEAR their spouse when it’s something inconvenient. It’s called “selective hearing.”

2. King Zedekiah was playing that game with God. One day he acts like he wants to hear a message from God, and when the prophet tells him the truth, Jeremiah gets locked up in prison.

3. We “Full Gospel” Christians pride ourselves as being people of THE BOOK. We believe in the inspiration of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the deity of Christ, the miracles, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead, etc. We, above all people, believe in the Person of the Holy Spirit and say we want to hear what God is saying to us now – right?

4. Yet the truth is, that many of us, like Zedekiah, don’t really want to know what God thinks about our lifestyles. We prefer to be ignorant. Can you REALLY say you want a word from the Lord?

5. The Israelites told Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die” (Exodus 20:19). We don’t really want to be that close to God. This is because we don’t understand how much God loves us and wants to bless us.

6. ILLUS.— JESUS WANTS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

a. A man was giving his testimony at a Salvation Army street meetings. As he was testifying, a heckler in the crowd yelled, "Why don't you shut up and sit down? You're just dreaming."

b. Immediately that heckler felt a tug on his coat. He looked down to see a little girl, who said, "Sir, that man who is talking up there is my daddy. He used to be a drunkard and spend all our money on whiskey. He would hit my mother & make her cry. But now daddy keeps his job, doesn’t drink any more, and bought me this dress. Mister, if my daddy is dreaming, please don't wake him up!”