Is There Fire In Your Bones?

IS THERE FIRE IN YOUR BONES?

Jer. 20:1-9

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: One-Liners

1. I accidentally went grocery shopping on an empty stomach and now I’m the proud owner of aisle 4.

2. You know you’re getting old when your knees offer a more accurate weather forecast than the guy on TV.

3. My favorite way to online shop is to yell out what I’m looking for and let Facebook (Siri) post an ad for it.

4. I got a flat tire yesterday. There was a fork in the road.

B. TEXT

When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “...4 this is what the Lord says... ‘I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword....6 And you, Pashhur... will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’” [Jeremiah complained] 7 “...I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak... the Word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach ... 9 But if I say, “I will not mention His Word or speak anymore in His name,” His Word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” Jer. 20:1-9

C. THESIS

1. Being a witness isn’t popular. Even dedicated Christians sometimes get discouraged and “clam-up.” We can learn a lesson from Jeremiah who couldn’t keep God’s message bottled-up inside, but had to let it out.

2. The title of this message is “Is There Fire In Your Bones?”

I. THE SITUATION IN JEREMIAH 20

A. NATIONAL COLLAPSE IMMINENT

1. But we are living in times very parallel to the days of Jeremiah. Times of shocking moral decline, increasing international threats, and the failure of national leadership to face the moral problems consuming our nation.

2. It was the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim King of Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar was on his way to Jerusalem. The armies of Babylon were already marching. The king had heard of the approach of the Babylonians & trembled; fear gripped the hearts of the Israelites also.

3. With all the horrors facing that generation, Jeremiah foresaw only one solution. Was it better government rule? More education? An adjustment in the culture? No! Jeremiah saw only one hope: REPENTANCE!

B. JEREMIAH CALLED TO WITNESS

1. Jeremiah was sent to give God’s final warning before the judgment actually fell. What a testimony this book is to the patience of God! At this point, Jeremiah had been speaking God’s warnings for twenty-two years, and still the judgment had been held off.

2. But now, at last, it was on its way, yet the nation remained stubbornly unrepentant. As Eccles. 8:11 says, “When evil people are not punished right away, it makes others want to do evil, too” EXB.

II. BEING A WITNESS ISN’T POPULAR

A. RESULTS OF JEREMIAH’S SPEAKING

1. Jeremiah was severely beaten and put in stocks! For what? Speaking God’s Word! This shows the terrible atmosphere of rejection of God.

2. Keep in mind that Jeremiah was the “Billy Graham” of his day. And how did they treat him? And the worst was, it wasn’t the secular government who beat & imprisoned him, but the leaders of “Religion” -- the chief officer of the Temple!

B. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF BILLY GRAHAM. This reminds me of the story of Billy Graham’s near assassination.

1. Billy Graham was holding a Crusade in Melbourne, Australia. George Palmer was in a gang that decided to kill Billy Graham. They were all armed; there were 10 of them scattered in different sections and rows.

2. George Palmer later said that he hated God because he lost his father at 7. “I hated Christians – it drove me to wanting to kill Billy Graham.” They decided to kill Billy when he gave the altar call. Each of them had a gun.

3. They eyed each other as 1,000s came down to give their hearts to Jesus. George Palmer turned around looking for his gang members and discovered they were not in their seats. They had all gone forward with the crowd to get saved & were up at the front! Then George put down his gun and hurried forward to get saved also!

4. These Assassins met a power they’d never encountered: the Word of God!