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!”
C. DO WE WANT A DIFFERENT WORD THAN THAT ALREADY GIVEN?
1. When it comes to God’s will, many people treat God like he’s a slot machine in Las Vegas. They think that if they pull the lever again, they will get a different answer.
2. King Zedekiah was that kind of person. He had already heard God’s will for his life three (3) times before this instance (Jer. 21:7; 32:4; 34:21). All three times he got the same answer, but he didn’t like the answer he got, so he “fished” for a different answer.
3. People today go to church and hear what the Pastor says from the Word about …
abstaining from sex until you’re married, or
working things out with your spouse, or
staying away from drugs and drinking
and if they don’t like the answer they get, they go listen to what The View has to say about it, or go to some church that doesn’t even believe the Word. They “fish” for a different answer.
4. But friends, it doesn’t matter what Anderson Cooper, Tucker Carlson, Chris Wallace, your Best Friend, or your Sister has to say about it, it only matters what “Thus saith The Lord.” God hasn’t changed his mind; if it was sin 50 years ago, it’s still sin now.
5. King Zedekiah was doing something dangerous; he was trying to get God to bless him while he was in sin. God’s answer is still, “No”. God won’t ignore sin. Someone might say, “Well, I’ve been living in sin and everything’s been going fine for me.”
6. Don’t be fooled; just because there’s been a delay in judgment doesn’t mean your sin has been overlooked; God is giving you a space of time to repent. Don’t wear out His patience!
D. KNOWING GOD’S WORD CARRIES THE OBLIGATION OF OBEDIENT FULFILLMENT
1. If we know what God’s Word says about something we’re doing (“It’s wrong!), then it’s a high-handed sin to keep doing it – it’s flagrant rebellion!
2. One time Jeremiah told a group of enquirers (42:19-20), “I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, 'Pray to the LORD... tell us everything he says and we will do it.'” Why? Because with knowledge comes accountability.
3. Once you know the truth, you MUST act on it, or depart from the Lord. Elijah said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? Choose who you’re going to serve!”
4. ILLUSTRATION
a. When Ronald Reagan, the former president, was a boy, his aunt took him to a shoe shop which made shoes. After measuring Ronald’s foot, the shoe maker asked him, "Do you want square toes or round toes?"
b. Ronald couldn’t make up his mind, so the cobbler gave him a few days. Several days later the cobbler saw Reagan on the street and asked him again what kind of toes he wanted on his shoes. Reagan still couldn't decide. The shoemaker replied, "Well, come by in a couple of days. Your shoes will be ready."
c. When the future president came to get his shoes, he found one square-toed and one round-toed shoe! "This will teach you to never let people make decisions for you," the cobbler said. "I learned right then and there," Reagan said later, "if you don't make your own decisions, someone else will!" [Today in the Word, MBI, August, 1991, p. 16.], or you will end up with a bad decision!
II. WHAT THE WORD OF THE LORD IS
A. HIS WORD TO THE BACKSLIDER -- RETURN
1. Backsliding is knowing God but later turning away from Him. Some people let their loved for God get choked by the world; others get discouraged by trouble. It’s a slow process of drifting, like a ship with its anchor slipping.
2. In the Book of Revelation Jesus told the church at Ephesians, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen!” (2:4-5).
B. HIS WORD TO THE CARELESS – RENEW!
1. A CARELESS APPROACH TO LIFE. Luke 21:34, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.” I think that describes a lot of Christians who have been careless with their walk with Christ, they are weighed down by the cares of this world.
2. In 1 Peter 5:8 Peter warmed, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
C. HIS WORD TO THE LOST -- REPENT
1. There are a lot of “seeker-friendly” preachers on TV who don’t talk about sin or repentance. Jesus’ first message was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
2. What does it mean to repent? It’s more than just knowing your wrong. Nicky Gumbel tells us of a man who sent a check to the government for back taxes with a note attached that said: “I felt so guilty for cheating on my taxes I had to send you this check. If I don’t feel any better, I’ll send you the rest.” Though he feels bad, he hasn’t repented.
3. Isaiah described it this way (55:7), Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”
4. Repentance is a simple message, but people don’t want to hear it. They want God to except them as they are. Jesus said, “Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” Mk. 8:34-35.
5. Thank God, God is a God of grace, “Where sin abounds, God’s grace does much more abound!”
CONCLUSION
A. ON THE FENCE?
1. I remember a skit at camp several years ago. There was a fence that one girl sat on. Someone tried to convince her to be saved, but she wouldn’t go. Someone else tried to lead her to open, indulgent, flagrant sin, and she wouldn’t do that either. She was content to sit on the fence.
2. Then the judgment came. Jesus came for the Christian. And Satan came for the one who had done the tempting. Then he came for the fence sitter, too. She tried to explain how she hadn’t gotten saved, but she hadn’t gone on Satan’s side, either.
3. Then he said, “No you didn’t choose me or choose Jesus. You were content to sit on the fence. But you see, I own the fence.”
B. ALTAR CALL
1. Are you backslidden, careless, or lost? God’s word to you is very clear, “This is the day to Return, Renew, or Repent.”
2. Max Lucado, “If there are a thousand steps between us and God, He will take all but one. He will leave the final one for us.” The choice is yours to take that last step to God and in so doing, turning away from the things of this world.
3. Salvation call. Recommittal call. Come to the altar.
