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!
C. JEREMIAH DECIDED TO KEEP QUIET
1. When Jeremiah found himself beaten, in a dungeon, in stocks, he decided he’d had enough. He
wasn’t going to speak for God to these people anymore! They wouldn’t listen anyway. What was the point?
2. But the longer he kept quiet, he felt a power building within him. It was impossible to contain! He exclaimed, “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. 20:9 NIV.
3. Have you been quiet about Jesus lately? Have you been holding back from speaking the Word to people? I hope you find it impossible too!
III. IS THERE FIRE IN YOUR BONES?
A. WHEN SILENCE LOST THE CASE
1. A court case was lost because of the silence of an attorney. The distinguished lawyer Samuel Hoar (1778-1856) was representing a defendant. When it was time to present his case, he told the jurors that the facts favoring his client were so evident that he would not insult their intelligence by arguing them.
2. The jury retired to deliberate and returned in a few minutes with a verdict of guilty. Samuel Hoar was astonished! “How,” he asked, “could you have reached such a verdict?”
3. The foreman replied, “We all agreed that if anything could be said for a case, you would say it. But since you didn’t present any evidence, we decided to rule against you.” Silence had lost the case.
4. If we don’t speak up for Jesus, people won’t know any reasons they should accept Him and will continue on in their sin!
B. GOD’S WORD HAS FIRE IN IT
1. "Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jer.
23:29). The Law that came By Moses was a "fiery Law," (Deut. 33:2). There’s not only light but heat, not only flame but fire.
2. THE WORD HAS THE SAME POWERS AS FIRE:
a. IT MELTS coldness, hard indifference, stubborn self-will, and impenitence - all these are softened by the fire of God when it enters into the soul.
b. IT CATCHES THINGS ON FIRE. Paul said in Romans 12:11 that we should be “FERVENT IN SPIRIT; serving the Lord.” “Fervent” means to boil or to be hot. One way to be fervent is to hang around with the Lord. The closer you get to a fire, the hotter you’ll get, since “Our God is a consuming fire!”
c. IT IS CONSUMING. The Word destroys everything in us that’s false, selfish, sensual – all the DROSS is consumed so that the precious gold of our faith may come forth. The chaff is burnt up with unquenchable fire.
3. ILLUSTRATION
a. Once I stayed in a cabin before that had a wood-burning stove to heat it. I awoke on a cold winter morning, feeling like the fire must’ve gone out. Shivering, I opened the stove and found a few embers buried in the ashes. All I had to do was push off the ashes, put on some kindling wood, and fan it. Suddenly the fire burst out anew and heat began to fill the room.
b. The Lord has called us to awaken from our slumber and rekindle the fire. Add the fuel of the Word. Check up on the company you keep. Spend time with people that are excited about God’s Word. Get up close to the source of the heat, and be fervent.
C. THE OBLIGATION IT IMPOSES
1. Jeremiah said that what was inside him had to be let out. Paul said, "...I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" 1 Cor. 9:16.
2. Why are the pulpits of America agreeing with sin instead of driving them to repentance? When Peter preached in Acts 2:37 says, "They were pricked (convicted) in their heart, and said to Peter...‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’"
3. Where is the fire today? God touched Isaiah's mouth with coal of fire and purified him. May God put a coal of fire to our lips!. The fire is the Word of God. Let's go back to the Word! Let's surrender all to God. God's fire is available; we need our hearts to catch fire. May the Consuming Fire of God alight on you!
4. HOW CAN A PERSON, WHO CALLS HIMSELF A CHRISTIAN, KEEP QUIET?Do WE have the same Spirit as Jeremiah? Do we have a fire within that is compelling us to speak about Christ? There are multitudes in the valley of decision. Wake up! Come alive again! Revive! Let the Holy Spirit motivate you to tell others about Jesus’s love.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: REWARDS AT THE BEMA JUDGMENT
1. There was a great street demonstration in New York in which 12,000 people marched. In the procession were 3 sight-seeing convertible cars packed full of men, women, and children. In one was a judge of the Court of Appeals, and in the last one was a ragged street boy.
2. On the sides of the cars it said, “These people have all been saved from burning buildings by the New York Fire Dept.”
3. Then behind the cars marched the men who’d saved them, wearing their medals, while hundreds of thousands of people cheered them.
4. Think of how it will be in eternity when the Heavenly Parade takes place and all the saved pass by, and then the small company of soul-winners who told them the Gospel! What joy will thrill the hearts of those who “pulled men out of the fire.” IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL! –The Elim Evangel
B. THE CALL
1. If you stay quiet about Jesus, I can make only one conclusion about you: “YOU HAVE NO FIRE WITHIN!”
2. Let’s make up our minds to speak this week about the Savior’s love! Let’s place our hearts on the altar and cry out to God.
3. PRAYER.
[This includes some thoughts of Ray Stedman in his “A Burning in the Bones,” J. Waite’s “A Fire Burning Within,” David Dailey’s “A Fire Shut Up in my Bones,” and Wilson Oshorakpor’s “Where Is The Fire?”]
