Fire In Your Heart

Introduction

Well, good morning again to everyone. What a blessing it is to be here on the Lord’s day and to worship him, to study his word, to uplift one another. And what a privilege and an honor it is for uh for me to be here and to have my family with me. Of course, I wouldn’t have wanted to come without them, but I’m really glad that uh that not only my wife, but also my kids got to come and meet you all and meet meet the other children and be in the Bible class, which uh they said they really enjoyed. Um just a little background on my family and me. We are currently in Dade City, Florida, which is a little north of Tampa, about 45 minutes north of Tampa, and we’re in the northern part of Dade City in a church called Trillicucci.

And uh Trillicuche Church of Christ, where I am one of the two preachers, and I’ve been doing a part-time work there for the last uh about year and a half. I was thinking it was more like two years, but uh it’s been about a year and a half. And uh my my wife is uh from Tampa, and I’m from North Alabama. And so uh, but uh we’re we’re happy uh and thrilled uh to be here with you this morning. Jeremiah was a prophet who endured a lot of discouragement in his prophetic career. He endured so much discouragement that he actually considered giving up at one point. And that verse that I want to be the center of our sermon this morning is Jeremiah 20 and verse 9.

Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak anymore in his name. But his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. So even though Jeremiah wanted to give up, he did not. Because God’s word was like fire in his heart, shut up in his bones. So we’re going to talk today about fire in my heart. Motivation and personal evangelism. I believe that motivation is key. Because I could give you nuts and bolts, but if you don’t have the motivation to use the nuts and bolts, then what good are the nuts and bolts? And so if you have the motivation, you’ll find the nuts and bolts.

You’ll figure it out. When I was 28, uh I went and spent a week with a man named Dempsey Collins in St. Peter’s, Missouri. So this is 2008. And he is really good in personal work. And so I was just learning. I really wanted to know how. But I didn’t feel confident. So we studied and learned how that week, and he he asked me to preach about evangelism on Sunday morning. I said, Well, I don’t know anything about evangelism. He said, That’s all right, just preach on it. And I thought, well, what I’ll do is I’ll preach on motivation. Because that’s the one thing I did have. I didn’t have the know-how yet, but I have the fire in my heart. And if you have that, then you’re going to be able to do this.

If you don’t have the motivation, you won’t do evangelism. You won’t be able to. And you’ll give up. So that’s uh that’s the point of the lesson. You and I, like Jeremiah, need to have fire in our heart to proclaim the truth of God’s word to others in the face of discouragement. Now, do you realize, brethren, that we should be motivated to do evangelism because it’s our responsibility in whatever capacity we might have with our talents to reach out to the lost. Jesus commanded to confess Christ before men. He said, He who denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father who’s in heaven, and whoever confesses me before men, him will I confess before my father is in heaven. Well, what is that confession that he’s talking about there?

Is that just when you get up to be baptized and you say, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and there I did my confession, I’m done. No, this is talking about your daily confession of Christ. So I don’t care what you call it. Call it evangelism, call it what you want. But what it is, is it’s it’s standing up for Christ and it’s reaching out. And so it’s our God-given responsibility to do that. Uh the word evangelism is a word that means basically to tell the good news. Uh to be a messenger of good news. You even see the word angel in it, evangelism. And that comes from a Greek word that the idea of is a messenger. So to give a good message, evangelism.

1. Jeremiah’s Difficult Situation

Well, it’s not only a good message, it’s not only good news, but summed up in that good news, there’s also going to be some bad news. And that was what Jeremiah had the responsibility to give. Is not just the good news, but also the bad news. And so any time that we do that, we will face discouragement. So this is a very practical lesson. So let’s take a look first at Jeremiah’s difficult situation. He was a prophet during the time when Judah was alone. And let me just set that up. There was a divided kingdom. And the northern kingdom of Israel, because of its utter wickedness and idolatry, was taken away into captivity in 722 by the nation of Assyria. And the southern kingdom of Judah was left alone in the land for 135 years longer, because they had some good, some righteousness.

But there was enough wickedness that came on the scene after the days of Hezekiah, especially that God had had it. And he was going to send Judah also into captivity. But this would be by the new world power, Babylon. So Jeremiah comes along with a message everybody just loved. He told everybody, listen, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is going to come, and he is going to take us captive. And the best thing to do is submit to the king of Babylon and not resist him.

If you do not, things will not go well. Well, of course, that wasn’t a popular message. He was viewed, that was viewed as treason, and so on. And so, so no, he didn’t have a message that resonated. Now, leading up to our text here, I want to start in chapter 19 with the sermon of the broken flask. In verse 1, thus says the Lord, go and take a potter’s earthen flask and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. Now, keep in mind who he’s taking with him. These were the spiritual leaders, the elders of the people, and the elders of the priests. And he’s to take this flask, this vessel, and go out to the valley of the Son of Hinnam, which is by the entry of the potsard gate, and proclaim there the words that I will tell you.

This is where God told him to go. This is the way it looked about 50 or 60 years ago, or maybe longer. I can’t remember. But that’s something like it would have looked back in the day of Jeremiah. It was a place where just horrible idolatry was carried out, especially the offering of children to Molech. And so human sacrifices were offered here. Not a real great place to take people for your sermon. But that’s where God tells them to go. And to take these spiritual leaders, you go to that place and take this flask. Now, this is what the same valley looks like today. In the New Testament, we know this valley as Gehenna. That’s Jesus’ word for hell. Gehennah, Valley of Hennah or Hinnem. In the New Testament days, it had become a cesspool of just continually burning trash and so on.

And so a perfect picture of hell. And so, but back here in the Old Testament days, it was a place of horrific idolatry. So this is where Jeremiah takes these elders. And in verse 3, it says, And say, Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle. And he goes on with this message. And look there in verse 10. Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you and say to them, thus says the Lord of hosts, even so I will break this people, and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be made whole again, and they shall bury them in Tophet, which was a place within the valley, till there is no place to bury.

Not a feel-good lesson. I almost brought a flask. And I thought about just putting a blanket out here and shattering that flask just to make a very vivid point. That’s what Jeremiah did. He didn’t have PowerPoint, but he had a visual. And so breaking this flask was to say, this is what God’s going to do to you. He’s going to break in a thousand pieces, and not going to be able to put, be put back together. Well, after he preached this message in the valley of the Son of Henam, he then went, and God told him to preach the message in the court of the temple. The same basic message. And so he’s standing here with all these religious people coming in and out. And he’s preaching this message right there to them, saying, This is what’s going to happen to all you people.

And to this place. Well, the brethren then came up to him and they said, Brother Jeremiah, thank you for that fine lesson. You really stepped on my toes. My toes are bleeding. You know, people say that to me sometimes as a preacher. And that’s a good response, you know, because my toes are usually bleeding too. Well, that’s not the response. No, that’s not the response. In chapter 20 and verse 1. Now Pasher, the son of Emmer, the priest who is also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Now, who is this? This is a priest. This is chief governor in the house of the Lord. Then Pastor, verse 2 struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.

And it happened on the next day that Pasher brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. So first he struck him. And that is some sort of beating that Jeremiah received. And then he was put in stocks. Now, stocks were a restraining method, but also a torture method to bind you. Typically it would be the feet in an uncomfortable position that you would have to just stay there in the medieval times. You’ve seen the pictures of where the head, hands, and feet and the stocks. So I’m not sure what all these stocks consisted of, but it was a punishment. Now, I’ve had in my days of preaching some negative reactions to sermons before. Up in Monticello, close to Tallahassee, there was a man who said to me more than one time, I would put that sermon away and never preach it again.

He was dead serious. I say, Well, thank you. And if I did a really good job, what I thought was a really effective job, he would say, that was okay. That was about the best compliment I could ever get out of him. Yeah, okay, so I’ve had some negative reaction. But I’ve never had anybody strike me, beat me. I’ve never had anybody torture me for preaching the truth of God’s word. But that’s what Jeremiah endured. And he came out of these stocks the next day with boldness. Jeremiah said to him, this is the middle of verse 3 the Lord is not called your name pasture, but Magor Mesabib, which means fear on all sides. And he goes on to tell him what God is going to do to him and to his friends to whom he has prophesied lies, that God will take them into Babylon, and there they will die.

2. Jeremiah’s Discouragement

You say, Man, Jeremiah was bold. But if you know anything about Jeremiah, you also know that he was the weeping prophet. A very emotional man. And so we look at Jeremiah’s discouragement. He became very discouraged from what went on. And we get a very fascinating insight into his mind in the rest of the chapter. I don’t know if these are the thoughts that went through his mind throughout the night while he was being tortured. And by the way, that was in the high place of Benjamin by the temple. It was in a public place. It was so humiliating. Oh, he was so discouraged. Look at verses 7 and 8 of chapter 20. Oh, Lord, you induced me. And I was persuaded. You are stronger than I and have prevailed.

I am in derision daily. Everyone mocks me. For when I spoke, I cried out. I shouted, violence and plunder. I said what you told me to say, Lord. But the word of the Lord was made to me a reproach and a derision daily. He feels unfairly treated by God. In chapter 1, God told him to go and begin his prophetic ministry, his prophetic career. And Jeremiah basically said, I can’t do that. And God said, Oh, yes, you can. And you will. And they’re going to fight against you. But I’ll be with you. So go. So God convinced him. He persuaded him. And Jeremiah went and did what God said to do, but he kind of felt like the kid who was getting bullied at school and you know, asked mom and dad what to do.

They said, stand up to the bully. So he did, and he got a bloody nose. Is this what I get, God? This is what I get for doing what you told me to do. Oh, he felt so discouraged, treated unfairly. And you’ve got to keep in mind that Jeremiah did not have a very good atmosphere for evangelism. Look at Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 1. Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 1. Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. See now and know, and seek in her open places if you can find a man. If there is anyone who executes judgment who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her, meaning the city. Just try to find a man, Jeremiah.

You might think, man, Orlando’s tough to evangelize. I guarantee you it’s not as tough as in Jeremiah’s day. You can go out there and find a man, at least. And maybe a woman, too. How about that? Maybe several. Oh, sure. There are a lot of opportunities. But Jeremiah was in a very, very bad atmosphere for teaching the word of God. And so he fell into a deep depression. Like verse 14, cursed be the day in which I was born. Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me. Sounds like Job. Job 3 and verse 1. And so, yes, this was because of his efforts to teach the truth of God’s word and the results that followed, he got so discouraged. He just wishes he was never, ever born.

But he came out of this depression by relying upon the Lord for strength. For example, verse 11 says, But the Lord is with me as a mighty awesome one. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten. The Lord is with me. That’s what pulled him out of this. You can see Jeremiah just battling with all these thoughts going through his mind, but this is what he resolves upon. The Lord is with me. Brethren, we’ve got to remember, anytime we get depressed or discouraged, whether it be because of evangelism or in any other area of our Christian life, that if you’ve got God on your side, that you and God are always a majority.

And so he realized that. Everybody’s against me, but you’re not against me, Lord. You are my mighty, awesome one. And that will pull you out of the pits of despair. He got so discouraged that he desired to quit, as our key verse says in the first part of Jeremiah 20 and verse 9. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. He was at least considering throwing in the towel. This is shocking. Jeremiah, the great prophet of God, was considering giving up, proclaiming God’s truth. Oh, I tell you, his life would have been so much easier if he had never become a prophet. And this isn’t the only time we read of Jeremiah enduring persecution. We also read multiple times of him being thrown into prison of his own brethren, seeking his life and plotting against him, of him in chapter 33 being lowered down into a cistern, which the typical cistern of that time was 40 feet deep, and there was a famine, so there was no water, and he sank in the mire until he was finally allowed to come back out.

Why did he have to endure all of that? Well, because of evangelism, telling the good news and the bad news. That’s why he had to endure that. Our lives would be so much easier if we just didn’t have to confess Christ before men. I mean, can’t I just be a Christian in hiding? I mean, my co-workers don’t have to know. I can believe that what they’re doing is wrong, but I don’t have to say it, right?

We have to be careful. I have to be careful. That we not silence ourselves out of fear of what people think or what people will do. Because in our own smug way, what we’re doing is we’re denying Christ before men. And I believe that is a sin when we suppress the truth within us and we dampen that fire in our hearts because we don’t want the awkward looks, and we don’t want whatever bad consequences might come for speaking up in a spirit of love and saying this is God’s word, even when God’s word hurts. I’m not saying that we need to be jerks about it. We need to be nice and sweet and loving, and we need to speak the truth. Have you ever wanted to quit evangelism?

3. Three Discouragement Killers

Now maybe you’ve never wanted to quit because you’ve never begun. So you quit before you started, which is the same thing. I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I’m just stating this. So let me give you three discouragement killers if you’ve ever felt that way. That you just wanted to quit. Teaching the loss and confessing Christ before men. First discouragement killer is remember you are a success if you try. Was Jeremiah a success? Depends on how you look at it. Did he have a lot of success in bringing people to accept the truth of God’s word? Well, not immediately you didn’t. Not in his day, he didn’t. He had a little result later. But he was a success in God’s eyes, because God’s word will not return to him void.

Isaiah, I believe it’s chapter 55 and verse 17. And so Jeremiah did what God wanted. Listen, brethren, our responsibility is to take a cup and go to the fountain of the water of life and to dip from that fountain. And to see someone who needs it, and to say, here is the water of life. Now you can’t open their mouth and make them drink it. But you can tell them how sweet it is. And you can remind them of how much they need it and make them thirsty. Like Jesus did with the woman at the well in John 4. But that’s all you can do. And if you do that with a good heart effort, God is pleased, and you are a success even if they don’t accept the living water.

Second discouragement killer is to remember that rejection, it is not personal. Oh, it feels personal. It might be intended to be personal. But if you offer the water of life to somebody, and they reject that water, have they rejected you? They rejected the source. It says, you know, when the people wanted a king. Samuel was the last judge. We want a king. Oh, he was so discouraged and told God they rejected me. What did God say? They haven’t rejected you, they have rejected me. Which is the same basic message in Jeremiah 25 and verses 3 through 7. Why don’t we just turn and glance at that? Jeremiah chapter 25 and verses 3 through 7. From the 13th year of Josiah, this is when Jeremiah began his prophetic work.

For the 13th year of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the 23rd year in which the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened. And the Lord has sent to you all his servants, the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, Repent now, everyone, of his evil way, for his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, and I will not harm you.

Yet you have not listened to Jeremiah. You have not listened to me, says the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. So realize, brethren, that they’re not rejecting you, they’re rejecting God. And so try not to take it personally. The third, and I think most potent discouragement killer is opposition is expected. In chapter one of Jeremiah, I want to read the last few verses. This is when God is calling Jeremiah to his prophetic work. And first I want to look at verse six and then the last three verses. So God tells him, This is what I’ve set you apart for. Verse 6, then said I, Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.

So God reprimands him for that. And look at the end of the chapter, starting verse 17. Therefore, prepare yourself and arise and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. They will fight against you. They will fight against you. But they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. Amen.

In teaching martial arts, when I’m trying to teach them how to fight, and they’ve got their gear on.

And I say, now listen. If you get in a real fight at school, you’re gonna get hit. At least in here we got pads on. So man up and take some shots and quit being scared. If we go out there and evangelize, we’re gonna get hit. There are gonna be people who are cranky. There are gonna be people who reject us. To think that that’s not gonna happen is like saying, I want to go swimming, but I don’t want to get wet. A salesman sets out on his first sale. And what mentality should he have? Well, I’m gonna have to offer this to a hundred people before one person says yes. But let’s say you have a naive salesman, and he sets out and says, No, I’m so good, and my product is so awesome that virtually everybody’s gonna buy what I have to offer.

I might have a few people say no, but so he goes to the first house. Here’s my product. No, I don’t want it. Close the door. Oh. Okay. So we go to another place. Here’s my product. No, I don’t want it. Oh. He might do that for a few times, but he’s gonna give up because he had an unrealistic expectation from the outset that most people are gonna say, yes. Well, brethren, in evangelism, most people are not gonna say yes. Harold Colmer in Vestavia, Alabama talks about it takes a hundred touches when you’re inviting people to church to services, a hundred touches to get one response. And if you go out there with that realistic expectation, then when they say no, you say next. They say no, you say next.

4. Jeremiah’s Determination

These are discouragement killers, I think are very practical. Your success if you try, rejection is not personal, and opposition is expected. So, brethren, never give up. And don’t give up before you’ve even begun. Now, let’s look at my favorite part of the lesson: Jeremiah’s determination.

After he said, I will not make mention of him nor speak anymore in his name, then the second half of the verse says this. But his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. This is motivating. His word was in my heart. Like a fire shut up in my bones. I just can’t decide, is the fire in his heart or is it in his bones? So I titled the lesson fire in my heart, because it sounds better than fire in my bones. But I think it might be both. What would it feel like to have fire in your heart, literally? Or in your bones. Can you imagine being on fire from your bones?

The expression here is the idea of he just had to do something about this. He just couldn’t keep it in. He says, I was weary of holding it back. And I could not. Now, brethren, I’ve tried that. I go crazy when I’m not having studies with people, and I’m not trying to reach the loss. I just go absolutely insane. It wearies me. And Jeremiah felt that way. I tried to hold it out, and I just couldn’t. I had to let it out. I had to let it out. Now there are three ties to disciple. First of all, there is the disciple that just has something to say. The word of the Lord is not as fire in his heart. It’s as ice in his heart, and it comes out as just cold, lifeless, passionless information.

He just has something to say. Second type of disciple is one who just has to say something. He doesn’t want to. He just feels obligated. He knows his duty, and so there’s no desire. These two types of disciple will not be very effective in evangelism. But the third type of disciple, and the type of disciple that Jeremiah was and that we must be, is the type that has something to say and has to say it. What do we have to say? We have the truth of God’s word, the good and the bad news. And therefore, how can we keep from saying it and sharing it with others who need it desperately? So there’s both passion and desire in the effective evangelist. Jeremiah was motivated, wasn’t he?

And this motivation was deep-seated and abiding. That’s the only way that he could stay motivated, even when he was just released from the stocks. It had to be something that was very deeply rooted in his heart. So you might say, all right, it’s January, I’m gonna, I’m gonna start running every day, and I’m gonna lose 10 pounds. And you say, okay, well, why? Well, my wife doesn’t like my gut. Okay, so that’s your motivation. Now that may be a pretty decent motivation. So you start running every day or two or three times a week or whatever, and you do that for a little while, but it may come to a point where you know what? This is a hassle. And my wife can just live with my gut, and you just leave it.

You just leave it. But let’s say your motivation was your father died of a heart attack. And you want to be healthy because you don’t want to die of a heart attack. And that’s your motivation to go running. That’ll keep you going through the thick and the thin. That’s deep abiding motivation. In evangelism, brethren, your motivation’s got to be deeper than some surface thing like, well, I heard a lesson on Sunday morning from Jeremiah 20 and verse 9, so I’m going to go. I hope that gets something going, but you’ve got to realize the motivation’s got to be something deep within you. And it’s got to be from the same source that Jeremiah had his motivation. Jeremiah’s motivation was based on his deep and abiding love for God, for truth, and for mankind.

And that must be our motivation as well. And when that is deeply rooted in your heart, and you have a love for God, for truth, and for mankind, nothing will stop you from sharing the lost, the gospel. Brethren, we need to be like Jeremiah, who had fire in his heart. I want to end with a parable of my own.

Conclusion

And one of the members found this painting that was absolutely beautiful of Jesus. And he was standing out by the road holding this painting. And when there was nothing more that could be done for the building, the members of the church were standing out there, and by this time the whole neighborhood had gathered around in the community, and they were all watching this building burn to the ground. And as the light from the fire flickered off of this beautiful painting that the man was holding, it became very obvious that the attention was no longer on the building that was burning, but that all these people from the community were just staring at this beautiful painting. And as somebody said, Well, why is everybody staring at this painting?

And the man holding the painting said, When the church caught fire and moved Christ into the streets where people could see him, then they were interested. Brothers and sisters, beloved, we got to take Christ out of this church building and bring him out into the streets where people can see him. Then they’ll be interested. Now, how are they going to see Christ? Galatians 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. When they see us, they see Jesus. Jesus Christ was not put in stocks.

He wasn’t lowered down into a cistern. He was nailed. He was pinned to a tree and left to die on the cross. When we draw near to Jesus on the cross, we don’t need to just stand in the shadow of the cross. We haven’t drawn near enough until we have drawn so near our Savior that we too are affixed and crucified on that very cross with our Savior. And it might just be that the reason that you and I do not do enough evangelism, and the reason we do not imitate Jesus better, is because we’re not crucified with Christ. If we do that, the rest will take care of itself. It’s not Jeremiah ultimately that we need to imitate. It is our crucified Christ. And we are his crucified disciples.

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back. And I could. You bow your head. God, our Father, who is in heaven. We humbly bow before your throne. We are filled with guilt for when we have not shared your word with others. I am filled with that. May you strengthen us, Father, to look around us and to see that people need help. And to take the attention off of ourselves and to do what we can to help them, even if it’s not comfortable for us, and even if the truth hurts them, if it ultimately will be for the good of their soul.

We pray for boldness, for courage, but also for humility and love. May we be more like Jeremiah, but even more, Father. May we be more like your Son and become His crucified disciples. It is through Him that we pray. Amen. Thank you again for the opportunity to be here. Take your song books and turn to the song that has been selected for invitation. If you’re not a Christian this morning, you’re really missing out. You do not have the hope of eternal life. And therefore, your life has no meaning and no purpose. So once you become a Christian today, it is the most exciting life that you can live when you really understand what it’s about. So become a Christian by believing in the Lord, by repenting of your sins and confessing the name of Christ and being immersed in water for the remission of your sins.

And continue from that day on to obey the gospel every day of your life by obeying the commandments of God. And if you do that, brethren, you will be saved through faith and through the grace of our God. Won’t you come now and be baptized as we stand in seat?