Spiritual Drought
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· 657 viewsGod's people may pray for deliverance and even admit their backslidding ways, but many times that confession is superficial in light of their own spiritual drought. God sees through our superficialness and only accepts true confession
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
Hopefully everyone has had a great week and a good and safe Halloween.
This morning if you would start turning in your Bibles to .
This morning we are going to be moving into a slightly different direction, but one that I believe many in the church find themselves in every single day.
And that subject is one of Spiritual Drought.
And we often wonder what causes Spiritual Drought?
What is it that leads us down the path that we feel like God is nowhere near us.
And the truth of the matter is, all of us at times have gone through times of Spiritual Drought.
In fact, all the way back in the 16th century, St. John of the Cross wrote a poem called “The Dark Night of the Soul,” which looks at the Spiritual Drought that is so common to all of us.
And this type of Drought is one that is meant to help us.
It is meant to build our faith and our dependence on God.
It is meant to show us that God is always with us and that God never leaves us.
However, there is a different type of Spiritual Drought as well.
This type not caused by anything God has allowed in order to draw us closer to him.
No, this type of Drought is caused by our own actions and our own behaviors.
It is the type that is caused by becoming complacent and, well, lazy in our relationship with God.
This type is caused by our own sin and indifference toward God.
And This is where our Scripture is focused on this morning.
Background
Background
And just to sort of bring us up to speed on where we are, we are in the final years of the kingdom of Judah.
Things were winding down and very soon, Babylon would be coming in and all of them would be carried off into captivity.
Judah had wandered so far from God that they had reached the point that they had totally abandoned God.
God had sent prophet after prophet to warn them, but still they would not listen.
They refused to change their ways.
They refused to repent.
They refused to follow God.
And the result was severe drought which led to famine.
Chapter 14 starts out this way . . ..
1 This is the word of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 2 “Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. 3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads. 4 The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads. 5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. 6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.”
1 This is the word of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 2 “Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. 3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads. 4 The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads. 5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
Jeremiah 14:1-
So, things were bad, really bad for them.
So, things were bad, really bad for them.
No water and because no water, there were no vegetables and all the animals were dying.
The people were dying of starvation and even dehydration in some cases.
All of this was going on and God was nowhere near them.
What’s up with that?
Where is God when his people needed him?
After all, they eventually realize and acknowledge their sin . . . .
7 Although our sins testify against us, O Lord, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.” 7 Although our sins testify against us, O Lord, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you.
They did what they were supposed to do, right?
Jeremiah 14:
They did what they were supposed to do, right?
They confessed to God.
Admitted their backsliding ways.
So, why isn’t God listening?
Why isn’t God fixing their problems?
In fact, the people themselves begin to wonder the same thing.
They are confused about why their God has not shown up, so they ask . . .
Jeremiah
8 O Hope of Israel, its Saviour in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveller who stays only a night? 9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O Lord, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
God’s Answer
God’s Answer
Surely now God will move.
Surely now God will hear our prayer and heal our lands.
Surely now God will come and rescue us.
Well, they were partially right.
God did hear them and God did respond.
But, God’s response was not something they probably thought they were going to hear.
And this is what God had to say to them . . .
Jeremiah 14:
10 This is what the Lord says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.” 11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
Definitely not what they wanted to hear.
And definitely not what they thought God would say.
After all, again they acknowledged their sin and their backsliding.
Why isn’t it good enough for God?
Well, it all boils down to the fact that all they were doing was paying God lip service.
All they were doing was really going through the motions.
Checking the things off the boxes, and even though they were confessing they were never repenting.
They were never turning around and going the other way.
Again, God says . . .
Jeremiah 14:
10 This is what the Lord says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”
And their pattern was this.
They would go along doing their own thing and when things started getting bad, they would admit they have sinned and backslid.
God would forgive them and give them another chance, hoping they would see their true ways and change them.
They wouldn’t though, they would go along good for a while and then slip right back into those old sinful patterns.
They would go to God again and repeat the same pattern.
Each time though God warning them that they had better really examine themselves and change their ways before it is too late.
Each time though they wouldn’t listen.
And finally, enough was enough!
God tells Jeremiah . . .
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.
How bad does it have to get when God even tells his prophets not to pray for the people?
These people are in serious trouble.
They had turned their backs on God for centuries and now, God’s back was being turned against their sin.
And he wasn’t going to listen to their lies anymore . . .
12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
And here is where we come into play.
We do the very same thing as the children of Israel did.
We go through our lives living in these times of Spiritual growth but also Spiritual drought.
Somewhere along the line in our lives we were introduced to Jesus and the church.
And somewhere along the way, we made a decision that maybe there is something to all this “God stuff.”
And we start to listen to what we are being taught and start changing our lives to match the expectations of the Church.
Maybe even somewhere along the line we confess our sins and acknowledge our own sinfulness.
But then, soon after we start to drift away.
We start to slip right back into those same old patterns, those same old sins, those same old behaviors.
And we figure out it’s because we’ve not been going to church like we should, or praying like we should or reading our Bibles like we should.
We’ve basically been neglecting God and indulging in our own flesh.
And so we make a decision that we are going to tell God we are sorry.
And we repeat the same pattern, over and over and over again.
And we can’t figure out why we cannot get over this hump, why we can’t just be “dedicated enough.”
Well, the problem is we are trying to do everything own our own.
We have confessed but we have never repented.
God changed our mind, but we never let Him change our heart.
And all we are really doing is offering God lip service, with no true change, no true repentance, no true heart in anything.
And as a result we are in a state of Spiritual Drought.
And it’s no mystery, God has warned us many times.
In fact God is warning some of us this morning, right now.
And we have to make a decision on what we are going to do with that warning.
Are we going to listen to it and finally repent and give God our heart?
Or, are we going to follow the same pattern?
And the sad thing is, many will fall into that same old pattern and same old trap.
And the result will be just like for the Israelites, utter and complete destruction.
Being carried off into captivity.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way . . . .unless we let it.
Jeremiah was relentless so he doesn’t take God’s advice to stop wasting his breath on these people and he prays anyway . . .
13 But I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”
“Come on God, give them one more chance....”
However, all their chances were over.
And folks when your chances are over, no amount of prayer by anyone can change it.
Bad Prophets
Bad Prophets
However, all of the blame is not to be laid on the people either though.
God responds to Jeremiah in a very interesting way here . . .
14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.
You see, Jeremiah had something working against him.
He was out trying to warn the people that they needed to repent, truly repent and follow God, but there were other prophets who were telling a different story.
They were lying to the people claiming it was a message from God.
They were giving the people false visions and divinations of happiness and prosperity!
They were teaching the people the ways of idolatry and in fact were delusional in their thinking and teaching.
And the people were falling for it hook, line, and sinker.
Because it was tickling to their ears.
Instead of giving them the truth, it was just giving them what they wanted to hear.
The people loved it and the prophets who were doing it loved it because the people loved them and they were regarded as as close to God as you could get.
They were what we call “people pleasers” doing anything to just keep the people happy!
Now, not much has changed over the years.
We have the same thing going on in the Church world today.
There are preachers and teachers out there trying to tell people the truth.
Trying to tell people that they need to repent and change their ways.
Trying to tell people that they can confess all day long but if they never change their heart, they are wasting their time.
And people do not want to hear that message.
And they fall victim to false teachers, false preachers, false prophets telling them lies and deceptions.
Telling them anything they can so long as the people are happy.
So long as it is what they want to hear.
And their motivation behind it is fame and fortune.
They are getting rich and powerful on the backs of people who are blindly following them and not God.
And here’s the thing, God will deal with the people who are refusing to repent and follow God, but God will also deal with these false prophets as well.
Jeremiah tells us this . . .
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no-one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.
Jeremiah14:15-
Altar Call
Altar Call
Folks, God is not messing around.
He is dead serious about sin and idolatry.
And if we want to make heaven our eternal home, we had better be getting serious as well.
We had better be examining ourselves and making sure that our heart is right with God.
That we are not just going through the motions and falling victim to the same old pattern of behavior.
With God one day and against God the next.
And you know this morning if that describes you.
And if it does, then you need to do something about it.
Maybe though you are here and you have been dismissing messages because it doesn’t fit what you want to hear or doesn’t line up with what you think about things.
Well, sometimes the truth isn’t pleasant to hear.
And sometimes just because we think something doesn’t mean it is right.
Jeremiah 14:
13 But I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”
Ask yourself this morning, what is the Spirit saying to me?
“Come on God, give them one more chance....”
What is my conscience telling me?
Because I am confident that if we are listening, the Holy Spirit will speak to us.
The key though is we have to be listening.
Our altars are open and what you choose to do with them is your choice.
What will that choice be today?
However, all their chances were over