06PM September 10 Jeremiah 11 3 17 5 48 10

September 10, 2006—Evening Worship

Living in the State of Barrenness

Descriptions of a Dry Spiritual Life

Jeremiah 11:3, 17:5, 48:10

Intro:  I'm aware that we can be in the most spiritual circumstances & yet know barrenness in our spiritual lives. I’m talking about a spiritual dryness & a spiritual void that seems to overtake our time w/God until we almost come to the point of abandoning it altogether.

          Have you ever experienced a “dry” time spiritually? Have there ever been moments or days or weeks or even months when it seemed as if God had moved & left no forwarding address? I’ve been guilty of those times before & so I’m preaching to myself tonight as much as I am to any of you!

          As difficult as our lives seem, Jeremiah went through extremely difficult days. He is known as the weeping prophet. There was no positive response to his message. His ministry was almost, if not totally, devoid of conversions. There were no large crowds coming to hear Jeremiah. There were no large numbers “making decisions.” But Jeremiah was faithful none the less to proclaim the word of the Lord.

& God punctuates this amazing prophecy of Jeremiah w/some of the most solemn warnings you'll find anywhere in Scripture. I have chosen 3 of them that I hope will search our hearts tonight.

Let’s begin as we READ Jeremiah 11:1-3.

Here we find that barrenness is…

1. The Consequence of Disobedience to the Word of God (Jeremiah 11:3).

1. Contextually, this is an interesting verse.

2. Undoubtedly it has reference to King Josiah in his 18th year after having rediscovered the Book of the Law.

3. After reading it & searching his own heart, Josiah felt convicted & sought to bring about a renewal—a revival among his people.

4. Josiah arranged to have the Scriptures read openly.

5. If you read the story carefully, you'll discover that God's people didn't rise to the occasion.

6. B/c of their disobedience & refusal to bow to the authority of God's Word, the prophet Jeremiah came w/this warning. A similar situation is found in 1 Samuel 15:10­23. It concerns King Saul who was commanded to kill the Amalakites.

7. He chose his own terms of obedience & saved Agag the king & the best of the cattle.

8. The prophet Samuel walked into that situation & heard the bleating of the sheep & the lowing of the cattle.

9. Samuel promptly rebuked King Saul w/these solemn words: ". . . you have rejected the word of the LORD, & the LORD has rejected you . . ." (1 Sam. 15:26).

10. There is no substitute for total obedience.

11. Many a Christian today is living outside the will of God & still seeks God’s blessing on what they do.

12. This sets us up for a dryness in our spirits b/c our lives do not honor God!

13. & yet most Christians would say, “Well, I’m trying in so many areas! You’d think God would let this one thing slide!”

14. God wants our full attention; our full loyalty; our full obedience!

15. Truth b known—we’re content w/showers of blessings instead of a downpour!

Barrenness is…

2. The Consequence of not Trusting the Power of God (READ Jeremiah 17:5).

1. Here are dramatic & devastating words addressed to God's people, who of all the nations of the earth had seen the mighty demonstrations of God's power.

2. Yet they had turned from God’s power & sought alliances w/Egypt & Assyria.

3. Jeremiah, as God’s prophet, had to come & say "Cursed be the man who trusts in man & makes flesh his strength" (Jer. 17:5).

4. One illustration of that is Moses in his early days.

5. Moses thought that "by his hand" he could deliver Israel (see Acts 7:25).

6. He killed an Egyptian, was forced to run into the desert, & for 40 years God had to show him that he couldn't trust in his own hand.

7. Only after those 40 years of utter brokenness could God take a man who was afraid to even open his mouth & use him to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt.

8. I want to remind every one of us that all power is inherent in God.

9. All power ultimately belongs to Him.

10. We are able to do absolutely nothing w/o Him!

11. It doesn’t matter how smart; how wise; how brilliant you may be; you can do nothing w/o God!

12. We cannot trust in ourselves or other humans b/c we are all powerless!

13. So we must look to God; trust God; believe God; follow God in ALL things!

14. Again, truth b know—most of what we do each day we do in our own power!

15. We MUST trust God’s power & rely on Him if we are to be spiritually renewed

Barrenness is…

3. The Consequence of Deceitfulness in Doing the Work of God (READ Jer. 48:10)

1. These are such heated, intense words that the higher critics & others have sought to remove them from the prophecy of Jeremiah & say that it's not part of Scripture, but that is completely unwarranted.

2. We not only believe in the inerrancy of God's Word, but we also know that this teaching often occurs elsewhere in the Bible.

3. One of these is in the NT: the case of Ananias & Sapphirah (Acts 5:1­11).

4. There is nothing God hates more than deceitfulness in the work of the Lord.

5. Ananias & Sapphirah were members of the Jerusalem church, & they had seen Barnabas come w/all his wealth & lay it all at the apostles' feet.

6. Ananias & Sapphirah decided that they too wanted to make a good impression on the leaders of the church, so they sold some land & gave part of the proceeds to the apostles while pretending to give it all.

7. They conspired together to lie. They presented their gift to the apostles, but Peter, by the power of the Holy Spirit, saw right through the fraud & phoniness of it all & said, "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" (Acts 5:3).

8. Immediately, Ananias & then Sapphirah were smitten by the judgment of God.

9. This illustrates the truth that God will not look w/favor on deceitfulness in the work of the Lord.

10. Proverbs 6:16-19

11. We are to be the people of God & that means we are to be pure!

12. We are to have pure motives; pure actions; pure thoughts; pure desires.

13. & that’s not just in our personal lives as important as that is; it’s in Lord’s work

14. No tricks to get people into church; no gimmicks; & once they are here, everything we do is to glorify God whether it makes us look good or not!

15. It’s not about us—it’s all about God & being loyal to His word & faith to His call & cause.

Conclusion:  I believe that God is using this church! But I also believe God wants to do so much more! & based on what we’ve heard tonight, He will not use us to any great degree unless & until we come to Him in full submission.

          Ladies & gentlemen, we need to be revived! I need revival in my own personal life & I would hope that you would want to be revived yourself! But until we get the matter of self out of the way, God will not work in us in great measure. & I want God to work in us in great, marvelous, unexplainable measure!

          Let’s abandon this state of barrenness by obeying God's Word; by trusting God's power; & by doing God's work His way. & I believe we need to plead w/God to pour out His mercy & grace & blessings on us in abundance as we submit ourselves to Him!

Invitation:  I wonder, would you join me tonight bowing before the Lord & pleading w/Him to open our hearts; to grant us the gifts of repentance & faith & that He would move in us in a way that would most glorify Him?

          If you’re willing to do that would you cry out to God right now? You may do so from your seat, from the front row or by kneeling here at this platform using it as an altar. Are you dry? Do you want to be drenched? Would you kneel & plead w/God to revive you & your family & your church & your pastor?

Hymn 469 Revive Us Again