“Thirsty? Come to the
Fountain”
Jeremiah 2:13
Introduction:
VIDEO - The Next Great Awakening:
vimeo.com/erwinbrothers/sbc Password: sbc
Transition from the video – The invitation of this message
is TO BELIEVE WITH US FOR THE NEXT GREAT
AWAKENING – for “God can do more in a moment than
we can do in a lifetime!”
We have heard of Great Awakenings in the past, but
the greatest need of our nation on our 239th birthday is
for the Next Great Awakening Q. – Did you know that the Cornerstone of the US Capitol laid by
President George Washington cannot be found?
(freemasonarywatch.org) – But This is not the only cornerstone
lost in our nation’s history 1
In our nation today, we collectively as the American population and
individually as Christians have lost something really important –
The LORD who is the Fountain of Living Water!
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We must never forget that our forefathers signed the
Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
on July 4, 1776 with courage – realizing it could cost them
their lives
Did you know that 29 of the 56 signers of the Declaration held what are today considered seminary or Bible school degrees? Typically critics list only the handful of the least religious from among the 56 to make a claim that all the Founders were deists or secular. In a recent trip to Philadelphia with Dr. & Mrs. Hunt for Timothy-­‐
Barnabas, our family visited one afternoon the Hall where the Declaration was signed… It is reported that the Congress meet in prayer for hours before signing the document/ months prior each session was opened with Bible study and seasons of prayer…. In this message ‘Thirsty? Come to the Fountain”–the call will be to
Experience the Living Water,– leading to the Next Great Awakening in
our nation’s history
Consider this Powerful & Prophetic word to a nation IMAG – Display 2:13 – “13 For My people have committed a double
evil:
They have abandoned Me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.” 1
o This is a prophetic Word to a nation which the prophet
Jeremiah gave to the Covenant People of God in His day.,
1 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Je 2:13). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 2
and this Word has great relevance to our nation & God’s
covenant people in our day.
o The context is the prophet Jeremiah’s ministry which extended
from 626 to 586 b.c., ….The book was completed sometime after
the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c.
o Understand the prophet preached with a broken heart with
tears for the unfaithfulness of the broken people of Israel…..
who pursued after idols rather than the Living God…
Jeremiah warned of the impending Judgment God would
bring through the Babylonians
Understand several Background matters of this Verse–
i.
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ii.
He was preaching to God’s people who forsook the Lord
o The people became Distracted from focusing on the Lord
– 2:2,3,6,8,27,28,32
o The people then grew Distant & Departed from the Lord
2:4,5
o The People Defiled themselves with idolatry 2:7,22
o The people were Declared guilty before the Lord 2:9-12
Prophetic Preaching –
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iii.
The Prophet – Jeremiah
His calling from the Lord was clear – 1:5-9
revealing the people’s sin of idolatry
calling them to Repentance/ to return to the Lord/ message
of repentance before the Judgment of the Lord from the
invasion of the Babylonians in 586 BC
The Point of His Prophesy – 2:13 –this one verse could
summarize the heart of Jeremiah’s message to the people/
to help them realize the source of Living Water and to call
them to repentance
Notice – Jeremiah points out 2 Evils of God’s People –
• Forsaking the Source of Living Water
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Forming other Kinds of Unsatisfying Water
o Note - two evils— evil is a sin against the holiness of God;
acting contrary to the will of God….. not merely one evil, like
the idolaters who know no better; besides simple idolatry,
My people add the sin of forsaking the true God whom they
have known; the heathen, though having the sin of idolatry,
are free from the further sin of changing the true God for
idols (Je 2:11).2
o This is the Sin of APOSTACY – is the willful rejection of
truth; the abandonment of one’s belief in a deity or religion –
o Abandoned living water, i.e., water that originates and
nourishes life, is a significant figure for God, with
whom is the fountain of life 3
o Apostacy was not only occurring in Jeremiah’s time,
but it is also occurring in ‘these last days’
o 1 Timothy 4: 1 – “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in
later times some will depart from the faith, paying
attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of
demons,4”
CONSIDER – the FULFILLMENT of the FOUNT OF LIVING WATERS
came ultimately 600 years following Jeremiah’s prophesy, our Lord
Jesus Christ promises to the thirsty soul of the Samaritan woman
John 4:13,14 –
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get
thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give
him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give
2 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 508). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. 3 Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 8, p. 38). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson. 4 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Ti 4:1). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 4
him will become a well
eternal life.” 5
p
of water springing up within him for
Our Lord promises once again in John 7:37-39
37
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus
stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me
y
and drink! 38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has
said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within
him.”6
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER –
• WHO SATIFIES THE THIRSTY SOUL
• WHO SUPPLIES A WELL OF WATER SPRINGING UP INTO
ETERNAL LIFE
ARE YOU THIRSTY?
• Just as the Psalmist expressed a spiritual ‘SOUL THIRST’ in
Psalm 42: 1,2 - 1 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.
2
I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God? 7
• Psalm 63: 1 - 1 God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You.
I thirst for You;
my body faints for You
in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. 8
HOW ARE YOU SATISFYING YOUR ‘SOUL’ THIRST?
• EITHER Drinking from the Fountain of Living Water of the
Lord – which Ever-Satisfies!
5 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 4:13–14). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 6 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 7:37–38). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 7 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ps 42:1–2). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 8 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ps 63:1). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 5
•
OR Making Self-made Containers which have no water –
which Never Satisfies
Notice 2 Callings of this text of Jeremiah 2:13 as we anticipate the
Next Great Awakening in our nation’s history -
1.– RETURN to the Fountain of Living
Water.
Notice – 2:13 – the LORD convicts His people with their two-fold
evil – “You have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water.”
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“Me they have forsaken, the Fountain,”; Therefore
RETURN TO ME
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“fountain” – speaks of the source of where the water
originates… i.e. – like a “spring-fed” lake…. receives its
water from the fountain, the source of the water.
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i.e. – The Lord desires to be to His covenant people a
“fountain” of ever-flowing, never-ending “living
water”… He desires to satisfy all our desires by
Himself…..
So the call is to Repent – turn from “forsaking” the
Lord to “following” the Lord as the fountain of living
water!
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Consider – this is a NATIONAL Call of Repentance to a Nation, but
it is also a PERSONAL Call to RETURN to the Fountain.
So HOW do we practically RETURN on the Lord as the “Fountain of
Living Water” –
a. Draw Daily from Refreshing Wells of
SALVATION
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Isaiah 12: 3 – is the be the daily practice of the Christ-follower
– “You will joyfully draw water
from the springs of salvation,” 9
John 7: 37, 38 – daily experience the ‘rivers of living water
flowing out of your inner being’
Illus. – Jesus cleansed 10 lepers & only 1 who was a
Samaritan returned to give Him thanks/ Daily show up at
Jesus’ feet to give Him thanks to draw from the well of
salvation!
b. Delight Daily in Refreshing PRESENCE of
the Lord
Psalm 36: 7-9 “God, Your faithful love is so valuable
that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
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They are filled from the abundance of Your house;
You let them drink from Your refreshing stream,
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FOR WITH YOU IS LIFE’S FOUNTAIN.
IN YOUR LIGHT WE SEE LIGHT10
Note – In this dry and desert wilderness of the world
which drains us, there is a fountain in the Lord’s
presence which gives an ever-streaming living water to
quench our souls.
c. Dive Daily from the Refreshing Water of the
WORD
9 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Is 12:3). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 10 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ps 36:7–9). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 7
Ephesians 5: 25-26 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as
Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her 26 to
make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water
by the word.”11
How’s your Bible Reading Habits? Do you have a Plan?
Are you keeping a journal?
Truth – It is not how many times you have read through
the Bible, but the times the Bible has gone through you!
The Word of God is not for INFORMATION to fill our
heads, but it is for TRANSFORMATION to change our
hearts!
In a dry and desert world spiritually, dive daily into
the Word!
d. Desire Often the Refreshing FELLOWSHIP
with the Church
The apostle Paul spoke of the refreshment which came
from fellowship– 2 Timothy 1: 16 – “May the Lord grant
mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he
often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my
chains.“12
The apostle Paul addressed Philemon – Vs. 7 – “For I
have great joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed
through you, brother.” 13
11 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Eph 5:25–
26). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 12 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (2 Ti 1:16). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 13 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Phm 7). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 8
There is something refreshing in an authentic fellowship
of believers who gather to love the Lord and love each
other.
ILLUS – I meet people in my travels all which express a
longing to be with us as FBC Woodstock for it is so
refreshing & encouraging
e. Declare Daily the Refreshing GOSPEL of
Living Water with others
As one who has received the Living Water, we should be
like the woman at the well – Sharing with others who are
thirsty the source of living water –
Recall the Account – John 4 – Jesus passing through
Samaria – encounters woman at well – the woman was
spiritually DEHYDRATED – excessive loss of life
magnified by her broken life, broken relationships and
religious confusion.
o Jesus offered her living water
o Jesus revealed her need for living water
o Jesus gave to her living water – i.e. of a personal
relationship with the Father– refreshing, reviving,
replenishing!
o Consider what occurred following the Samaritan
woman ‘DRINKING’ the living water of Jesus –
John 4: 28, 29 - 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went
into town, and told the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told
me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?”
30
They left the town and made their way to Him. 14
14 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 4:28–30). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers. 9
Q. – What would occur if every believer would DRAW,
DELIGHT, DIVE, DRINK & DECLARE the Fountain of
Living Water in our daily life?
CHALLENGE - On a hot summer day this week, buy a
cold bottle of water and share it with a friend and tell how
Jesus is the Living Water who has quenched the thirst of
your soul.
As we reflect on our Nation’s History, we understand our
nation has ‘Abandoned the Fountain of Living water’ YET
National Revival always begins individually with God’s
people –
ILLUS - D. L. Moody was once challenged by this statement:
"The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and
through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to
Him."
"He said 'a man,'" thought Moody. "He did not say, 'a great
man,' nor 'a learned man,' nor 'a smart man,' but simply, 'a
man.' I am a man, and it lies with the man himself whether he
will or will not make that entire and full consecration. I will
try my utmost to be that man."
Why not be that man or woman who lets revival begin in
you?
So the challenge is – Daily Drink from the Fountain of Living
Water and Pray for the seasons of refreshing to once again
come from the presence of the Lord.
The cultural problems of our day can all the solved by an
AWAKENING in the church –
• Sex-trafficing
• Moral Erosion of marriage and family
• Drug and alcohol addiction
• Etc
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Trans. – Notice 2 Callings of this text of Jeremiah 2:13 as we
anticipate the Next Great Awakening in our nation’s history –
o RETURN to the Fountain of Living Water
o But also …
2.– REFUSE the Self-made Containers
for Water.
Note: 2:13 – The Lord points out the convicting evidence that
His people are not only “Forsaking Me, the fountain of living
water” but also “My people…. dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.”
‘Made-made Cisterns’ – are figurative to the false religions
and philosophy of the pagan nations which can not satisfy the
soul - the gods of the heathen are the creations of men, and
that the worship of them is moulded by the carnalmindedness of sinful man;15
Background – Water was a rare luxury in Palestine, and
water from flowing sources was cherished.
o On the other hand, cisterns, through needed and used
because of seasons of insufficient supply, could only
store rain water.
o The thousands of them uncovered in archaeological
digs attest their importance.
o At best, cisterns often yielded stagnant water; at
worse they cracked and allowed the water to seep out.
Illus. – Get the picture – here is a people who are thirsty…
they have a source of unlimited moving, living water as a
unlimited stream BUT the people turn their attention in
15 Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 8, p. 39). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson. 11
another direction and see other nations digging in the mud
for water…. and they forget their bubbling, overflowing
fountain of water and they go over and begin to dig in the
mud… drinking muddy water… in wells that a cracked and
cannot hold water!
o God’s invitation to His covenant people is –REFUSE
these cisterns of broken attempts to gain water by idol
worship and RETURN to Me the source of living water!
o Someone has said – “Being lost is living by a set of
values that systematically dismantles your life.”
—Unknown source
TRUTH: Self-made containers can hold no water – i.e. they
cannot satisfy!
Consider several of the “broken cisterns” that we are to
Refuse in our day - (For the Gospel is so much better!)
a. Religious Pluralism – “Jesus is one
among many”
o Idea that all religions are to coexist because all
religions are equal.
o This was the “broken cistern” that Israel had dug in
their day – see 1:16 – for they abandoned the Lord to
worship other gods and the works of their hands….
o Understand - it is true that that there are many
religions in the world today; but it is a lie to say that
they are all equal!
o Yet this is a broken cistern of the world
o Teaching of the Bible – there is only one way to
heaven – John 14:6; Acts 4:12, for there is only One
who has died for our sins and 3 days later rose from
the grave!
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o Turn away from this “vain philosophy” that Jesus
Christ is “one among many” gods; for He is the “One
and Only”
b. Materialism – “Possessions are
everything”
o Defined - consider material possessions and
physical comfort as more important than spiritual
values.
o It occurs when material things and pursuit of
money is more important than God.
o This is a “broken cistern” of the world – for no
amount of wealth and material things can ever
satisfy the human heart!
Illus. - In his book Facing Loneliness, J. Oswald
Sanders writes, "The round of pleasure or the
amassing of wealth are but vain attempts to escape
from the persistent ache...The millionaire is usually
a lonely man and the comedian is often more
unhappy than his audience."
o Jesus warned of this– Matthew 6:24… “No one can
serve two masters;….”
o The fountain of living water Christ offers satisfies
every need of the human heart so that one can say
with the Psalmist in Psalm 73:25,26 – “Whom do I
have in heaven but You? And I desire nothing on
earth but You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but
God is the strength of my heart, my portion
forever.”
c. Relativism – “There is no absolute
truth”
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o Defined - doctrine that knowledge, truth, and
morality exist in relation to culture, society, or
historical context, and are not absolute…..
o Idea – ‘truth is in the eye of the beholder’
o Yet this a broken cistern of their world….. it cannot
hold water
o for Jesus is the truth! – Jesus said, “Thy Word is
truth” – John 17:17
d. Hedonism - “Pleasure at all costs”
o Defined - the pursuit of pleasure; sensual selfindulgence…. the ethical theory that pleasure (in
the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the
highest good and proper aim of human life
o Idea today – pleasure at all costs... if it feels good
do it!... viewed in the recent Supreme Court Ruling
on gay-marriages.. sexual revolution …
o This is a broken cistern that cannot satisfy – for as
King Solomon describes in the book of
Ecclesiastes – he had every possession, every
pleasure this world could afford said – “Vanity of
vanities all is vanity”
Illus. - While on their 3rd tour of the U.S., in 1965,
Rolling Stone guitarist, Keith Richards woke up
with a lyric to a song on his mind. Richards awoke
with an excessive hangover, a room full of women
groupies, and a seemingly endless line of empty
liquor bottles covering the room; as well as, drug
paraphernalia scattered abroad. This was the lyric
on his mind, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction."
o Truth of who Jesus is – He is the only one who can
satisfy the human heart…. only He can give you
rivers of that give pleasure to your heart
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e. Socialism – “Government is the
answer”
o Defined - political and economic theory of social
organization that advocates that the means of
production, distribution, and exchange should be
owned or regulated by the community
o Idea today – that government is the solution to
everything.
o Yet that is a broken cistern that many nations have
surrendered their national identity to….
o The truth is that we do not need more government,
but we do need more of God in our nation – Psalm
33:12 – “Blessed is the nation whose God is the
Lord”
Q. – Are there any “broken cisterns” that you have dug for
yourself that you need to forsake?
o there is another “ism” that is consuming many – that
is “MEism”
o i.e. living for only yourself and your selfish passions
and pleasures and pursuits….. only leads to misery
o 2 Cor. 5:14 – Christ died and rose again to save us
from ourselves!
Illus. – Remember what happened to the prodigal son in our
Lord’s parable –
o he received his father’s inheritance
o went out into the world and wasted it with wild
prodigal living
o he ended up in a muddy pig-pen
o he came to his senses and returned to his father.
o Everything that he desired from the world that he
could not find, he found in His father’s house!
Truth: Everything that the broken cisterns of this world say
they can give but cannot deliver…. you can find in the Living
water that the Lord Jesus Christ offers!
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o Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let Him come to me and
drink….”
Illus. –We all are familiar with “Spam”— a term used for
unsolicited e-mails—accounts for billions of distractions for
the average worker:
Number of spam e-mails sent each day : 183 billion
Number of work hours U.S. employees spent deleting
spam : 22.9 million
In the year 2011, the estimated figure for spam
messages is around seven trillion. The costs, such as
lost productivity and fraud, are borne by the public
and by Internet service providers,
Q. – How can you delete “Spam” in your life? REFUSE the
man-made, empty containers & RETURN to the Fount of
Living Water
Conclusion:
Challenge of this message today is RETURN to the Fountain of
Living Water –
o for if Jesus promised to give the one who comes to Him
“rivers of living water” and a “well of living water springing
up to everlasting life”
Q. –WILL YOU RETURN TO THE FOUNT OF LIVING WATER?
o REFUSE the “crack pots” – the things of this world that can
never satisfy the thirst of your heart
o RETURN to the Fountain of living water
LET’S EXPERIENCE THE FOUNT OF LIVING WATER –
o For Jesus is according to Hebrew 13 ‘ the same yesterday,
today, and forever’
o Picture the Living Jesus standing before you with a Golden
Bowl in His Hands overflowing with water…
o Picture yourself dry and barren… longing for the refreshing
presence of the Lord.
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o Imagine Him pouring the fresh, clean, pure water of life over
you …
o Express to Him your worship and gratitude…
If you have never Come to Jesus at the wells of salvation, Come
today!
o Change your focus – from living a life of self to living a life for
the Savior
o Adjust your focus – from a self-centered life to a Saviorcentered life!
Preached: FBC Woodstock, Ga 7-5-2015 9:30 & 11 a.m.
“Beyond Sunday” Challenges –
1. Identify the “spam” in your life that keeps you distracted from
focusing on the Lord. “Delete” these items from your life to drink
deeply of the living water of Christ.
2. Commit to memory Psalm 36:8,9. Meditate throughout the week
on the rivers of pleasure the Lord gives to your life.
3. Consider the application Jeremiah 2:13 to our nation. Pray for
the next Great Awakening and revival to begin in the church of
America.
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