Are You Drinking Out of The Fish Pond?
Jeremiah 2:1-13
Purpose: To cause people to realize if they are seeking soul satisfaction in anything other than God.
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INTRODUCTION:
You are on vacation in the mountains of north Georgia. You have decided to walk a mountain trail at the state park. It’s a hot August afternoon. You finish the hike you are tired and thirsty. As you come to the end of the trail you notice a huge refrigerator with a glass door (like in the convenience stores) filled with bottles of Crystal Springs water. The Sign says Fee water—help yourself. You are so thirsty you cannot wait to walk over to the cooler and help yourself to some cool refreshing water.
As you are satisfying your thirst with this cool clear free water you notice a man coming to the end of the trail. He looks even more tired and thirsty than you are. You just know he cannot wait to get some of this clean refreshing free water. But, to your surprise he stops at the end of the trail and kneels down to drink from a small fish pond at the end of the trail. You passed this fish pond and noticed the gold fish swimming in it—the Lilly pads, a few frogs and a turtle. Like most unattended fish ponds it was filled with algae, the water was green, stagnant, murky.
But, this man has his face down to the fish pond drinking with all his might. You just cannot believe it. Your curiosity gets the best of you so you walk over to the fish pond holding your bottle of Crystal Springs. You ask him—”Why are you drinking out of the fish pond? Don’t you see that cooler full of free Crystal Springs water? You will get sick drinking that polluted water. There is no telling what’s in that water.”
He says to you, “I saw the cooler, but this fish pond was closer, more convenient and I was real thirsty. And besides, didn’t you see this sign?” He pulls back a branch hanging over the fish pond and reveals an old hand painted sign that reads, “Free water—Drink all you want—it will satisfy your thirst”
What would you think about his guy? Would you think he was crazy—Drinking out of the fish pond when he could have clean, cool, refreshing water?
B. I want to ask you this morning—are you drinking out of the fish pond?
1. In our passage today, Israel was guilty of drinking out of the fish pond.
2. There was a clear, fresh, flowing fountain of water available but they chose instead to drink out of the fish pond.
C. Jeremiah 2:1-13
1. Context—God is about to bring divine judgment on Judah because of their continual rejection of Him.
2. They are going to be destroyed by the Babylonians.
3. In preparation for this coming judgment, God sends Jeremiah @ 588 BC to preach 13 sermons of judgment against them.
4. God is showing them the reasons for His divine judgment.
5. Our passage today is the 1st of these 13 sermons.
I. ISRAEL’S SITUATION
A.Jer starts this sermon by recalling Israel’s former faithfulness. (1-3)
1.Jer goes back to the Exodus—God brought them out of bondage to Pharaoh
2. He first speaks of the “devotion of their youth”
*Jer is referring to that natural devotion that a child has to his parents
*when your parents were hero’s in your sight
*They could do no wrong—they had your unquestioned devotion
Illus. I remember when I was around 6 or 7 asking my dad if he were an angel. I knew he was not God but that was the next best thing in my eyes!
*Israel started off with this kind of devotion for God
3. Jer next says they loved God like a bride loves her husband! “love of your betrothals”
*ESV “your love as a bride”
*Do you remember your wedding day?
*How much you loved your husband?
Illus. One of the great things about being the preacher at a wedding is I get to see the look in the eyes of the bride and groom. When they are exchanging their vows-she looks at him with eyes of such love, admiration, devotion!
*Jer reminds Israel that they loved God like this in the early years
3. Israel followed God—cloud led they followed
4. Next, Jer tells them that they were special to God in those days. (3)
*Of all the nations of the world they were His special treasure.
*They were the firstfruits of the nations
*just like the firstfruits of the harvest was to be given to the Lord, they were His firstfruits
*Any nation that tried to take them over incurred God’s anger and punishment
Illus. The Amalekites tried to destroy them Ex 17 later God told King Saul to completely them
B. Israel’s Departure from God (4-8)
1.It was not because they found any fault in God (4-7)
*God did not abandon them in the wilderness
*He brought them into the land of plenty and they enjoyed its good fruits.
2.Priest did not know God—stay in Word
3. The rulers disobeyed God
4. The prophets gave false messages
C. Jer moves to the image of a courtroom. (9-12)
1. “Contend” in the Heb is a word for filing a court case or lawsuit.
2. God says looks at the other nations—you will not find any who have forsaken gods (who are not really gods at all)
3. Yet you have forsaken the one and only true God!!
D. Israel had committed 2 sins (13)
1. She has forsaken God the fountain of living water
*Water is an essential ingredient in life.
Illus people dying of thirst not starvation
*It is essential we have a source of clean, water
*In Bible days the best source of water was a fountain flowing with fresh living water.
*God was likened to this best source of water—
*the best source of life—
*the best source of satisfaction!
* the best source to Quench thirst!
—But Israel had forsaken God
2. She had committed a second sin—she had made for herself cisterns that would not even hold water.
Explain cisterns—blackest stale water tasted like dirt
*They were drinking out of the fish pond!
E. The cool refreshing divine bottles of Divine Springs were available but they had chosen to drink out of the murky fish pond believing that water would satisfy their thirst!
II. ARE YOU LIKE ISRAEL THIS MORNING—ARE DRINKING OUT OF THE FISH POND?
*Have you built cisterns that leak?
*trying to find soul satisfaction in the stale, stagnant waters of the broken cisterns?
A. What was it like when you were first saved or when you experienced that last refreshing of God in your life?
1.You were devoted to God.
*you could not wait for Sunday to come
—you could go to church
—you could hear God’s Word taught and preached
*giving was a joy
*you could not help telling others about Him
2. You loved God like a bride loves her groom
*you enjoyed your prayer/Bible study times
*during the day you would spend time w/ Him
*set your alarm clock so you could get up …
*you could not help telling others about Him
*your heart was overflowing with love for Jesus
*You loved to lift up your voice in praise/ worship
*He was the joy of your life—satisfaction
3. You followed God completely
*you wanted to obey whatever He told you
*you hated sin in your life
*no sacrifice was to great for your Lord
*you enjoyed serving God—anything
*some of you may have surrendered to ministry or missions
4. You knew you were God’s special treasure
*you felt so special
*Jesus saved you—He died for you
*God had chosen you to be His
*You had been forgiven—cleansed—saved
*that was your joy—soul satisfaction
B. As time went along like Israel you began to drift
1. The first thing to go was your quiet times
*you got more and more spasmodic ..
*finally stopped all together or 5 minutes
*kept having them but it’s a ritual not vibrant
2. You no longer had the joy and satisfaction in your personal relationship with Jesus
*GIVING became a burden
*serving was a sacrifice you were unwilling to make
*church became dry, boring
3. You began to tolerate old sins again in your life
*sins you had given up when saved or revived
*now you are giving into them again
4. You began to listen to the voice of man rather than the voice of God
C. You started drinking out of the fish pond!
1. You turned away from the fountain of living water—Lord God
*It was not a conscious decision
*You did not just say one day, “I’m going to forsake God the only true source of soul satisfaction and try to find soul satisfaction somewhere else.”
*But you did forsake the living fountain and begin to drink out of the fish pond
2. You turned to the fish pond and began drinking the stale, contaminated water.
D. Maybe it is the fish pond of relationships-
1. People think if they can just find that right relationship their life will finally be satisfying and fulfilling—the right guy or girl—Mr. Right
*before long they find out Mr. Right can not only fill their cup but he also punches holes in it and drains it sometimes
*he or she is not the answer
*they get a divorce and find someone else hoping that person can fulfill them
2. They think maybe children is the answer
*If I can just have children I will find…
* Children certainly fill our cup but they are also great at emptying it!
*they can really disappoint and frustrate us
3. They think a good friend is the answer
4. The reality is no person can bring your true lasting soul satisfaction!
5. Are you drinking from the fish pond of relationships?
E. Maybe it is the fish pond of things
1. If I can just get enough things I will find satisfaction—that’s what the commercials tell me
2. That house—car—boat—big screen TV
3. I am afraid there are many Christians who are drinking from the fish pond of things
4. The more affluent we get the more we drink from the fish pond of things
Illus we want more and more things
A typical market in the United States in 1976 stocked 9,000 items; today that same market carries 30,000 different items. And why is that? Because we have an obsessive compulsion to possess more and more things, thinking they will bring satisfaction in our lives.
Illus things do not satisfy
The most toured home in America is the white house. But does anyone know where the second most toured home in America is?
The second most toured home in America is in Memphis Tennessee.
It’s the 23 room home of the King of Rock and Roll - Elvis Presley. (thank you, thank you very much).
Graceland is toured by hundreds of people every day. It is a combination of the home, an amusement park and an historic site. 15 million dollars a year is brought in by those visiting and looking at the cars, clothes, airplanes, records.
And few people in his time made as much money as quickly as he did. Certainly no one else had so much fame and popularity. Elvis seemed to have it all. money, airplanes, cars, mansions. But what is all that stuff? It’s THINGS And if you go 50 yards from the back door of Graceland you find a tombstone. Aug. 16, 1977, 42 years old. An overdose of pills. Depression. He was so drugged in the last days of his life that he passed out while he was eating dinner alone and he nearly drown when his face fell in his bowl of soup.
THINGS did not do it for him. And though he had as much as anybody, he said at one point, "I would give a million dollars for one day of peace."
F. Maybe you are drinking out of the fish pond of happiness, pleasure, good times
1. WE are a nation that craves entertainment—pleasure—good times
*Disney world, Sea World,
*billion dollar movie business
Illus. What someone has called the pleasure explosion has overtaken us so that in the United States alone the pleasure business has been growing at an average rate of 6 billion dollars a year since 1965. Thrills and chills are available on demand. Popular amusement parks offer themes and thrills of all sorts, including spectacular shows and breathtaking rides. And, there are the video games which rival TV itself, one of the most pervasive sources of amusement. One estimate is that 5 billion or more is spent in a single year on video games and that during a single year people play them for the equivalent of 75 thousand manned years. Over and above that something like an additional one billion dollars is spent annually on games that can be plugged in and played on television sets and computers in our homes.
2. We cannot wait until that next vacation—
—the next holiday
—the weekend
3. It’s nothing wrong with having a good time but when we seek our soul satisfaction in good times or entertainment we are drinking out of the fish pond
4. When you say “I cannot wait until the weekend.”
*Do you mean I cannot wait until the weekend so I can go out to eat, go to movie, ballgame or I cannot wait until the weekend so I can go to church?
G. Maybe it’s the fish pond of accomplishments
1. If I can just get that promotion—make the varsity team—cheerleader—homecoming court—most valuable player—college degree
2.Trying to find soul satisfaction with accomplishments is like trying to fill a cup with liquid nitrogen. (evaporates as soon as it is poured)
3. When we finally get the accomplish the satisfaction is so short lived!
Illus. Like the airline pilot who was flying over a river. He said to his co-pilot, “See that river down there? When I was a boy I would fish down there and every time I would see a plane flying over I would thing, “I sure would like to be up there flying that plane.” Now every time I fly over that river I look down and think, “I sure would like to be down their fishing!”
4.We do not have time today for me to tell you how many times I have found myself drinking out of the fish pond of accomplishments only to be disappointed!
*I hope I have finally learned …
III. ARE YOU DRINKING OUT OF THE FISH POND TODAY?
A. Listen to God’s invitation Isa 55:1-3
"Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
2 "Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.
3 " Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live;
The only way to quench your soul’s thirst is to abandon your fish pond and come drink freely and deeply from the fountain of living water— the Lord Jesus!
John 7:37-39
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, " If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ’From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water .’"
*Look to Him and only Him …
*Let your heart be captivated with Him
HE IS YOUR SOUL’S SATISFACTION
