THE CRY OF MY PEOPLE
Text: Jeremiah 8:18 thru 22
This past week I was handed a brochure that was produced by an Assembly of God church down in Winter Park, FL.
The church was celebrating their 50th Anniversary & had published a brochure entitled, “Fifty Years of Changed Lives”. The reason why I was interested in this brochure is because this was the church where I had given my heart to the Lord 36 years ago.
There were pictures and stories of how this wonderful church was founded and blessed over these many years. Perhaps (at first) I was sentimental with the wonderful memories of days gone by.
I was blessed by their growth and success in ministering there in Central Florida.
In 1968 I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. That was during the days that were called the “Charismatic Renewal Days.”
Great memories.
Looking at this brochure, my heart began to sink thinking about how (at the time)
I was convinced
· Our nation was truly experiencing (what many have called) the Last Great Revival/Outpouring.
· People were giving their hearts to Christ everywhere and there would soon be an end to sin and disbelief.
· At the rate of this revival, our nation would once again become the God fearing nation it once was.
· The devastations of drugs, alcohol, racism, etc., would soon vanish.
Unfortunately, the world is still lost and living in the darkness of sin and disbelief.
As I remember those days, I must admit I feel much the same way the Prophet Jeremiah did.
“I would comfort myself in sorrow;
My heart is faint in me.” (vs. 18)
This morning, I have a great sorrow for my friends and family members who still are not saved.
Notice: Jeremiah went on to say in vs. 20,
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
For those of us that have loved and served God for a long period of time, we want to know why it is that many friends and relatives are still not saved. A word of caution to us all. Time is running out!
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
Do you feel the same way I do? Is your heart broken for those who are still lost?
The saints of God should never become so sentimental over the past that we forget how to grieve for the lost souls.
It is often hard for us to express how much it hurts that souls are dieing and are being sent to an everlasting judgment.
Do you ever find yourself grieving over lost souls as Jeremiah did?
Or have many of us become disconnected from the desperation of the sin and wickedness in this world?
Jeremiah is known to Bible Scholars as the “weeping prophet”. He described the heaviness of his heart in chapter 9:1
Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Strong words from a very broken man.
Consider this. If there was anyone who should not weep over sin, it would surely be the consecrated prophets of God. Great men of the Bible like Jeremiah really had no reason to weep. Jeremiah was the messenger, not the sinner.
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
If you are saved and sanctified by the blood of the Lamb, you won’t need to weep because of sin.
Nevertheless the more we know God, the more we should lament and weep for the spiritual well being of others. Amen?
Some saints will mourn over the sins of a nation, while others (who call themselves righteous) will only complain of how bad things have become.
There is something I have noticed over the years. The righteous men and women of God will often feel more concern for the souls of their loved ones than their loved ones will feel for themselves.
Illustration:
When I consider the fate of sinners without Christ, I have this picture of a convicted felon who waits for his verdict from the judge. His loved ones are gathered there in the courtroom weeping for the fate of his judgment. And the convicted felon only laughs.
My friend – this world has become painfully indifferent to the thought of the wrath and fury of God. The world will often mock and laugh at the reality of God’s judgment.
Regardless of the countless warnings of judgment, the convicted sinner will only stand and laugh.
This makes me weep as Jeremiah did.
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
These truly are the most terrifying words a person can ever say of themselves.
If we are not saved,
Ø We will not see the glorious heaven.
Ø We will spend eternity in a devil’s hell.
Ø We will be cast into outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
We may have sat under a whole host of preachers, Sunday School teachers and evangelists, and still not be saved.
That is because the message will not save us, but the Savior will.
We may be like the woman with the issue of blood who (before going to Jesus) went to every doctor and spent every dime she had, but still was not saved from her infirmity. Try as hard as she did, she still was not healed. She only got worse.
We may have been born into a godly family who has brought us to the House of God time and time again.
We know those wonderful saints of God have been saved from their sins.
But your family’s convictions and commitment to Christ will not save you.
We may have attended church all our lives & done all that was expected of us. But unless you have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb, you are not saved!
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
There are other reasons some are not saved and don’t know it. Verse 19 -
“Why have they provoked Me to anger
With their carved images—
With foreign idols?”
Each of us must also reckon ourselves to what Jeremiah has said of this world:
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
What am I trying to say? There are some who have provoked and angered God with their disobedience and rebellion.
My friend – God will not tolerate it.
I have met those who claim salvation and yet live a life of permissiveness and drunkenness. They speak lies, they murmur and gossip, they disrupt, they speak discord, and will even curse God. God will not allow this kind of rebellion & disobedience into His holy heaven.
There are some church goers who are more cautious about how they live. They hide their sin well, but they are not hidden from God. They are lovers of this world and lovers of their own sins.
Unless they repent they will one day say:
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
God save us from our iniquity!
Jesus did not come to this world to pacify the heart of the wicked. He came only to heal and to save that which was lost.
Listen. God is gracious to the humble and even to the foolish and ignorant.
But He is not tolerant of the one who lives in willful and open rebellion.
I am convinced that there are some who do not understand what salvation is.
Isn’t salvation more than just a ticket to get out of hell? Salvation means many things, but surely it means we are delivered from our love for sin and evil.
A sinner saved by grace knows that –
Ø He/she is saved from the pit of Hell.
Ø He/she has also been purified from evil and the appearances of evil.
As you might imagine, the convicted felon who is sentenced to death does not want to be sentenced to death. This hardened criminal may regret having to face the penalty of death. But many times he will not regret his sins.
That unforgiven felon will have to say,
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
On the other hand - A forgiven sinner will be thankful he/she has been excused from being judged, and will always remember the consequences of their sin.
A sinner who comes to Christ and has been forgiven of their sins will never say,
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
The forgiven sinner knows without any doubt they are saved from judgment.
God’s salvation -
Ø Causes us to know what true forgiveness is.
Ø Makes us aware of what holiness is
Ø Keeps us from wanting to live in sin
Ø Creates a desire to study and know God’s Holy Word.
After salvation, studying God’s Word will naturally become a staple to the life of the saints of God. They will naturally desire to become a devout and consecrated child of the King.
Illustration:
If I were to ever want to become an accomplished musician, I would not go somewhere to be trained to be a doctor. I would realize that I must study very hard at a school of music. And after I studied music, I would have to practice everyday with a piano for hours to apply what I had studied. I would have to be diligent.
Likewise, we must commit ourselves to the study of God’s Word. If we are ever to become the man/woman that God wants us to be, we must study, pray and practice what we know to be true.
I wonder how many of us have become diligent to the study of God’s Word?
My point is this. There are those who once committed their lives to Christ but no longer are saved. Many good people are not saved because they never were attracted to the Word of God. They wanted to be saved from an eternal fire, but many years would go by and they would have to admit to themselves,
“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
They begin to think one day about how much they loved God when they were little, but now their lives are in shambles.
They ask,
“How did this ever happen to me? I used to love going to church and being a Christian, but I know that I am not saved!”
Their lives have passed them by. They have seen many harvest times, but now the summer is ended and they are not saved. How can something like this happen?
My friend your salvation is a necessity to life and your soul and spirit-man must be fed daily with God’s Holy Word. If not, your soul will perish (like so many others).
I know Christians who do not read God’s Word as they should and they are starving to death.
The harvest will (one day) pass,
The summer will (one day) end.
Only to realize you are not saved.
Closing:
To each of us I have some Good News.
We must look to God and expect an answer from His Word…
Notice verse 22,
Is there no balm in Gilead,
Is there no physician there?
